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Broiled Finnan-Haddie
Wash the fish thoroughly; let soak a half hour in cold water, skin side up; cover with water which is simmering, not boiling. Let stand 15 minutes, then drain carefully and wipe dry, brush over with fat and broil over slow fire about 15 minutes. Remove to hot platter, sprinkle with bits of butter, and with juice of half a lemon. Serve at once.
The original assumes a whole split smoked haddock and a coal gridiron, and gives no weight or serving count. Both need translating.
- What to buyFinnan haddie is cold-smoked haddock, sold as a split side, skin on, pale gold to deep amber. Undyed is closer to the fish this book meant; heavily dyed orange fillets are a later commercial product. Allow about 1/2 lb per person for a main course, so a 1 to 1 1/2 lb side serves two or three.
- The soak is not optionalTraditional Finnan haddie is cured hard and salty. The half hour in cold water skin side up, followed by the hot soak, is what makes it edible rather than briny. Modern lightly cured fillets need less; taste a flake of the poaching liquid and shorten the cold soak to 15 minutes if it is already mild.
- "Simmering, not boiling"This is the hinge. Pour water that is hot but short of boiling over the fish and let it stand off the heat for 15 minutes; do not keep the pan on the burner. Cooking it at a hard simmer risks breaking the flakes apart.
- "Broil over slow fire"This means laid in a wire broiler over a low bed of coals. Under a modern overhead broiler, set the rack 5 to 6 inches from the element, or use a ridged pan over medium heat. A skillet with a little butter works as well.
- Cut the broiling timeFifteen minutes was for a thick split fish over gentle coals, and the flesh is already firm and salt-cured. Under a gas or electric broiler, 4 to 6 minutes skin side down is enough; you want the surface glazed and the edges just browning, not the flesh dried to string.
- "Brush over with fat"Melted butter, or bacon drippings if you have them; either suits the smoke. Butter goes on again at the table, so keep the brushing light.
- ServingLemon and butter are the whole sauce, and the dish cools fast on a cold plate, hence "hot platter" and "serve at once." Boiled or mashed potatoes are the usual companion; poached eggs turn it into a breakfast.
Finnan haddie is generally said to take its name from Findon, a fishing village south of Aberdeen, and the cure is associated with that stretch of the Scottish northeast coast, where split haddock were salted and smoked over peat or wood. It travelled well and salted well, which is why it reached American cities as a staple of the fish counter and shows up in a Fish chapter alongside fresh cod and halibut. Cookbooks of the period commonly give it three ways: broiled as here, creamed, or baked in milk. The instruction to soak and then draw it through hot water suggests the fish this book knew was cured considerably harder than most of what is sold under the name today.