John Dory, Boiled
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Rub a little salt over the outside of the fish.
Place the fish in a fish kettle and cover it with cold water.
Add ½ cup of salt for every quart of water.
Cook and serve
Heat the water gradually, ensuring it boils slowly.
Boil gently for about 15 minutes for a 5-pound fish.
Serve on a hot napkin, garnished with curled parsley and cut lemon.
Accompany with shrimp, anchovy, lobster, or Dutch sauce.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- John dory fish
- Firm white flesh that holds together as it poaches gently in the salted water.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the fish and, in the poaching water, helps season the flesh as it cooks.
The step that matters
Heat the water gradually and keep it at a slow boil. Rapid, vigorous boiling toughens and breaks up delicate fish flesh. A gentle heat cooks the fish evenly and keeps it moist and intact.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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