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To Boil Plaice or Flounders

A simple boiled fish dish using plaice or flounder, seasoned with salt and optional saltpetre, served with melted butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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To Boil Plaice or Flounders

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Clean the fish thoroughly and make an incision in the back.

  2. Soak the fish in cold spring water with coarse sea salt and saltpetre, if using.

Cook and serve

  1. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

  2. Cook the fish for 4 to 5 minutes, or longer if needed, without breaking them.

  3. Serve with melted butter.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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

Plaice or flounder
The fish is the main ingredient and is cooked gently in simmering water.
Butter
Melted butter served alongside adds richness and fat to the mild fish.

The step that matters

Simmer gently without boiling hard. Keeping the water at a gentle simmer cooks the fish evenly and helps it hold together, so it does not break apart.

“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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