Flat Fish

The bottom dwelling flatfish are an ugly bunch of fish. We apply the same dressing rules with flatfish. Unlike a round fish, we can get 4 fillets with a flatfish, instead of 2.

Oh, by the way, I think I finally remember the word I was looking for in my prior post! "Revise!" The Brits revise for an exam. Yay! I finally remembered! Senility ain't gonna get me and do me in!

And here's a quick note regarding filleting: it don't come naturally for me. Not just yet. I pretty much butchered and ruined a good half of all the fish I have been given. At one point, my arms were criss-crossed causing my chef instructor to declare his worry for me and my classmates. But you learn from your mistakes, right? I need more practice.

Now, let's go over a few other methods of cooking fish.  Last time, we learned the en papillote method, which involved baking, braising, and steaming, and the à la meunière method, which involved sautéing the fish with butter.

1. Deep-frying/Frying
We can deep-fry a fish that are either whole or cut into darnes, fillets, or tronçons. A goujon, a miniature fish, like a smelt or a minnow, are almost always served deep-fried. So, when larger fish fillets are cut into strips the same size as a goujon, the strips are called goujonettes. The method of preparation is identical for all fish. We use the paner à l'anglaise method. Apparently, the French love the English manner in all their cookery. Although this English manner is different from what we did with vegetables.

1. Prepare the fish in the à l'anglaise way: The fish are dredged in flour, dipped in an egg mixture, and coated in bread crumbs. They can be dredged in only flour or batter.  
2. Fish are then deep-fried in 350ºF oil until golden brown.
3. Fried fish is traditionally served with fried parsley.

Here's an example of what we did: Goujonettes de limande aux deux sauces (bread crumb-coated flounder with two sauces)

2&3. Roasting & Grilling
We didn't do either of them in class.
For roasting a fish, it's important to rub it with oil. It can be roasted on its own or with vegetables. No need to turn the fish. Also the tail should be covered to prevent it from burning/charring.
For grilling a fish, make sure to dry it, and clean and oil the grill properly to prevent the fish from sticking. Place the presentation side first to the grill. Mark the fish with a quadrillage, the criss-cross mark from grilling. (Aside: we can do a quadrillage with breaded fish before it is fried. Mark the fish with the dull edge of the knife.)

4. Braising
It is a mixed cooking method in which the protein is partially immersed in liquid.
(1) For braising fish, the fish is placed on a bed of aromatic garniture (fond de braisage). The fond de braisage provides different aromatic elements to the dish and often determines the name. For the dish we did in class, filet de limande bonne femme, the "Bonne Femme" is shallots, parsley, and mushrooms. (2) The moistening liquid is made with fish fumet and wine. (3) After the fish is cooked, the garniture and cooking liquid is reduced to make the sauce. They are often bound with a beurre manié or with a reduction of cream. For Bonne Femme, it was with cream. (4) Then we can glaze the dish under a salamander. It's advisable to add a sabayon to the finished sauce; this highlights the color and stabilizes the sauce. For our case, we used whipped cream, instead of a sabayon.

5. Poisson au Plat vs. Poisson en Sauce
The two are pretty much the same. We utilize the braising technique. I'll highlight the differences between the two.

1. In au plat, we use a serving dish, whereas for en sauce, we use a sautoir.
2. The bottom contains the fond de braisage, then the fish, and the braising liquid (fumet and alcohol) is added. We cover and bring to a boil and we finish cooking in the oven or on stove top. For au plat, we finish cooking the fish before removing it to set aside. For en sauce, the fish is almost cooked before it is set aside.
3. For au plat, the cooking juice is reduced and monter au beurre. For en sauce, the cooking juice is reduced and heavy cream is added. and then it is further reduced until the sauce is nappant. The sauce can be bound with a velouté or beurre manié.
4. For au plat, the fish is returned to the serving dish. It's returned to the oven and basted several times until we get a perfect glaze. The fish is served in the dish it was cooked in. For en sauce, we can mount with butter off heat and the sauce is poured over the braised fish. It can then be glazed under a salamander.

Our Filet de limande bonne femme is an example of poisson en sauce method.