Clean 4 pounds fish (pike, carp, perch, bass, eels) and cut in 2 inch pieces. Season with salt and pepper, put in a saucepan, and cover with dry white wine. In another saucepan parboil 1 cup diced salt pork for 5 minutes in water to cover. Drain and return to the pan with a little melted butter to cook until the pork dice are golden-brown. Add 4 cloves garlic, crushed, and a fagot made of 3 sprigs parsley, 1 small bay leaf, and a little thyme. Bring to a boil and cook for 20 to 25 minutes. Add beurre manié, made by creaming together 3 tablespoons butter with 1 tablespoon flour, mixing it in a little at a time, moving and shaking the saucepan to blend it into the liquid. Do not stir with a spoon or a fork because this will break the fish. Cook slowly for 10 minutes longer or until the fish is done. Add 2 tablespoons butter, shaking and moving the pan to blend it. Sauté slices of bread in butter, rub with a cut piece of garlic, and arrange in a serving dish. Place a piece of fish on each slice of toast. Discard the fagot from the sauce, then remove the pork dice and sprinkle them over the fish. Correct the seasoning of the sauce, strain it, and pour it over the fish.
Another kind of matelote is called la meurette. Actually la meurette is a sauce made with red wine that can be used on any white meat such as chicken or veal, as well as on eggs. But generally it is used on fresh-water fish like carp.
Meurette of Carp
Clean 3 to 4 pounds of a fresh-water fish (carp, bass, or perch) and cut in 2 inch pieces. Put 1 quart red wine in a saucepan, boil for 10 minutes, and add the fish. It should be well covered with the wine. Add 1 teaspoon salt, a little pepper, 2 cloves garlic, crushed, and a very little ground nutmeg. Pour on a pony of cognac and flambé—that is, ignite it. Cook for 15 minutes and add manié butter, made by creaming together 3 tablespoons butter with 1 tablespoon flour, shaking and moving the saucepan to blend the butter into the liquid. Avoid stirring with a spoon or fork because you will break the fish. Simmer very gently—or as the French would say, mijoter—for about 5 to 10 minutes or until the fish is done. To make the sauce richer, add 2 tablespoons butter, moving and shaking the pan to blend it. Sauté bread slices in butter, rub with a cut piece of garlic, and arrange in a serving dish. Place a piece of fish on each slice of bread, correct the seasoning of the sauce, strain it, and pour over the fish.
In sections where port wine is a favorite, it is used for the wine flavor of the matelote, and in some sections beer is used instead of wine.
Matelote with Port Wine
Clean 3 to 4 pounds of fish (carp, perch, bass, eels) and cut in 2 inch pieces. Make a petite mirepoix (a vegetable base) thus: cut 1 carrot in very fine dice, chop 1 onion very finely, add ½ bay leaf and a little thyme, and cook slowly in 2 tablespoons butter for 15 minutes. Add 2 shallots, chopped, and ½ pound mushrooms that have been cleaned and finely minced. Season the fish with ½ teaspoon salt and a little pepper and place on top of the mirepoix. Add ½ cup port wine and 1 pint white stock or enough to cover the fish, bring to a boil, and cook for 20 to 25 minutes or until the fish is done. Remove the fish to a serving dish. In another saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter, add 1 tablespoon flour, and cook until it just starts to turn golden. Add the cooking liquor of the fish and cook, stirring constantly, until all is blended and the sauce thickens. Continue cooking for 15 minutes. Correct the seasoning, add 1 teaspoon chopped parsley, about ¼ cup port wine, and 2 tablespoons butter, and pour the sauce over the fish.
Matelote with Beer
This can also be made with salt-water fish. Clean 3 ½ to 4 pounds fish (carp, perch, bass, eels) and cut in 2 inch pieces. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a saucepan, add 1 onion, finely chopped, and cook to a light golden color. Add 3 shallots, chopped, 2 cloves garlic, crushed, and ½ pound mushrooms, cleaned and sliced. Season the fish with 1 teaspoon salt and a little pepper. Put a layer of half the fish in the pan, sprinkle with the crumbs of 2 graham crackers, add a fagot made by tying together 3 sprigs parsley, 1 bay leaf, and a little thyme, and add another layer of the remaining fish. Pour in beer to cover and bring to a boil. Pour on a pony of cognac and ignite it. Cook for 25 minutes or until the fish is done. Put the fish in a serving dish. Remove the fagot from the sauce, correct the seasoning, add 1 teaspoon chopped parsley, and pour over the fish. The sauce should be sufficiently thickened by the crumbled crackers.
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