ACCORDING to a favorite story. the Emperor Napoleon stopped for luncheon one day at the little town of Royat, at an inn called La Belle Meunière because its proprietor was a miller and it was the miller's pretty wife who did the cooking. Napoleon asked for the specially of the house, and la belle meunière served him a delectable fruits suntée, dressed with butter cooked to a hazelnut brown. The Emperor was So pleased with his trout that he immediately christened it truite à la belle meunière, and to this day any fish served in browned butter is called by the same name.
That part of France where Napoleon are truite à la belle meunière is not far from my own pays. We were too far from the coast to be able to enjoy the salt-water varieties of fish, but we had the most wonderful trout in the world. When I did my military service, my brother was teaching at a school not far away, at Vertolaye in the Auvergne section, When I had a few hours' leave, and had let my brother know he could expect me. I could count on him to catch some trout for our lunch. There never were trout with flesh so pink, so delicate, so tasty as these. Or is it a kind of nostalgia that makes these trout I shared with my brother so much better than any I eat today?
I learned recently that salmon trout are going to be hatched in the Allier, the river which skirts the Bourbonnais country of my childhood. The Canadian government has sent by air to Parts 100,- 000 salmon eggs from the fish hatcheries of the Gaspé, and there will be truite sanmonée sautée to look forward to next summer in mon pays, which already boasts some of the best trout streams in the country.
I have heard that some American fishermen catch trout only pour le sport and do not trouble to cook and eat them, This, to me. is shocking and pitiful. I cannot help but feel sorry for the fisherman who has never enjoyed the special flavor of a trout freshly pulled from a stream and sautéed in sputtering bacon fat over a camp fire. There is, however, good news to counteract this bad news: American ingenuity has perfected a method of immediate quick freezing which enables persons who love fresh trout, no matter where they may live, to enjoy this inimitable delicacy whenever they wish.
Almost any gourmet presented with fresh or fresh-frozen trout will prefer to sauté the fish, a method of cooking Almost any gourmet presented with fresh or fresh-frozen trout will prefer to saute the fish, a method of cooking which by its very simplicity accentuates all the native flavor of the fish. Trout or any small fish, sautéed and served without any sauce except the butter in which it was cooked, finds an appropriate place on many menus; with a green salad it may make an entire meal, or it may provide welcome contrast in a long and elaborate menu.
But regardez, when I say sauter, I mean only sauter, to cook in a shallow skillet in a small amount of fat or oil. There is no place in fine cookery for that irregular, unclassified kind of frying that uses a couple of inches or so of fat and turns out deplorably grease-soaked foods. Frying should be done in deep hot fat. deep enough for the food to float, and hot enough to cook without soaking. But it is sautéing with which I deal here.
A heavy skillet is important for proper sautéing. A light pan retains heat unevenly and permits scorching. The low, slightly flaring sides of a skillet allow the steam to escape from the pan and give the food a crispy brown crust.
Fish are prepared for the skillet in different ways. They should be cleaned. of course, and the fins trimmed close to the body. The head may be left on or not, as desired; small fish may be very attractively served, heads and all. If the fish has a heavy thick skin. I prefer to remove it before cooking. If the skin is thin. I simply slash it diagonally three or four times on each side. Both these tricks serve a double purpose: They prevent the fish from being pulled out of shape when the heat shrinks the skin, and they allow the fish to cook thoroughly, because the heat can reach the center of the flesh more easily.
When the fish is cleaned, dip it in milk and then in flour seasoned with a little salt. Shake off any surplus flour— I hold the fish by the tail for this operation—so that no bits of flour will drop off to make unattractive burned specks in the skillet. The fat in the skillet should be very hot, I prefer to use one-fourth inch of salad oil or clarified butter for saucéing fish. To clarify butter, simply melt it and pour the clear fat off the milky sediment which settles in the bottom of the pan, and which should be discarded. Cook the fish in this hot fat until it is golden brown on both sides, a matter of twelve to fifteen minutes for the average small fish, longer of course for larger ones. To test the fish, insert a small thin knife carefully into the side. If the flesh Bakes easily from the bone, the fish is cooked.
The sautéed fish may be served just as it comes from the skillet with the browned butter poured over it on a hot platter. Or the bone may first be removed. To do this, first detach the top filet, in two sections if it is large, and lay if on the side of the serving dish. Then remove and discard the backbone and the small bones along the edge, which come away easily in a well cooked fish. Season the inside with a little salt and pepper and lay the top filet back in place. If oil has been used for the sautéing. pour it off and brown some butter in the same pan; if butter his been used, add enough butter to make 1 tablespoon brown butter sauce for each serving. Add a few drops of lemon juice to the browned butter, or sprinkle the fish with the lemon juice —as you like—and pour the butter over the fish, which should be kept hot on a hot plate. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with finely chopped parsley or parsley mixed with chives, and garnish the dish with slices of lemon dipped in chopped parsley.
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