Filet de sole Véronique, for instance, was a Malley invention. A special party was planned, and Malley decided to add tiny white grapes to the white-wine sauce for the fish course. He gave instructions to that effect to a trusted under-chef, and went out, as usual, for the afternoon. When he returned to the kitchen, he found the young man who had been commissioned to prepare the new dish so excited that he could hardly work. Monsieur Malley discovered, upon inquiring as to the cause of his agitation, that the young man's wife had just presented him with a baby girl, their first child. Monsieur Malley asked what they would name the child. “Véronique,” was the reply. “Alors,” said the chef des cuisines, “we'll call the new dish filet de sole Véronique.” And so it is called to this day, in every restaurant that serves it,
Most people consider coastal cities, in France as elsewhere, natural centers of fish eating, and this is generally true. But I cannot imagine that any of these can possibly boast a greater profusion of fish of all kinds than one sees in Parisian markets and eats m Parisian restaurants. Parisians love fish, all kinds of fish, prepared in every possible way. Almost every dinner includes a fish course and fish is a very popular main dish at luncheon. The French are extremely particular about the freshness of fish. They insist that it be iced as soon as it is caught, brought directly to market, and cooked within twenty-four hours. No French chef willingly cooks a fish that has been held overnight in the hotel refrigerator.
In the early 1900s, in the exclusive hotels that had no public dining rooms and, in which every menu was specially planned and prepared, the commis-cbefs were not sent off to market to buy the day's fish until the maitre d' had arranged the day's menus. To this clay my brother, who is the executive chef at the Hotel Plaza-Athénée in Paris, goes himself to early market— and that means five thirty in the morning—to select the fish for the day.
Of course, there is no better way to learn about fish than to market for it yourself, so that you learn by seeing as well as by asking the dealer pertinent questions. It is interesting to be able to recognize the various kinds of fish, and most important to know that fresh fish have bright eyes, pink gills, and firm flesh. Modern packaging of frozen fish, which makes it possible to have any fish at any time, is of course a genuine convenience after one discovers by trial and error which brands and varieties to use.
There is not much value in listing here the many kinds of fish you might find in your fish market, and naming the methods that apply especially to them. For our purposes, we can simply classify fish as lean or fat, and then relate the method of cooking to the size of the fish.
Large, whole fish, lean or fat, are either baked, braised, or poached. Small whole fish may be sautéed or broiled, or if they are lean and very small, fried in deep fat. Fish filets, from medium-sized fish that have been skinned, split, and boned, are poached, broiled, sauteed, or deep fried—lean fish profit from the extra fat required in deep frying. Fish steaks, which arc thick slices cut from large fish, are boiled, sautéed, broiled, baked, or braised. One warning applies to all methods of preparing fish. Fish needs very little cooking and one should avoid overcooking. Fish is done as soon as the flesh has lost its translucence and Hakes readily from the bone.
Boiling
When a fish is boiled, it is completely immersed in the liquid. A whole fish must be boiled in a fish kettle, a large rectangular or oval kettle equipped with a rack. The fish is tied to a thin board to keep it fiat and wrapped in cheesecloth so that it can be lowered into the kettle and lifted out without danger of breaking. Fish steaks can be boiled in an ordinary shallow pan of the sort found in every kitchen. Of course, the world “boil” is a misnomer; the liquid — always a court-bouillon made with vinegar or another acid and seasoning vegetables, rather than plain water—is kept at a gentle simmer and never allowed to reach a hard boil which might break the fish.
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