Recipe no. 85 from Jean-Baptiste Reboul's La Cuisinière provençale (1909), page 51.
Ingredients
- grey mullet
- butter
- onion
- carrot
- parsley
- white wine
- salt
- pepper
- bay leaf
- garlic
- thyme
- water
- flour
- eggs
- lemon
Preparation
- Lifting the filletsAfter cleaning the grey mullet well, proceed to lift the fillets as described for mackerel.
- Cooking the filletsButter the bottom of a saute pan or a wide, low saucepan. Put at the bottom a few slices of onion and carrot and a sprig of parsley. Arrange the fillets on top, season with salt and pepper, add liquid with a glass of white wine, cover and let it cook 5 to 6 minutes.
- Preparing the fish stockPut the bones and heads in a saucepan with an onion and carrots in slices, a bay leaf, a clove of garlic, a sprig of thyme and parsley sprigs. Add liquid, half water half white wine, with the necessary salt, and let it cook for half an hour.
- SaucePut a piece of butter the size of a walnut in a saucepan and melt it. Add a spoonful of flour, stir it a moment over the heat without letting it brown. Add liquid with the fish stock prepared, after straining it. Bring to the boil, add a binding made with 2 egg yolks, a squeeze of lemon juice and a piece of butter the size of an egg. Work it a moment without letting it boil.
- ServingArrange the grey mullet fillets on a dish and pour the sauce over them, having added the cooking liquid of the fillets.
Reboul's text
After cleaning the grey mullet well, proceed to lift the fillets as described for mackerel; butter the bottom of a saute pan or a wide, low saucepan, put at the bottom a few slices of onion and carrot and a sprig of parsley; arrange the fillets on top, season with salt and pepper, add liquid with a glass of white wine, cover and let it cook; 5 to 6 minutes are enough.
Put the bones and heads in a saucepan with an onion and carrots in slices, a bay leaf, a clove of garlic, a sprig of thyme and parsley sprigs; add liquid, half water half white wine, the necessary salt, and let it cook for half an hour.
Separately, put a piece of butter the size of a walnut in a saucepan, melt it, add a spoonful of flour, stir it a moment over the heat without letting it brown, add liquid with the fish stock prepared, after straining it; bring to the boil, add a binding made with 2 egg yolks, a squeeze of lemon juice and a piece of
butter the size of an egg; work it a moment without letting it boil. When ready to serve, arrange the grey mullet fillets on a dish and pour the sauce over them, having added the cooking liquid of the fillets to it.
Small Provençal glossary for this recipe
Reboul writes in French: no Provençal word appears in this recipe, apart from the dish's name itself. The table below gives the Provençal equivalents of the words used, in mistralian spelling, translated by Lingua Nostra. Each form is attested in our Provençal-English dictionary; click to open the entry.
| Provençal | English |
|---|---|
| mulataio | grey mullet |
| fielet | fillets |
| burre | butter |
| cebo | onion |
| pastenargo | carrot |
| juvert | parsley |
| vin | white wine |
| casseirolo | saucepan |
| farino | flour |
| boui | fish stock |
Source: Jean-Baptiste Reboul, La Cuisinière provençale, Marseille, 1909, recipe no. 85, page 51. Public domain. Transcription, formatting and Provençal glossary by Lingua Nostra.