Anybody with a moderately sized French cookbook collection can easily have hundreds, if not thousands, of fish recipes at hand. Unfortunately, if the cook wants to explicitly follow the instructions of a particular recipe, chances are that the type of fish specified will not be locally available—even in France. If the fish called for is not available, the cook either has to select a different recipe or substitute another species. The 24 recipes included with this collection all called for a species of fish not readily available to me. Consequently, all the recipes have been prepared with a substitute—tilapia, a lightly-flavored, farmed fish readily available where I live. For those wishing to use the species originally called for, here’s a list of the fish names with their English translations.

bar — bass

brochet — pike

cabillaud — cod

dorade, daurade — sea bream

haddock — smoked haddock

lieu noir — coalfish, black cod

limande — common dab, lemon sole

maquereau — mackerel

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
blanquette de mulet aux aromates
an aromatic mullet stew with a egg-yolk thickened cream sauce
cabillaud à la noix de coco et au concombre
cod and cucumbers cooked in coconut milk
carpaccio de haddock au citron vert
thinly sliced, smoked haddock with lime
court-bouillon de dorade au gingembre
a clear soup of sea bream perfumed with ginger
daurade au four et son curry de légumes doux
baked sea bream with a curry of pumpkin and spinach
dos de cabillaud épicé au beurre salé d’Isigny
cod fillets breaded in spices with a butter sauce
escabèche de rougets légumes grillés
fried and marinated red mullet served with grilled vegetables
filets de dorade gratinés aux petit lardons
fillets of sea bream baked with bacon
filets de limande et courgettes au curry
lemon sole accompanied by curried zucchini
filets de perche, cœur de chou aux petits lardons
perch fillets served with cabbage and bacon
filets de rouget barbet à la vapeur, sauce vierge
steamed red mullet with an onion-tomato sauce
filets de saint-pierre au Noilly
John Dory fillets fillets served with a vermouth-mushroom sauce
filets de sole aux morilles
poached sole with a morrel mushroom sauce
filets de turbot, crème de citron au cerfeuil
turbot fillets with a chervil-lemon sauce
lieu noir frit à la provençale
coalfish served with a tomato, celery, and onion sauce
œufs farcis au haddock
hard-cooked eggs stuffed with smoked haddock
papillote de bar au fenouil
bass and fennel cooked in paper
quiche d’herbes au haddock
quiche with herbs and smoked haddock
rillettes de maquereau fumé
smoked mackerel spread
saint-pierre à la coriandre, émulsion d’agrumes et betteraves au cumin
John Dory poached in a coriander infusion, citrus sauce, and cumin-spiced beets
saucisses de brochet
pike sausage
soles à la meunière
miller’s wife’s fried sole
soupe de poisson
fish soup
tartare de rascasse et haricots verts au sésame
raw, chopped scorpion fish with French beans and sesame dressing
©2005 Peter Hertzmann, Inc. All rights reserved.