Throwback Thursday: Sole Meunière

By Tony Jackman

It was the dish that ignited Julia Child’s exemplary career as a television chef. It’s as simple as it is perfect. And it’s so good that there really is no point in cooking sole any other way.

Jupiter’s Sandal, anyone? That’s what you would order in ancient Rome where, if you fancied a fish to tuck into during your Bacchanalian feast or merely for your Tuesday night dinner, your first choice would be sole. These strange-looking creatures of the sandy depths of the sea are named after “solea”, Latin for the sole of a foot, and anyone who has seen the shape of a sole (fish) will see why immediately. They’re pretty creepy looking with their eyes both being on one side of their bodies.

I grew up in the Sixties eating Sole Meunière, which is a brown butter sauce to which lemon and parsley have been added, at least once during our annual tours of the country. It was always East Coast Sole, and it was always done that way in my memory. It didn’t occur to me that there were other ways of cooking it; why would anyone mess with a dish so simple yet so perfect? I like it that way to this day and I love the way you can just pull a piece of it away from the spine with a fish knife. I still regard Sole Meunière as fish perfection.

It’s generally held that sole is best cooked in clarified butter, to avoid regular butter browning overly.

Ingredients

2 x East Coast Soles, about 260g each (or whichever size you have)

½ cup plain flour

Coarse salt

White pepper

2 Tbsp canola oil

90 g unsalted butter, of which 2 Tbsp is for frying the fish

2 Tbsp fresh Italian parsley, chopped

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Lemon wedges for serving

Method

Rinse the fish under cold water and dry thoroughly. Season both sides with salt and white pepper.

Chop the parsley very finely. Have a halved lemon ready, and more wedges for the servings.

Put the flour in a flat container (such as a plastic bakkie) and season lightly with salt and white pepper. Shake it and mix so that the seasoning spreads evenly. Dip the soles in this on both sides and their edges.

Heat the oil and 2 Tbsp clarified butter in a pan. When the butter is foaming, add the fish, give the pan a shake and then leave them alone, untouched, to cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn carefully and cook the other side for not more than 2 minutes. Remove to warmed plates and cover with a foil “tent” while you quickly prepare the sauce.

Add the remaining 60 g of clarified butter to the pan, melt gently, and stir in the parsley and lemon juice. I squeeze it in through a fine sieve, to catch any pips.

Serve immediately, pouring the sauce over the fish. I served them with fried potato scallops, which are cut thinly into rounds from small potatoes and pan-fried gently in butter and a little olive oil until crisp and golden. DM/TGIFood 

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-10-07-throwback-thursday-sole-meuniere/