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Mrs Beeton's Recipe for Brill

Brill is a traditional British recipe, based on Mrs Beeton's recipe of 1861, for a classic dish of brill boiled in acidulated salted water and served garnished with parsley and lemon and accompanied by a sauce. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Brill.

prep time

10 minutes

cook time

15 minutes

Total Time:

25 minutes

Serves:

4

Rating:

Tags : British Recipes

This is a traditional British recipe redacted from the redoubtable Mrs Beeton's 1861 volume Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, the classic Victorian cookbook.

Original Recipe

230. INGREDIENTS.—1/4 lb. of salt to each gallon of water; a little vinegar.

Mode.—Clean the brill, cut off the fins, and rub it over with a little lemon-juice, to preserve its whiteness. Set the fish in sufficient cold water to cover it; throw in salt, in the above proportions, and a little vinegar, and bring it gradually to boil; simmer very gently till the fish is done, which will be in about 10 minutes; but the time for boiling, of course, depends entirely on the size of the fish. Serve it on a hot napkin, and garnish with cut lemon, parsley, horseradish, and a little lobster coral sprinkled over the fish. Send lobster or shrimp sauce and plain melted butter to table with it.

Time.—After the water boils, a small brill, 10 minutes; a large brill, 15 to 20 minutes.

Average cost, from 4s. to 8s.

Seasonable from August to April.

Modern Redaction

Ingredients:

2 small brill, cleaned and scaled
2l water
220g salt
2 tbsp vinegar
1/2 lemon

Method:

Clean the brill and cut off the fins. Rub the fish all over with the halved lemon (this preserves the colour of the flesh) then place in the base of a large pan. Add the water, salt and vinegar (to acidulate the water) then gently bring to a boil. Continue coking for about 10 minutes, or until the fish is done through.

Carefully remove the fish from the hot liquid and arrange on a serving plate. Garnish with lemon slices, parsley and creamed horseradish. Serve with boiled charlotte potatoes.

Find more Mrs Beeton Recipes Hereand more Traditional Victorian Recipes Here