Boiled Salmon is a traditional British recipe, based on Mrs Beeton's recipe of 1861, for a classic method of cooking salmon by boiling in salted water before serving garnished with parsley and lemon and accompanying with a sauce. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Boiled Salmon.
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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
301. INGREDIENTS.—6 oz. of salt to each gallon of water,—sufficient water to cover the fish.
Mode.—Scale and clean the fish, and be particular that no blood is left inside; lay it in the fish-kettle with sufficient cold water to cover it, adding salt in the above proportion. Bring it quickly to a boil, take off all the scum, and let it simmer gently till the fish is done, which will be when the meat separates easily from the bone. Experience alone can teach the cook to fix the time for boiling fish; but it is especially to be remembered, that it should never be underdressed, as then nothing is more unwholesome. Neither let it remain in the kettle after it is sufficiently cooked, as that would render it insipid, watery, and colourless. Drain it, and if not wanted for a few minutes, keep it warm by means of warm cloths laid over it. Serve on a hot napkin, garnish with cut lemon and parsley, and send lobster or shrimp sauce, and plain melted butter to table with it. A dish of dressed cucumber usually accompanies this fish.
Time.—8 minutes to each lb. for large thick salmon; 6 minutes for thin fish. Average cost, in full season, 1s. 3d. per lb.
Seasonable from April to August.
Sufficient, 1/2 lb., or rather less, for each person.
Note.—Cut lemon should be put on the table with this fish; and a little of the juice squeezed over it is considered by many persons a most agreeable addition. Boiled peas are also, by some connoisseurs, considered especially adapted to be served with salmon.
TO CHOOSE SALMON.—To be good, the belly should be firm and thick, which may readily be ascertained by feeling it with the thumb and finger. The circumstance of this fish having red gills, though given as a standing rule in most cookery-books, as a sign of its goodness, is not at all to be relied on, as this quality can be easily given them by art.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
1 whole salmon, cleaned and scaled (about 1kg)
35g salt per 1l of water
chopped parsley, to garnish
lemon slices, to garnish
melted butter, shrimp sauce or lobster sauce, to accompany
cucumbers in vinegar, to accompany
Method:
Prepare the salmon and lay in a fish kettle. Pour over enough water to cover then add 35g of salt for each 1l of water added. Bring quickly to a brisk boil and skim any scum off the surface. Reduce to a simmer and cook gently until the fish is done (about 40 minutes, or when the flesh flakes easily from the bone with a knife).
When done, transfer to a serving plate, garnish with chopped parsley and lemon slices and accompany with plain melted butter, shrimp sauce or lobster sauce and cucumbers dressed in vinegar.
