Boiled Perch is a traditional British recipe, based on Mrs Beeton's recipe of 1861, for a classic dish of perch boiled in salted water and served with parsley and melted butter sauce. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Boiled Perch.
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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
292. INGREDIENTS.—1/4 lb. of salt to each gallon of water. Mode.—Scale the fish, take out the gills and clean it thoroughly; lay it in boiling water, salted as above, and simmer gently for 10 minutes. If the fish is very large, longer time must be allowed. Garnish with parsley, and serve with plain melted butter, or Dutch sauce. Perch do not preserve so good a flavour when stewed as when dressed in any other way.
Time.—Middling-sized perch, 1/4 hour.
Seasonable from September to November.
Note.—Tench may be boiled the same way, and served with the same sauces.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
1 perch, scaled, gutted and with gills removed
25g salt per 1l of water parsley, to garnish
melted butter or Dutch sauce
Method:
Prepare the perch by scaling, gutting, removing the gills then washing and patting dry. Place in a large pan then pour over just enough water to cover. Add 25g of salt per 1l of water added then bring to a simmer, cover and cook gently for about 15 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through.
Transfer the fish to a warmed serving plate and garnish with parsley. Accompany with melted butter or Dutch sauce.
