[Sca-cooks] Rockfish

[Susan Lord]

> (Sam Wallace  wrote:
> 
> A while back, I asked for help with the following recipe concerning the use
> of yeast in it. A friend of mine had caught some rockfish and I had given
> the recipe to her to try. It turns out the these fish can be farm raised
> and are reasonably priced. I bought a couple and gave it a try.
> 
> The fish were a bit bony, but tasted pleasant. The sauce was a bit tart
> from the verjuice, but that goes well with fish. It was not as tart as
> lemon juice, though. As I didn't have herbs on the branch, I used dried
> herbs and strained the mix after removing the fish.
> 
> Overall, it was pretty good, but I will tweak it a bit the next time,
> perhaps adding some more verjuice just before serving and using fresh herbs.
> 
> Guillaume
> ------------------
> 
> To seeth Roches, Flounders, or Eeles.
> MAke ye good broth with newe Yeast, put therein Uergious, Salt, Parsley, a
> litle Time, and not so much Rosemarie and pepper. So set it on the fyre and
> boyle it, & when it is wel boyled, put in Roches, Flounders, Eles, and a
> quantitie of sweet Butter.
> - The good Huswifes Handmaide for the Kitchen


The family name for scorpion is rockfish of which there are two types. Nola gives recipes two for them. No other Spanish medieval manuscripts have any recipes for them to my knowledge. The following recipe is a copy of part of my blog “escorpino” published April 16, 2014.



SCORPION FISH CASSEROLE ADAPTED FROM NOLA’S lxiiii-1 ESCORFENO EN CAZUELA

Ingredients

1 c chestnuts
¼ c almonds peeled and fried
3-4 lbs large scale scorpion fish[1] <https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5686476114745785266#_ftn1>
4 c fresh parsley
4 c mix herbs (basil, oregano and celery leaves were used)
¼ c chopped onion
1 garlic clove mashed
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
¼ c olive oil

Covering:
¼ c raisins with the chestnuts and almonds
juice from1lemon

Preparation

PREHEAT OVEN TO 400ºF/200ºC

Make slits like a cross in each chestnut. Roast them in the oven for about ½ hour until the skins open and the insides are tender. Remove from oven. Let cool long enough to skin. Coarsely chop leaving 2 whole chestnuts for garnish.

Peel, fry the almonds and coarsely chop except for a half dozen almonds set aside for garnish.
Nola states that this fish is not good except in casserole or boiled. To roast it, clean and wash it. If thick or large, cut it into pieces.


Remove stems from herbs. Put the leaves in a food processor and chop them. Mix them with the onion, garlic, salt, pepper and the olive oil. Smear the bottom of a casserole with half the olive oil. Put the herb mixture in the casserole like a bed. Add the fish. Pour the remaining olive oil over it. Roast uncovered for ½ hr hour until almost done. Cover the fish with almonds, chestnuts and raisins. Sprinkle with juice from one lemon. Return to oven for 5 or 10 minutes until fish is tender.

It was thought to be a daily dish to set before the king.
[1] <https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5686476114745785266#_ftnref1> Sea bass was used, as scorpion fish was not available at this time.