Dover sole

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

Has anyone here ever eaten Dover sole? Here on the west we get fish that’s labeled as Dover sole, but from everything I’ve read it’s really not. It’s flounder like Petrale Sole, Rex Sole, etc. Julia says that if you really love fish (me, me, me) then you really have spend the money one day and try Dover sole, the taste is much, much superior. I think in every cookbook she wrote, in the fish chapter she would extol the virtues of Dover sole. I know the very first meal Julia had in France was Sole Meuniere so maybe her remembrances of sole are more romantic than fact. But Coleman Andres of Saveur says the same thing. (Don’t you love the way I talk about Julia as if we’re old friends when in fact the only connection I had with her was that we lived a few zip codes away-she in the carriage zip, me in the poor college student bus riding zip & I occasionally shopped in the same market as her, & we both bought bread from the same bakery.)

So I figured how much could Dover sole cost. Well, a lot! Like $31.00 a pound according to this one web site. Before I shell out that kind of money I was just curious if anyone (especially DUers who have lived in Europe) had ever tried Dover sole & is it really that much better?

best

[Stinky The Clown]

1. I had the real thing back in school (more than a few decades ago!)

It was the real thing. After that (and hearing the chef-instructor tell us how great it supposedly was), I tried to compare it to any good, fresh flatfish (the various flounders and soles) and found I could tell there were differences ... but between them all ...... not that the Dover sole, specifically, was so far and away better. I had it again recently, in Paris. Again, it was certainly very good ...... but in an unremarkable way. That's not so say it was not worth eating; it surely was. What I mean is that it was just one of quite a few good pieces of fish I've had. A seafood holy grail, it isn't - at least not to me.

Funnily enough, the best fish I have in memory (which is not to say it was actually the best I ever ate) is sea bream I had at a hotel dining room in Amalfi, Italy. It was caught that morning by a man alone in a boat, who we saw as we ate breakfast. He sold his catch to three nearby hotels and ours was one of them. But my memory of it being so great may well because of the setting.

So .... would I spend $31 for dover sole? Nope. Half that? Probably.

[Warpy]

2. I used to get the real thing, exquisitely fresh, from a Boston fish store

where the Scotsman who owned the place had spotted me for a fish snob and steered me toward the freshest thing on the table.

Yes, the flavor is different from lemon sole or grey sole. However, I doubt it's worth $31.00/pound!

The best way to cook paper thin sole fillets (when you can get them) is sole meuniere. Dredge the fillets in flour and shake most of it off. Cook them very quickly in butter (with a little oil to prevent the butter from burning) on both sides. DO NOT BROWN. If you cook them long enough to browm they're overcooked!

As soon as you flip them, sprinkle them with minced parsley and fresh ground pepper. Count to 30 and add a little dry white wine (I've used pinot grigio, pouilly fuisse, even vermouth)Transfer the fish to a warmed plate and let the wine deglaze the pan. Use the wine/butter/fish sauce over the fish and whatever cooked veggie you are serving (it's especially nice with fresh asparagus)

Thin sole cooks in seconds, not minutes. The trick is to cook it without turning it into mush.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

3. um. yeah

I know how to cook sole meuniere. In fact I know how to cook almost every fish & shellfish out there. I've just never tried Dover sole.

best

[Warpy]

4. Well, the advice stands

The flavor is a bit different, but not $31.00/pound worth.

(besides, not everybody who reads this stuff knows how to cook it)

[TaleWgnDg]

5. Oh, sheesh, Warpster . . . I know what I'm having tomorrow nite . . . n/t