Trout in Riesling sauce

Ingredients

The fish

• 4whole trout
• about 300 g each
• gutted and cleaned
• or 4 large trout fillets
• salt and white pepper

The poaching liquid

• 300 mldry Riesling
• a Moselle wine if you can
• 200 mlfish stock
• or water
• 2shallots, finely chopped
• 1bay leaf
• a few parsley stalks
• 6white peppercorns
• a knob of butter

The sauce

• 40 gbutter
• 30 gplain flour
• 200 mldouble cream
• the strained poaching liquid
• a squeeze of lemon
• salt and white pepper
• a grating of nutmeg, optional
• 1egg yolk, optional
• for a richer sauce

To finish

• a handful of parsley or chervil
• chopped
• a few blanched almonds, optional

To serve

• boiled new potatoes
• or buttered noodles
• the same Riesling to drink

Directions

1. Use a dry Riesling. Check the label for trocken or dry. It runs from bone dry to intensely sweet. Use a wine you would drink. The eyes should be clear and slightly bulging. Remove the gills, which taste bitter. Rinse the cavity thoroughly. Pat it dry.
2. Season inside and out with salt and white pepper. Poach gently, never at a boil. Butter a wide pan or a roasting tin. Scatter the chopped shallots over the base. Lay the trout on top. Pour the wine and stock over. It should come about halfway up the fish.
3. Add the bay, parsley stalks and peppercorns. Do not submerge the fish entirely. Cover the pan with a lid or foil. Bring it barely to a simmer on the hob. Give whole trout about twelve minutes. Pull at the dorsal fin. It should come away cleanly when cooked. Take it out slightly early. Lift the fish out carefully. Use a fish slice and support it. Set it on a warm plate and cover it.
4. Strain the poaching liquid. Reduce it hard. Boil it down to about half. The poaching liquid is thin and dilute. Melt the butter in a separate pan. Stir in the flour. Cook it two minutes, stirring. It should smell nutty rather than raw. Add the reduced liquid a little at a time.
5. Whisk it smooth after each addition. Building it gradually keeps it smooth. Add the cream. Simmer it gently for five minutes. Do not boil it hard once the cream is in.
6. Keep it at a bare simmer. It should coat the back of a spoon. Take the sauce off the heat. Whisk a little hot sauce into the yolk first. Do not let it boil after the yolk goes in. Season with salt and white pepper. Add a squeeze of lemon. Add nutmeg if you like. Taste carefully. Lay the trout on warm plates.
7. Pour the sauce over or around. Scatter parsley or chervil. Add toasted almonds if you like. The skin of a poached trout is soft rather than crisp. Serve the same Riesling to drink. The sauce keeps a day refrigerated.

Technique

• Poach at a bare shiver, never a boil. Boiling breaks up delicate fish, toughens the flesh and splits the skin.
• Reduce the strained poaching liquid hard, down to about half, before building the sauce. It is thin and dilute as it comes off the fish, and without reducing it the sauce tastes watery — the commonest failure with any poaching sauce.
• Bring the liquid only halfway up the fish. It half poaches and half steams, which is gentler than full immersion and leaves a more concentrated liquid for the sauce.
• Take the trout out slightly early. It goes from just done to dry very fast and carries on cooking as it rests — check by pulling at the dorsal fin, which comes away cleanly when cooked.
• Add the reduced liquid to the roux a little at a time, whisking smooth after each addition. All at once gives lumps.
• Do not colour the roux. This is a pale sauce, and a browned roux both darkens it and thickens less.
• If you add the egg yolk, temper it with a little hot sauce first and never let the sauce boil afterwards. It scrambles and goes grainy, and that cannot be corrected.
• Use a dry Riesling and read the label. Riesling runs from bone dry to intensely sweet, and a sweet one makes a sweet sauce. Use a wine you would drink, since cooking concentrates its character.
• The lemon at the end is necessary rather than optional. It lifts a rich cream sauce that sits heavy without it.
• Use white pepper rather than black. It does not speck a pale sauce and has a different, earthier heat.
• Taste carefully before salting. The reduced liquid is already concentrated.
• The skin of a poached trout is soft rather than crisp, and is easily removed with a knife tip if you prefer. A whole trout carries bones — warn anyone unused to it.

Substitutions

• Trout fillets replace whole fish and poach in about six minutes.
• Any dry white wine replaces Riesling, though Riesling’s acidity suits the dish.
• Fish stock replaces water in the poaching liquid and deepens it.
• Single cream replaces double for a lighter sauce, though it splits more readily.
• The egg yolk is optional and enriches the sauce considerably.
• Salmon or sea trout can be poached the same way.

Variations

• Trout à la meunière fries the fish in butter instead of poaching it.
• Forelle blau poaches trout in vinegar court-bouillon so the skin turns blue.
• Judd mat Gaardebounen, smoked pork with broad beans, is Luxembourg’s national dish.
• Bouneschlupp, the green bean soup, is another Luxembourgish standard.
• Fried Moselle fish, friture de la Moselle, is the rustic river dish.
• A version finished with toasted almonds is served in some restaurants.

Frequently asked questions

What is Trout in Riesling sauce?

Trout in Riesling sauce is a main from Luxembourg: moselle trout poached in creamy Riesling sauce.

How long does Trout in Riesling sauce take to make?

Trout in Riesling sauce takes 20 minutes of preparation and 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Trout in Riesling sauce?

Yes, within limits. Trout fillets replace whole fish and poach in about six minutes. Any dry white wine replaces Riesling, though Riesling’s acidity suits the dish. Fish stock replaces water in the poaching liquid and deepens it. Single cream replaces double for a lighter sauce, though it splits more readily. The egg yolk is optional and enriches the sauce considerably. Salmon or sea trout can be poached the same way.

What is the most important thing to get right in Trout in Riesling sauce?

Season inside and out with salt and white pepper. Poach gently, never at a boil. Butter a wide pan or a roasting tin. Scatter the chopped shallots over the base. Lay the trout on top. Pour the wine and stock over. It should come about halfway up the fish.