La Belle Meunière

The first time I tried this dish was at Mocambo in Calcutta. That was in the late 80's. Since then, I have gone back several times to Mocambo. And I am extremely glad to report that this dish remains as delicious as ever. (Restaurants do have a way of deteriorting over time...both in quality of service and food).

Literally, its means the Beautiful Miller. I have no idea how it this dish got its name.

Once when I was feeling very intrepid, I asked the chef for the recipe. He very obliginging told it to me. And I, duly reported it back to R. (Whatever I could remember of it). R, ofcourse added her own variation - her special touch. And I must say, that too was very delicious. I haven't tried it myself. But I vouch for the delicious ness of R's version of La Belle Meunière.

You will need
Bekti fillet or slivers of moderate thickness (somewhere between a normal slab and over thin sliver).
Salt to taste
Pepper
Ajinomoto (yes MSG)
A sprig of parsely finely chopped for garnish
Cream
Butter

Here's how:
1. Wash the fillet, pat them dry with kitchen towel.

2. Mix a bit of cornflour with white pepper and salt.

3. Sprinkle this on the fillet.

4. Heat oil or butter (either one works, though butter is definitely more delicious) in a flat pan and lightly fry the fillet

5. Arrange the fried fillet in succession on a plate. Pour sauce (recipe given below) over them and serve immediately.

The Sauce:

1. Heat 50g of butter in a non stick pan over low flame.
2. Add a pinch of salt (be careful, we dont want to make the sauce salty), pepper, a pinch of ajinomoto.
3. Pour half cup cream.
4. Add the chopped parsley.
5. Remove from fire.
The whole procedure should take about 2-3 minutes.

Those of you who reside in Calcutta or are going there (I am next week), do go to Mocambo and try it out. And those of you who can't, here is the recipe, R's variation. Bon Appetit!

NOte: Any white fish will do, if you can't get Bekti