Chef Juliette
Shad
Alose grillée teaches the discipline of fire: score the famously bony fish close to the backbone, grill it over steady coals, and finish its rich flesh with parsley-lemon butter.
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Nonat
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 769, Nonat, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Nonat needs only flour, clean frying oil, and nerve: dry the little fish thoroughly, fry them uncrowded, and carry the golden tangle straight to the table while every tail is crisp.
Main Dishes
French
Quick Meal
Outdoor Dining
20 min
Active Time
20 min cook•40 min total
Yield4 servings
Nonat (tiny Niçois fish) teaches the first law of friture, deep-frying: water is the enemy. Dry these little fish properly and the flour becomes a fine crisp veil; leave them damp and it turns pasty while the oil spits its objections. Fried well, Nonat arrives as a loose golden tangle, delicate enough to eat whole and generous enough to anchor a summer lunch.
The old formula is brief because its kitchen assumed baskets of minute fish, frying fat kept ready, and enough hands to dust and fry each order. This dish never required a saucier, a stockpot, or a salamander. Its brigade scaffolding was simply volume and a fryer held hot. At home, a heavy saucepan, a thermometer, and four small batches do the same work for four people. The book's replacement, whitebait, stays exactly as given when true nonat cannot be found. What changed is scale and equipment, not intent. One cook, one stove, one evening.
Drying is the step that decides Nonat. Blot every fish, flour only the batch about to be fried, and keep the oil hot enough that the coating sets at once. Everything after that moves quickly.
Nonat belongs to Nice and the Côte d'Azur, where minute, nearly transparent Mediterranean fish are eaten whole in friture, with no attempt to bone or fillet them. Classical French manuals carried the Niçois name into professional kitchens and directed English cooks to whitebait when the local catch could not be had, because it behaves similarly in flour and hot fat. The substitution concerns size and technique, not a claim that the two catches are the same species.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
nonat or very small whitebait
Quantity
about 5 cups (1.2 L / 1⅓ lb / 600 g)
left whole and thawed if frozen
all-purpose flour
Quantity
¾ cup (180 ml / 90 g)
refined olive oil or peanut oil
Quantity
6 cups (1.4 L / 1.3 kg)
for frying
fine sea salt
Quantity
1½ teaspoons (7.5 ml / 9 g)
lemon (optional)
Quantity
1
cut into wedges
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| nonat or very small whitebaitleft whole and thawed if frozen | about 5 cups (1.2 L / 1⅓ lb / 600 g) |
| all-purpose flour | ¾ cup (180 ml / 90 g) |
| refined olive oil or peanut oilfor frying | 6 cups (1.4 L / 1.3 kg) |
| fine sea salt | 1½ teaspoons (7.5 ml / 9 g) |
| lemon (optional)cut into wedges | 1 |
Equipment Needed
- •3-quart (2.8 L) heavy saucepan or Dutch oven
- •Clip-on deep-fry thermometer
- •Wide fine-mesh skimmer
- •Fine-mesh sieve
- •Wire rack set over a rimmed tray
Instructions
- 1
Dry the fish
Drain the nonat thoroughly. Rinse them briefly only if they carry sand, then spread them between clean kitchen towels and blot with a gentle hand until the surfaces feel dry rather than slippery. Leave the fish whole, including heads and bones; at this size, that is the dish. Don't salt them yet, because salt draws moisture back to the surface.
Frozen whitebait is an honest choice, but thaw it completely in the refrigerator and drain it well. Ice hidden among the fish will make the frying oil surge dangerously. - 2
Heat the frying oil
Pour the oil into a 3-quart (2.8 L) heavy saucepan, leaving the vessel no more than half full. Clip on a thermometer and heat the oil over medium heat to 175 to 180°C (350 to 355°F). Set a wire rack over a rimmed tray beside the stove. Keep the pan handle turned inward and never leave hot oil unattended.
- 3
Dust one batch
Divide the fish loosely into four batches. Put the flour in a wide bowl, add one batch of nonat, and turn them gently until every fish wears a thin, even coat. Shake them in a fine-mesh sieve to remove every loose pocket of flour. Flour only what will enter the oil immediately; if coated fish wait, their moisture turns the flour to paste.
- 4
Fry to pale gold
Lower the floured fish carefully into the oil and stir once with a wide skimmer so they separate. Fry for 1½ to 2 minutes, maintaining 175 to 180°C (350 to 355°F), until the coating is pale gold and the fish feel crisp from head to tail. Lift them to the rack and let the oil recover before coating the next batch. If a batch emerges pale and flexible because the oil cooled, let it drain while the oil returns to 180°C (355°F), then refry it for 20 to 30 seconds. Ça se rattrape. If the fish darken before they crisp, the oil is too hot; lower the heat before the next batch.
- 5
Salt and serve
Season each batch with a little of the sea salt while the coating is still hot, then heap all the nonat loosely on a warm platter. Serve at once, with lemon wedges if you want their brightness. No sauce is needed, and a heavy one would smother what you worked to preserve. Take the platter outdoors, pour a cold glass, and let everyone eat with their fingers. À table!
Chef Tips
- •True nonat is a coastal catch and may be difficult to find away from Nice. The source gives whitebait as the replacement, so choose the smallest available, ideally no longer than 2 inches (5 cm). Frozen is preferable to tired fresh fish; technique first, always.
- •Use refined olive oil for the Niçois register, or peanut oil when that is the fresher, more stable frying fat available. Extra-virgin olive oil brings expense and a stronger flavor without improving this quick fry.
- •The flour must be a veil, not a batter. Shake off the excess thoroughly or it falls into the oil, burns between batches, and leaves the fish with a heavy crust.
- •Nonat waits for nobody. If the table isn't ready, the fish aren't ready to fry. Serve with a dry Bellet blanc from the hills of Nice or a pale Provençal rosé, both properly cold.
Advance Preparation
- •Up to 2 hours before frying, drain and dry the fish, then refrigerate them uncovered on a towel-lined tray. Keep them cold until the oil begins heating.
- •Measure the flour and salt and arrange the draining rack before heating the oil. Do not flour the fish ahead; the coating will absorb moisture and become pasty.
- •Fried Nonat does not improve by waiting. If any remains, chill it promptly and recrisp it in a very hot oven, knowing it will be firmer than the first serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 150g)
Calories
490 calories
Total Fat
36 g
Saturated Fat
6 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
29 g
Cholesterol
115 mg
Sodium
1050 mg
Total Carbohydrates
13 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
0 g
Protein
28 g
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