Chef Juliette
Huîtres à la Favorite
Huîtres à la Favorite layers barely poached oysters, silken Béchamel, and black truffle in their shells, then flashes them beneath fierce heat until Parmesan freckles gold and butter gleams at the bubbling edge.
Culinary Explorer
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Bass (Bar)
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 987, Bass (Bar), from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Bar à la meunière turns four modest fillets into a proper supper: crisp skin under a whisper of flour, moist flesh, and lemon-parsley beurre noisette spooned over at the last moment.
Main Dishes
French
Weeknight
Dinner Party
20 min
Active Time
20 min cook•40 min total
Yield4 servings
Bar à la meunière (sea bass lightly floured and cooked in butter) teaches the cleanest lesson in the fish canon: a dry fillet browns, while a damp one seals itself beneath a sticky coat of flour. Everything that follows is quick. The skin turns crisp and bronze, the flesh stays pearly, and the butter carries lemon and parsley into every crevice.
The source entry assumes a brigade able to sort bass by size, route a large specimen to a fish kettle and a saucier, then send the smaller fish directly to meunière or frying. At home, we take the route it gives for small fish and have two modest bass cut into four skin-on fillets, which fit an ordinary skillet and cook evenly in two batches. The sorting system, separate stations, and whole-fish service are scaffolding. The thin flour coating, real butter, lemon, and parsley are the dish, and they stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.
The finished fillets should arrive glistening, their edges crisp enough to resist the fork before giving way to moist white flakes. Dry them until the paper comes away clean and the skin feels tacky rather than slick before flour comes near them. That is the step that decides the dish.
Along France's Atlantic and Channel coasts the fish is bar; on Mediterranean markets it is often loup de mer, a change of name that follows the coast. Classical kitchens treated it according to size, sending large specimens to the fish kettle with the sauces used for turbot and smaller fish to the meunière pan or frying kettle, market logic carried straight into service. The source's observation that bass was little sought in England records a difference in appetite, not quality: French cooks valued its firm white flesh because it could bear either gentle boiling or quick butter cooking without losing itself.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
skin-on European sea bass fillets
Quantity
4, about 6 ounces (170 g) each
pin-boned
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon (5 ml / 6 g)
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 1 g)
all-purpose flour
Quantity
½ cup (120 ml / 60 g)
unsalted butter
Quantity
8 tablespoons (120 ml / 113 g)
divided between cooking and finishing
additional unsalted butter (optional)
Quantity
4 tablespoons (60 ml / 57 g)
kept cold for rescue if needed
fresh lemon juice
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g)
from 1 large lemon
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
¼ cup (60 ml / 15 g)
finely chopped
lemon
Quantity
1 medium
cut into 8 wedges
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| skin-on European sea bass filletspin-boned | 4, about 6 ounces (170 g) each |
| fine sea salt | 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 6 g) |
| freshly ground black pepper | ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 1 g) |
| all-purpose flour | ½ cup (120 ml / 60 g) |
| unsalted butterdivided between cooking and finishing | 8 tablespoons (120 ml / 113 g) |
| additional unsalted butter (optional)kept cold for rescue if needed | 4 tablespoons (60 ml / 57 g) |
| fresh lemon juicefrom 1 large lemon | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) |
| flat-leaf parsleyfinely chopped | ¼ cup (60 ml / 15 g) |
| lemoncut into 8 wedges | 1 medium |
Equipment Needed
- •30 cm (12-inch) heavy stainless-steel or cast-iron skillet
- •Thin flexible fish spatula
- •Shallow dish for flouring
- •Instant-read thermometer
- •Warm oval serving platter
Instructions
- 1
Dry the bass
Run your fingers over the flesh and remove any remaining pin bones. If the skin is unscored, make two or three shallow cuts through the skin only so the fillets lie flat. Press every surface firmly with paper towels, then leave the fillets uncovered for 10 minutes while you prepare the remaining ingredients. Pat them once more before seasoning. The paper should come away clean, and the skin should feel tacky rather than wet.
Water is the enemy of meunière. It turns the flour gummy and cools the butter before the crust can form, so use another sheet of paper if you have any doubt. - 2
Flour at the last moment
Season both sides of the fillets with the salt and pepper. Spread the flour in a shallow dish, coat each fillet lightly, then shake and brush away every loose patch. You want a veil, not breading. Do this only when the skillet is ready; if the flour turns pasty while it waits, scrape it away gently, dry the fish again, and apply a fresh dusting. Ça se rattrape.
- 3
Set the first crust
Warm a large heavy skillet over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of the butter. When it foams and the milk solids begin turning pale gold, lay in two fillets skin-side down, placing them away from you. Press each gently with the spatula for 20 seconds to prevent curling, then leave them alone for 3 to 4 minutes. The skin is ready when it is evenly bronze and releases with little persuasion; if it clings, give it another 20 seconds rather than tearing it free.
- 4
Finish both batches
Turn the fillets and cook the flesh side for 1 to 2 minutes, spooning the foaming butter over the thicker ends. Remove them when the flesh is opaque around the edges, still moist at the centre, and registers 140 to 145°F (60 to 63°C) at the thickest point. Place them skin-side up on a warm platter. Wipe away browned flour crumbs, add another 2 tablespoons of butter, and repeat with the remaining fish. If the butter becomes black or smells bitter, discard it, wipe the pan, and restart with some of the reserved butter. Burnt milk solids cannot be hidden beneath lemon, but the fish is unharmed.
- 5
Make the beurre noisette
Wipe the skillet clean and add the remaining 4 tablespoons of cooking butter over medium heat. For the beurre noisette, hazelnut-brown butter, swirl the pan as the foam becomes fine and the milk solids change from gold to amber. Pull the skillet from the heat as soon as it smells nutty, because the hot pan will carry it another shade. Add the lemon juice carefully, then swirl in the parsley. If the solids go black, pour them out and make a smaller, clean beurre noisette with the reserved cold butter. A modest spoonful of good butter is better than a flood of burnt butter.
- 6
Sauce and serve
Spoon most of the lemon-parsley beurre noisette around the fillets and pass one light spoonful over the flesh, leaving the crisp skin largely uncovered. Taste a drop of the butter and correct the salt only if needed. Tuck the lemon wedges at the edge of the platter and serve immediately. Meunière waits for nobody. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Ask for European sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax, often sold as branzino in American markets. Chilean sea bass is a different, much oilier fish and will not behave the same way in the meunière pan.
- •Two small whole bass weighing about 1½ pounds (680 g) each should yield four suitable fillets once scaled, gutted, and boned. Ask the fishmonger to leave the skin on; it protects the delicate flesh and gives the flour a crisp foundation.
- •Cook in two batches even if all four fillets nearly fit. A crowded skillet loses heat, the butter turns watery, and the fish goes pale. Wiping away the flour crumbs between batches also keeps the second pair as clean-tasting as the first.
- •A dry Muscadet from the Loire's Atlantic end suits the lemon, butter, and firm white fish. Chill it properly, but not into numbness.
Advance Preparation
- •Up to 6 hours ahead, pin-bone and score the fillets, arrange them skin-side up on a rack, and refrigerate them uncovered. The cold air helps dry the skin. Pat them again just before seasoning.
- •The parsley can be chopped and the lemon squeezed up to 2 hours ahead; cover and chill them separately. Cut the serving wedges at the same time.
- •Do not flour the fish or make the beurre noisette ahead. The coating becomes gummy as it stands, and the finished butter loses its fresh nutty fragrance. Prepare the side dishes first because the bass should go directly from skillet to table.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 190g)
Calories
390 calories
Total Fat
25 g
Saturated Fat
15 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
9 g
Cholesterol
130 mg
Sodium
725 mg
Total Carbohydrates
7 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
32 g
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