1. For a mould capable of holding one quart, fold twelve small fillets of sole and poach them in butter and lemon juice, taking care to keep them very white. This done, set them to cool under a light weight.
Pour a few tablespoonfuls of melted fish jelly into the mould, which should be lying amidst broken ice. As soon as the jelly begins to set, decorate it tastefully with pieces (lozenges, crescents, &c.) of very black truffle and the poached white of an egg. Capers, tarragon leaves, thin roundels of small radishes, &c., may also be used for the purpose of decoration.
When this part of the procedure has been satisfactorily effected, sprinkle a few drops of the same jelly over the decorating particles, in order to fix them and prevent their shifting during the subsequent stages of the process. Now add enough melted jelly to cover the bottom of the mould with a layer one inch thick, and leave this to set.
[308]
]On this set jelly, arrange the six fillets of sole; let their tail-ends overlap, and cover them with jelly. Continue adding coat upon coat of jelly until the thickness covering the fillets measures about one-half inch.
Now arrange the remaining fillets in the reverse order, and fill up the mould with cold, melted jelly. Leave to cool for one hour.
When about to serve, quickly dip the mould in a saucepan of hot water; wipe it, and turn out the aspic upon a folded napkin lying on a dish.
[916—Another Method of Preparing ASPICS DE FILETS DE SOLES]
Coat ten fine fillets of sole with a thin layer of truffled fish forcemeat finished with crayfish butter, and roll them round a little rod of truffle, twice as thick as an ordinary penholder. Tie these [paupiettes], once or twice round, with cotton; poach them very gently in fish [fumet] and cool them on ice. Take a border-mould, even if possible; pour therein a few tablespoonfuls of melted fish jelly, and then rock it about on broken ice, with the object of evenly coating it with a thin layer of the jelly.
This operation is technically called “clothing the mould.”
Decorate the bottom of the mould as explained above; fix the decorating particles, and cover them with a layer one-half inch thick of fish jelly.