A () is the name given in French cooking to a fish stew made with white or red wine. It is normally made with

freshwater fish Freshwater fish are fish species that spend some or all of their lives in bodies of fresh water such as rivers, lakes, ponds and inland wetlands, where the salinity is less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine habitats in many wa ...

, and may contain a mixture of different fish or a single species. It is traditionally garnished with small onions and mushrooms that have been cooked with the fish.

Name and techniques

is the feminine form of – sailor."matelote"
''Dictionnaire de l'Académie française''. Retrieved 10 September 2023 The dates the word from the 16th century and defines it as "A dish consisting of one or more kinds of

, stewed with wine and herbs". The term is recorded in English use from the 18th century onward. are also called , , , , or according to district and method of preparation.Montagné, pp. 612–613 According to

Prosper Montagné Prosper Montagné (; 14 November 1865 – 22 April 1948) was one of the most renowned French chefs of the Belle Époque and author of many books and articles on food, cooking, and gastronomy, notably '' Larousse Gastronomique'' (1938), an encyclo ...

in '' Larousse Gastronomique'', the only made from sea fish is the , which is made with sole,

conger eel ''Conger'' ( ) is a genus of marine congrid eels. It includes some of the largest types of eels, ranging up to or more in length, in the case of the European conger. Large congers have often been observed by divers during the day in parts of ...

and gurnet. Montagné adds, "The term is also loosely and improperly applied to dishes made of veal and poultry. We confine ourselves merely to mentioning this misnomer. We cannot recommend that it should be used in the drawing-up of menus". Most are garnished with small onions and mushrooms, cooked with the fish, and often with freshwater

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. Taxonomically, they are members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. They breathe through feather-like gills. Some spe ...

cooked in a

court-bouillon Court-bouillon or court bouillon (in Louisiana, pronounced ''coo-bee-yon'') is a quickly-cooked broth used for poaching (food), poaching other foods, most commonly fish (food), fish or seafood. It is also sometimes used for poaching vegetables, e ...

. Croutons or other variants of fried bread are generally served with the dish.

Variants

Despite the disapproval of ''Larousse'', calves' brains may be served , poached in stock with sliced onions, carrots and red wine, served sliced, garnished with the glazed onions, mushrooms and heart-shaped croutons typical of . In the mid-18th-century the English cook

Hannah Glasse Hannah Glasse (; March 1708 – 1 September 1770) was an English cookery writer of the 18th century. Her first cookery book, ''The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy'', published in 1747, became the best-selling recipe book that century. It wa ...

published a recipe for what she called "A Pig Matelot", which included crayfish, eels, white wine and herbs, but also most of a whole pig, chopped into pieces. In 1909 Auricoste de Lazarque published a recipe for , for those who have been let down by their fishmonger. It uses most of the usual ingredients but replaces the missing fish with slices of firmly-cooked omelette.David, 1999, pp. 465–466

Name and techniques

Variants

Notes, references and sources

Notes

References

Sources