Baked Mackerel is a traditional British recipe, based on Mrs Beeton's recipe of 1861, for a classic dish of mackerel stuffed with forcemeat that are dotted with butter and oven baked. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Baked Mackerel.
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This is a traditional British recipe redacted from the redoubtable Mrs Beeton's 1861 volume Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, the classic Victorian cookbook.
Original Recipe
279. INGREDIENTS.—4 middling-sized mackerel, a nice delicate forcemeat (see Forcemeats), 3 oz. of butter; pepper and salt to taste.
Mode.—Clean the fish, take out the roes, and fill up with forcemeat, and sew up the slit. Flour, and put them in a dish, heads and tails alternately, with the roes; and, between each layer, put some little pieces of butter, and pepper and salt. Bake for 1/2 an hour, and either serve with plain melted butter or a maître d'hôtel sauce.
Time.—1/2 hour. Average cost for this quantity, 1s. 10d.
Seasonable from April to July.
Sufficient for 6 persons.
Note.—Baked mackerel may be dressed in the same way as baked herrings (see No. 268), and may also be stewed in wine.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
4 middle-sized mackerel
12 tbsp Mrs Beeton's fish forcemeat (depending on the size of the fish)
flour for dusting
90g butter
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
Method:
Clean the fish and de-scale. Fill the body cavities with the forcemeat then sew up the openings. Dust with flour then place in a baking dish, setting them heat to tail. Season to taste then dot with butter.
Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180°C and bake for 30 minutes. Lift the cooked fish onto a serving plate and accompany with melted butter or maître d'hôtel sauce.
