Taking a Dover Sole to the Bone

  • Betty Wood celebrates the humble fish knife in this shoot by Nicholas Thompson
    The Dover sole, Nick Thompson

    The fish knife is a misunderstood culinary utensil, often placed beside fish pie and tronçon indiscriminately. But the fish knife’s use is specialised and should be celebrated — a master of its purpose, it is cleanly and elegantly designed to allow on-the-bone fish to be dissembled with grace.

    Though often viewed as archaic, the fish knife itself is actually a relatively modern invention; until the Georgian period, fish was usually served with two forks. The forks were used to pull the fish-meat free from the bones, rather than ‘cut’ it free. Then — as now —
    a certain degree of snobbery surrounded the utensil, as a fish knife cutlery set was bought rather than inherited, suggesting a degree of ‘new money’.

    The knife itself is made of silver, the reason for which several popular theories have emerged over the years in order to account for. The first is based on the idea that knives were traditionally made of steel, which was said to react badly with acids in the fish, tainting for flavour of the food. The second theory asserts that it was actually the fish that tainted the steel, the acids of which gradually turned the blade black over time.

    Of course, silver as a precious metal signifies wealth, as does the enjoyment of fine dining, so a third, slightly more class-based assessment might also contribute some way to explaining its makeup.

    With a thinner blade than the traditional, serrated knife, the fillet knife is designed so that it can maneuver cleanly along the backbone of the fish, moving flexibly around the bones, and allowing the skin to be sliced away cleanly from the fish meat.

    Here, Madeleine Koll, Chef de Rang at Scott’s Restaurant in Mayfair explains how to take the Dover sole, Scott’s signature dish, to the bone in under a minute using this recondite utensil.

  • Dover sole: crack off the head and tail, and remove the roe
    .1.Starting with the head, crack this off first, before doing the same to the tail. Once these are separated from the body, run the fish knife down the sides [of the sole] to remove the roes — try to make this movement as smooth as possible to ensure it comes away cleanly. Push this to the side, away from the flesh, and repeat on the other side of the fish.

    Transfer the fish to the plate, leaving the bones on the tray.

  • Dover sole: Slide the knife through the length of the fish, detaching the fish-meat from the spine
    .2.Slide the knife through the fish and along the length, detaching the fish-meat from the spine.
  • Dover sole: push the fish meat away from the spine to the edges of the plate
    .3.Run the fish knife along the spine to split the fish-meat in half, and using the flatside of the knife, push the fish-meat to the sides of the plate, leaving the spine exposed.
  • Dover sole: Lift the spine clean of the fish-meat using the flat of the blade
    .4.Complete, and in one fluid motion, lift the whole skeleton using the flat of the blade.
  • Dover sole: reposition the fish meat and serve

    Words Betty Wood
    Photography Nicholas
    Thompson

    5.Using the flat side of the knife, reposition the fish-meat and serve.
    ..
    Additional note: Dover sole produce more roe when they are spawning during the spring and summer months. Some restaurants remove the dish from their menus during this period, however, many patrons will ask for the roe as a speciality. Dover sole is served year round by Scott’s where it is their signature dish.

    Restaurant: Scott’s, 20 Mount Street London W1K 2HE

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