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Vol-au-vent with fish

Erken's vol-au-vent with fish from 1914: a puff-pastry shell built from two round rounds with a ring, baked about 45 min, filled with a thick fish stew of 500 g cooked fish, a butter sauce thickened with egg yolk and seasoned with salt, sugar, and lobster coloring.

Source: Henriette Schønberg Erken, Stor kokebok, 1914-utg. s. 17 (falt i det fri)

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About the dish

The recipe belongs to a series of vol-au-vent dishes in the chapter "Hot and cold small dishes." The vol-au-vent was one of the great showpiece dishes in bourgeois homes around 1900: a tall puff-pastry shell filled with a fine stew just before serving. Erken assumes the reader has already read the preceding general explanation of the puff-pastry shell.

How to make it

  1. 1

    Roll out the dough

    Roll the puff pastry out into a sheet 1 cm thick. Cut out two equally large round rounds, roughly the size of a plate.

  2. 2

    Make the ring

    Cut the center out of one round so you have a ring about 8 cm wide. The center piece is used as a lid.

  3. 3

    Assemble

    Brush the whole round with egg white and set the ring on top. Brush the ring and the lid with egg white.

  4. 4

    Bake the shell

    Bake the vol-au-vent at good heat (about 200 °C (390 °F)) for roughly 45 minutes, until it is risen, crisp, and golden. Bake the lid alongside.

  5. 5

    Make the fish stew

    Melt the butter, stir in the flour, and thin with the boiling cream-milk a little at a time to a smooth, thick sauce. Let it simmer a few minutes.

  6. 6

    Thicken and season

    Take the pot off the heat and thicken the sauce with the egg yolk. Season with salt, sugar, and, if you like, a little lobster coloring.

  7. 7

    Fold in the fish

    Cut the cooked fish into neat pieces and warm them gently in the sauce without letting it boil.

  8. 8

    Plating

    Set the hot shell on a platter with a napkin, fill it with the fish stew, put the lid on, and serve at once.

Changes from the original

Measurements have been converted to modern Norwegian units (dl, tbsp, tsp, g), "cream-milk" has been interpreted as half cream and half milk, and lobster coloring has been made optional (may be omitted or replaced with a little tomato purée). Ready-made puff pastry is mentioned as an alternative. The fish stew, which Erken only refers to, has been written out as concrete steps based on the ingredient list.

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Time machine – what changed?

Pick two editions and see what Henriette Schønberg Erken added, removed or changed between them.

From19141949Modernised
To19141949Modernised
Modernised → 1949 (proofread, p. 24)~87% of the text changedremovedadded
500 g gr. fisk (kokt, f.eks. torsk, kveite eller sei, uten skinn og ben). 40 g smør. gr. smør 35 g hvetemel. 5 dl gr. hvetemel 4 del. kokende fløtemelk (halvt fløte, halvt melk). 1 stk eggeplomme. 1 knivsodd hummerfarge (kan sløyfes, eventuelt litt tomatpuré). 1 ts eggeplomme 2 knivsodder hummerfarve salt (etter smak). 1 knivsodd sukker. 1 porsjon sukker butterdeig (av 250 g smør, eller ca. 600 g ferdig butterdeig). 1 stk eggehvite (til pensling). Kjevle butterdeigen ut av ¾ kg. smør. Butterdeigen utkjevles til en leiv som er 1 cm tykk. Stikk cm. tykk lev, og herav ut stikkes to like store, store runde plater, omtrent på lever av størrelse med omtrent som en tallerken.. Stikk midten ut av tallerken. Av den ene platen slik lev utstikkes midten, således at det ringen blir en ring på ca. 8 cm bredde. Midtpartiet brukes 5-8 cm.; midt partiet benyttes som lokk.. Pensle lokk. Ringen legges på den hele runde platen lev, som er penslet med eggehvite og legg ringen på. Pensle ringen eggekvite. Ringen og lokket pensles og så over med eggehvite.. Stek vol-au-venten eggekvite. Vol-au-venfen stekes ved god varme (ca. 200 °C) i omtrent 45 minutter, til den er hevet, sprø og gyllen. Lokket stekes ved siden av.. Smelt smørret, rør inn melet og spe med den kokende fløtemelken litt om litt til en jevn, tykk saus. La den småkoke noen minutter.. Ta kjelen av varmen og jevn sausen med eggeplommen. Smak til ca. ¾ time. Fylles med salt, sukker og eventuelt litt hummerfarge.. Del den kokte fisken i pene stykker og varm dem forsiktig i sausen uten at den koker.. Sett det varme skallet på et fat med serviett, fyll det med fiskestuingen, legg lokket på og server straks. stuede fisk.

Note on Modernised

Mål er omregnet til moderne norske enheter (dl, ss, ts, g), «fløtemelk» er tolket som halvparten fløte og halvparten melk, og hummerfarge er gjort valgfri (kan sløyfes eller erstattes med litt tomatpuré). Ferdig butterdeig er nevnt som alternativ. Fiskestuingen, som Erken bare henviser til, er skrevet ut som konkrete trinn ut fra ingredienslisten.

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Frequently asked questions

What does the vol-au-vent consist of?
A puff-pastry shell made from puff pastry with 1/4 kg butter: two round rounds about 1 cm thick, plate-sized. The center is cut out of one so you get a ring about 8 cm wide, and the center piece is used as a lid. The ring is set on the base round, and everything is brushed with egg white.
How long is the vol-au-vent baked?
About 3/4 hour (45 minutes) at good heat. Then it is filled with the stewed fish.
What goes into the fish filling?
500 g fish stewed in a sauce of 40 g butter, 35 g wheat flour, and 1/2 liter boiling cream-milk, thickened with 1 egg yolk and seasoned with salt, 1 knife-tip of sugar, and 1 knife-tip of lobster coloring.
Where does the recipe come from?
From Henriette Schønberg Erken's Stor kokebok (1914), page 17, in the chapter on hot and cold small dishes. It serves 6.

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