French · Burgundy · main

Pochouse de Verdun-sur-le-Doubs

Pochouse de Verdun-sur-le-Doubs reads salinity 6.1, richness 5.5 and umami 4.9 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a French · Burgundy main, about 53 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 6.7 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 2.7 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 2.4 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 1.6 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 5.6 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 3.7 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Salinity 6.1 · Richness 5.5 · Umami 4.9 · Allium 3.3 · Herbaceous 2.9 · Fruity 2.2 · Sourness 1.9 · Citrus 1.8 · Funk & Ferment 1.6 · Sweetness 1.5 · Earthy 1.4 · Warm Spice 1.3 · Floral 1.1 · Bitterness 0.8

What's in it (18)

• mixed freshwater fish — 1500 g
• salt pork — 150 g
• pearl onions — 220 g
• button mushrooms — 200 g
• dry white wine — 750 g
• garlic — 16 g
• thyme — 2 g
• bay leaf — 1 g
• parsley — 320 g
• butter — 60 g
• all-purpose flour — 40 g
• brandy — 60 g
• heavy cream — 150 g
• baguette — 160 g
• unsalted butter — 40 g
• salt — 10 g
• freshly ground black pepper — 3 g
• parsley — 4 g

Time & effort: about 53 min · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 108.5 kcal, 1.6 g protein, 6.3 g fat, 7 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood · Contains dairy — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

1. The Doubs and the Saône meet at Verdun-sur-le-Doubs, and the town has cooked river fish in white wine for long enough to have a brotherhood devoted to it. The essential point, and the one that separates a pochouse from a matelote, is that it is made with white wine and river fish; a matelote uses red.
2. Ask the fishmonger for at least three species and insist on the eel — its fat and gelatine give the broth its body, and a pochouse without it is thin. Skin the eel and cut it into thick sections.
3. Render the lardons in a wide casserole over medium heat for 6 minutes, lift them out, then brown the button onions in the fat for 6 minutes and add the mushrooms for 4 more. Set all of it aside.
4. Put the crushed garlic and the bouquet garni in the pot, lay the eel pieces in and pour over the whole bottle of wine. No water: the wine is the entire liquid, which is why it should be a wine with some character. Bring it to a bare simmer and cook 10 minutes.
5. Add the firm fish — pike and tench — and cook 8 minutes, then the perch for a final 5. Freshwater fish go from underdone to woolly in about ninety seconds, so test the thickest piece with the point of a knife at the bone: it should come away cleanly but still look moist.
6. Lift all the fish out onto a warm dish and cover it. Whisk the beurre manié into the simmering broth in small pinches, letting each melt before adding the next, and cook 4 minutes to lose the floury taste.
7. Add the marc and the cream and simmer 5 minutes more, until the sauce is nappe and coats the back of a spoon. Return the lardons, onions and mushrooms, season, and slip the fish back in to warm through for 2 minutes without boiling.
8. Fry the baguette slices in butter until golden on both sides, about 3 minutes, and rub them with the cut garlic. Serve the pochouse in a deep dish with the croûtes round the edge and the parsley scattered over.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Tomato Florentine(Tortellini Soup) — Italian
• Gnocchi al Pomodoro — Italian
• Oeufs en Meurette — French · Burgundy
• Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta — Italian-American
• Cervelle de Canut — French · Lyon

Keep reading: what salinity, richness, umami mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.