Truite au Bleu

In the compleat angler’s creel, you will find a small wooden club called a billy (smaller than the policeman’s billy club or nightstick and not coated with dark varnish), used to stun fish when landing them. If you are going to make truite au bleu authentically, you will need a billy or its equivalent. Here is Escoffier’s recipe from Ma Cuisine (1934):

Start with live trout in a tank. Keep a shallow pot of salted and vinegared boiling water ready. T