I have been able to glean that the lady who wrote the current batch of recipes was from the Long Beach, CA vicinity, based on some business references on the backs of scratch papers she used. While it’s not difficult today to get fresh fish nearly everywhere, there is nothing like fresh caught fish from the ocean. Both sole and halibut are available at local markets, although at the time this lady was making & writing this recipe, fish markets were much more interesting than they are today.

As a child in the 1970s, I visited with my family the dorey fishermen, which were a long traditional fishing fleet in Southern California. These fishermen went out in their boats before the sun rose, fished, and then came back in to beach their boats and sell their catch right off the bow. They always had a wide selection, from halibut and sole to red snapper and varieties of sea bass. It was incredibly noisy with the gulls screaming for their tribute & people milling all around on the sand. I like to imagine the lady who wrote these recipes purchased her fish at a place like this. These dorey fishermen are effectively gone – especially the selling of their catch on the boats brought up on the beach – as developers have decided that housing is more valuable on the Southern California coast than industry or fishing.

Sea Food Hollandaise

First – clean, skin & bone (trout, sole or halibut). Cut in individual pieces, season – salt & pepper. Melt 4 tablespoons of Crisco in hot skillet and brown fish quickly on one side. Turn fish, cover skillet and cook slowly 10 or 15 min, until done. Serve with following sauce.

3 T Crisco

2 T lemon juice

2 egg yolks

2 T flour

12 fresh shrimp or 1 can

Cup hot water

1/2 cup cooked mushrooms

1/2 t salt

Melt Crisco in saucepan, stir in flour, add 1 cup hot water slowly cook over slow heat (or hot water) stirring frequently, when mixture thickens add seasonings & lemon juice, stir in well beaten egg yolks before removing from fire. Warm mushrooms and shrimps & add just before serving.

Note, I think you can sub butter for Crisco if you like. It may change the flavor a bit, but traditional Hollandaise sauce is made with butter.