Anything cooked à la meunière is also generally sprinkled with lemon juice and chopped parsley.

[3] I am always rather surprised when I read in books and articles that to cook fish à la meunière is one of the simplest of achievements.

In his 1846 cookery book The Gastronomic Regenerator, Alexis Soyer leaves the skin on the fish and rubs salt and chopped onions into it, before grilling it whole and, once cooked, adding a sauce of melted butter with lemon juice and cayenne pepper.

[5] The method most widely used today is similar to that given by Auguste Escoffier in 1907: the dark skin is removed from a whole sole; the fish is then coated with flour, fried in butter, sprinkled with lemon juice and chopped parsley, and served with very hot melted butter poured over it.

[1][9] A more marked departure from the norm is reported by Patricia Wells in a 2003 collection of Parisian chefs' recipes.