A method of preparing fish by slashing them while alive and leaving an hour or so in water before being plain boiled.
This unusually English procedure was described in Francis Grose's 'Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue' as "a cruel manner of cutting up fish alive, practised by the London fishmongers, in order to make it eat firm; cod, and other crimped fish, being a favourite dish among voluptuaries and epicures."
M. Escoffier was equally unimpressed: "Crimped fish is quite an English speciality. ... But does this barbarous method, which stiffens and contracts the flesh of the fish, affect its quality so materially as connoisseurs would have us believe?" Mrs.B was more enthusiastic; "Skate is not good if dressed too fresh, unless it is crimped"