Practical household cookery

Take the smelts, pull out the gills carefully, trim the fins, and wipe the fish with a cloth. Then steep them in milk and flour them, or else flour them first and pass through beaten eggs, and afterwards put them in fine bread-crumbs. Fry in some properly heated lard or fat till of a nice colour and crisp ; dish up on a napkin ; garnish with fried parsley, and serve with a lemon cut in four. Note, — The above mode is generally the one used to serve smelts, but they can also be dressed au gratin, in which case the larger ones are preferable. Proceed as for sole au gratin (No. 428). Remabks on Whitebait. It is said that whitebait is the rich man's fish, beginning when Parliament meets, and finishing when Parliament Adjourns. The fact is, that its season proper is from February to August. There are many controversies on the subject of whitebait, as to whether it is the fry of other fish or a distinct species of fish. Mr. Frank Buckland tells us that whitebait is nothing else but the fry of sprats, herrings, gobies, weevers, sandeels, smelts, pipe-fish, sticklebacks, and gore-bills. Be this so or not, whitebait has now become a valuable article of food, but owing io its extreme delicacy, it cannot be conveyed any great distance without injury ; neither can it be kept fresh many hours after it has been caught. 472. WHITEBAIT. The following is the only mode of properly cooking whitebait : — Drain it on a clean cloth so that all the water is thoroughly absorbed, but abstain as much as possible from handling so delicate a fish. Then roll them in flour and place them on a coarse sieve to remove any excess of flour, by gently shaking them. Then drop them into wellheated frying fat (lard preferred) of about 400° Fahrenheit temperature, and as soon as they become crisp (which will be in about one minute, and is shown by the whity-brown colour) drain on a sieve for a minute or so. Sprinkle on a little salt ; dish up on a napkin on a hot dish, and serve with quarters of lemon, cayenne pepper, and cut brown bread and butter on plates npart. Bemarks on Sprats. These small fish might be employed to better advantage and be a source of great income to fishermen were their monetaiy value better understood ; in fact, sprats ought to be placed among the most beneficial and profitable fish caught, for by proper care and management they could bo turned into food, sauce, and paste, as well as manure. The latter form of using them, however, would very ,soon be discarded if their different modes and preparation as an accessory to food were known. Sprats can be preserved in the same manner as anchovies and made into paste sauce and butter (see Anchovy Butter). They can also be preserved in oil, in the same way as sardines in tins (and this should be an industry in itself), but very often are sold, I am sorry to say, with the brand of the latter name. Therefore if sprats are offered and sold to the public under different forms and names, their quality is appreciated, and should be so recognised and dealt with under their proper name, when they would, as a matter of course, very soon assume their real commercial value. 473. SPRATS, BROILED. Clean and wipe the sprats (which must be fresh) in a coarse cloth, in order to remove the scales by gently rubbing the fish ; place them afterwards on a gridiron and broil over a brisk fire for two minutes on each side ; sprinkle with salt, and serve on a very hot dish with a little melted butter poured over. 474. SPRATS, FRIED. Clean and wipe the sprats as in the foregoing, and follow the directions given for smelts fried (No. 471). 475. SPRATS AU GRATIN. After having cleaned and wiped the largest sprats as described, proceed as for haddock au gratin (No. 455). 476. SPRATS, CITIZEN STYLE.