Whitebait

Ingredients

• whitebait
• roll them in flour
• well-heated frying fat
• sprinkle on a little salt
• quarters of lemon
• cayenne pepper
• cut brown bread

Method

1. 1

   Drain whitebait on a cloth.

2. 2

   Roll in flour and shake off excess.

3. 3

   Fry in hot fat until crisp, about one minute.

4. 4

   Drain, sprinkle with salt, and serve with lemon, cayenne pepper, and brown bread.

Nutrition per serving

Estimated from matched ingredients across 4 servings.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Practical household cookery (1891) by E. Duret, page 94. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

Whitebait. It is said that whitebait is the rich man's fish, beginning when Parliament meets, and finishing when Parliament Adjoui-n& 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. Fi*ank Buckland tells us that whitebait is nothing else but the fry of sprats, herrings, gobies, weevers, sand- eels, 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 well- heated 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

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.