Whitebait, Devilled (Blanchailles a la Diable)

Ingredients

• 1 pt. whitebait
• freshly ground black or red pepper

Method

1. 1

   Prepare in the same way as the last recipe, sprinkling with pepper before the second frying.

Nutrition per serving

As published

This recipe was extracted from Cookery for every household (1914) by Florence B. Jack, page 161. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

1 pt. whitebait. Flour. Salt. These fish must be perfectly fresh, and should be carefully looked over to free them from weeds or other undesirable matter. Wash and rinse them in icy cold water, handling them as lightly as possible, and leave them in a colander or basin with a lump of ice until they are wanted. Have ready on the fire a saucepan of boiling fat or oil (see p. 248). Spread the fish on a clean cloth to drain. In another cloth put 2 or 3 table-spoonfuls flour, place a few of the whitebait on the top and toss them in it Whitebait until evenly coated, and separate one from the other. Empty the bait without delay into a fry- ing basket, and shake well to let the loose flour fall out. Plunge it into the hot fat and fry about 2 minutes, shaking the basket gently all the time. The whitebait must not be coloured this first frying. Lift out the basket, allow the fat to drip from it, and turn the fish on to paper to drain. Proceed with more in the same way until all are finished. Then allow the fat to reheat, put back the fish into the basket (there may be as many as the fat will cover this time), and fry them a second time until brown and crisp, about 2 minutes. Drain on paper and season with fine salt. Serve at once on a hot fish d’oyley, and garnish with quarters of fresh lemon. Thin brown bread and butter should be handed separately. Notes. — In large establishments it will save time to have two saucepans of fat for frying whitebait, bo that it can be finished off at once The success of the dish depends on little and fight handling, quick flouring, and hot fat. When properly done the whitebait should be crisp, and each fish distinct and separate. Time, about 5 minutes to fry. Sufficient for 4 persons. 266. Whitebait, Devilled (Blanchailles a la Diable) Prepare in the same way as last recipe, sprinkling the whitebait with freshly ground black or red pepper

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