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Sprats As Anchovies

A preserved sprat recipe that uses salt, saltpetre, cochineal, and bole armeniac to create an anchovy-like product.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Sprats As Anchovies

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the sprats

  1. Remove the heads and guts from the sprats and place them in a wide jar without a neck.

  2. Combine the common coarse salt, saltpetre, coarse sea salt, sal-prunelle, and cochineal.

  3. Layer the sprats with the salt mixture, sprinkling between each layer. Press down the contents repeatedly.

  4. Fill the jar to the top, covering with more coarse sea salt.

Seal and cure

  1. Seal the jar with bladder or leather.

  2. After three months, dissolve a penny-worth of bright red bole armeniac in 1 quart of distilled water.

  3. Pour the dissolved bole over the sprats.

  4. Turn the jar upside down daily for a week to ensure the fish is saturated and covered with damp salt.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Sprats
The main fish, which is preserved and cured to take on an anchovy-like texture and flavour.
Common coarse salt
Draws out moisture and preserves the fish through curing.
Saltpetre
Acts as a curing agent that helps preserve the fish and keep its colour.
Coarse sea salt
Packs the jar and draws moisture from the fish, keeping it covered and preserved.
Cochineal
Adds red colour to the cured fish.

The step that matters

Turning the jar daily for a week. Salt must fully penetrate and stay in contact with the fish so it is saturated and kept covered by damp salt. Neglecting the turning can leave parts of the fish under-cured and exposed to spoilage.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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