Sprats to Resemble Anchovies
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cure
Mix together the common salt, coarse sea salt, and sifted loaf sugar.
Pack the jar
Spread a layer of wiped sprats at the bottom of a jar and sprinkle some of the salt mixture over them.
Continue layering sprats and the salt mixture alternately until the jar is full.
Store
Tie a bladder and leather over the jar and place it in a cool, dry place.
Turn the jar frequently.
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 fish being cured; salt draws out moisture and firms the flesh.
- Common salt
- Draws moisture out of the fish and preserves it by inhibiting spoilage.
- Coarse sea salt
- Adds salt and slowly draws moisture from the fish during curing.
- Loaf sugar
- Balances the salt with sweetness and softens the sharpness of the cure.
The step that matters
Layering the sprats with the salt mixture. Each fish must be fully covered by salt so that moisture is drawn out evenly. Gaps in the layers let parts of the fish spoil before the cure takes hold.
“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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