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To Make Sprats Taste Like Anchovies

Sprats preserved with salt, saltpetre, and cochineal to imitate anchovy flavor.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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To Make Sprats Taste Like Anchovies

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the sprats

  1. Salt the sprats well and let the salt drain for 24 hours.

  2. Wipe the sprats dry without washing them.

Pack and store

  1. Mix the common salt, coarse sea salt, saltpetre, sal prunel, and cochineal into a fine powder.

  2. Sprinkle the mixture among the sprats and pack them into two stone jars.

  3. Keep the jars in a cold place, sealed with a bladder.

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 small fish are the main ingredient, salted and cured to become firm and savoury.
Common salt
Draws moisture out of the fish and preserves it, giving the cured flavour.
Saltpetre
Helps preserve the fish and contributes to the characteristic colour of cured meats and fish.

The step that matters

Wipe the sprats dry without washing them. Washing would add water back to the fish and dilute the salt cure, while surface moisture left on the fish can encourage spoilage. Drying keeps the salt working on the flesh.

“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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