To Pickle Sprats Like Anchovies
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the salt mixture
In a mortar, pound together the salt, saltpetre, bay salt, salt-prunella, and cochineal.
Pack and cure
In a stone pot or barrel, layer the sprats and the salt mixture until the pot is full. Press the sprats down hard and cover them tightly.
Let them stand for six months before using.
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
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the fish and preserves it during the long cure.
- Saltpetre
- Helps the cured fish keep a firm, pink-red colour during curing.
- Cochineal
- Adds a red colour to the sprats.
The step that matters
Pressing the sprats down and covering them tightly. Fish left exposed to air can spoil, because air lets spoilage microbes grow. Pressing the sprats firmly under the salt and sealing the pot keeps them packed and protected while the salt cures them over the long rest.
“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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