Name: Sprats to Resemble Anchovies
Ingredients: ½ pound common salt; ½ pound coarse sea salt (formerly 'bay salt'); ¼ pound sifted loaf sugar; wiped sprats

Sprats to Resemble Anchovies

Ingredients

½ pound common salt
½ pound coarse sea salt (formerly 'bay salt')
¼ pound sifted loaf sugar
wiped sprats

Directions

Mix together the common salt, coarse sea salt, and sifted loaf sugar.
Spread a layer of wiped sprats at the bottom of a jar.
Sprinkle some of the salt and sugar mixture over the sprats.
Lay another layer of sprats on top.

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 fish itself, the main ingredient that is cured and preserved in layers.
Common salt: Draws moisture out of the fish and preserves it through curing.
Coarse sea salt: Adds salting power and firm texture to the cured fish through slow penetration.
Loaf sugar: Balances the sharpness of the salt and softens the harshness of the cure.

“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.