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The Whole Art of Curing, Pickling, and Smoking Meat and Fish
The Whole Art of Curing Pickling and Smoking Meat and Fish Author:James Robinson Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: SMOKED SPRATS. 15 cut the fish across in pieces, half an inch in breadth, and pour a spoonful of the pickle over it. Dry toast, or bread and butter, should be... more » sent to table with them. But I have seen them introduced with wine, particularly where the party has sat late. SMOKED SPRATS. As fresh sprats generally come to hand as they issued from the nets, it will be necessary to pick out the largest, and then the second size, rejecting the remainder, or refuse, which, however, may be useful to pot. Your fish being kept separate, must be put into baskets, and well washed in salt and water, then set to drain an hour, and afterwards plunged into a pickle that will float an egg, as for bloaters (see page 7.): the smaller ones may be taken out of pickle in four hours, and the large ones in six hours, and be set to drain; which done, proceed to stick them on your frames, the eye 16 SMOKED MACKEREL. being pierced by each nail, and then, with a steady hand, put into the chimney. Set on a gentle heat for half an hour, and let it be succeeded by a strong smoke for twelve hours longer, and you will find them of a bright gold colour, and they will then be " Bloated Sprats," and when cold will be fit for immediate consumption; but if you want them to keep a month or so, you must continue the smoke on them for thirty hours, or until they become a dark brown colour; and if for packing, they should be placed as bloaters, keeping the same-sized ones together in a dry room, and after a few hours they will have sweated in the packages, and will be very mellow and fine flavoured. SMOKED MACKEREL. Take the mackerel as soon as you get them, (for they quickly become dark and lose flavour,) and with a light knife split open the back from head to tail; take out the guts, roes, and livers,...« less