Dressed Whitebait Recipe

Instructions

1. Take the whitebait out of the water with the fingers, drain them, and throw them into a cloth upon which flour has been strewn.
2. Shake them in the cloth to make the flour adhere to them, then toss them in a large wide sieve to free them from the superfluous flour.
3. If the fish stick together, separate them, but they will not do this if they are fresh.
4. Have ready plenty of boiling beef-fat (this is much better than shortening, which is usually recommended), put the whitebait, a few at a time, into a wire basket, plunge in the boiling fat, and leave them for a minute or two.
5. At the end of that time shake them to keep them from sticking together, and when they are slightly crisp without being browned they are done enough.
6. Drain them from the fat while they are still in the basket, sprinkle a little salt upon them, pile them on a napkin, garnish with parsley, and serve very hot.
7. Send quarters of lemon and brown bread and butter to table with them.
8. Time to fry the whitebait, a few minutes.