_Mode_.--This fish should be put into iced water as soon as bought,
unless they are cooked immediately. Drain them from the water in a
colander, and have ready a nice clean dry cloth, over which put 2 good
handfuls of flour. Toss in the whitebait, shake them lightly in the
cloth, and put them in a wicker sieve to take away the superfluous
flour. Throw them into a pan of boiling lard, very few at a time, and
let them fry till of a whitey-brown colour. Directly they are done, they
must he taken out, and laid before the fire for a minute or two on a
sieve reversed, covered with blotting-paper to absorb the fat. Dish them
on a hot napkin, arrange the fish very high in the centre, and sprinkle
a little salt over the whole.
_Time_.--3 minutes.
_Seasonable _from April to August.
[Illustration: WHITEBAIT.]
WHITEBAIT.--This highly-esteemed little fish appears in
innumerable multitudes in the river Thames, near Greenwich and
Blackwall, during the month of July, when it forms, served with
lemon and brown bread and butter, a tempting dish to vast
numbers of Londoners, who flock to the various taverns of these
places, in order to gratify their appetites. The fish has been
supposed be the fry of the shad, the sprat, the smelt, or the
bleak. Mr. Yarrell, however, maintains that it is a species in
itself, distinct from every other fish. When fried with flour,
it is esteemed a great delicacy. The ministers of the Crown have
had a custom, for many years, of having a "whitebait dinner"
just before the close of the session. It is invariably the
precursor of the prorogation of Parliament, and the repast is
provided by the proprietor of the "Trafalgar," Greenwich.
FISH PIE, WITH TENCH AND EELS.