beginning at the tail. This will press out the insides at the opening
at the gills. Wash them, and drain in the colander; salt well, and dip
in beaten egg and bread or cracker crumbs (one egg and one cupful of
crumbs to twelve smelts, unless these are very large). Dip first in
the egg, and then roll in the crumbs. Fry in boiling fat deep enough
to float them. They should be a handsome brown in two minutes and a
half. Take them up, and place on a sheet of brown paper for a few
moments, to drain; then place on a hot dish. Garnish with parsley and
a few slices of lemon, and serve with Tartare sauce in a separate
dish; or, they may be served without the sauce.


Smelts as a Garnish,

Smelts are often fried, as for _a la Tartare_; or, rolled in meal
or flour, and then fried, they are used to garnish other kinds of
fish. With baked fish they are arranged around the dish in any form
that the taste of the cook may dictate; but in garnishing fish, or any
other dish, the arrangement should always be simple, so as not to make
the matter of serving any harder than if the dish were not garnished.
Smelts are also seasoned well with salt and pepper, dipped in butter
and afterwards in flour, and placed in a very hot oven for eight or
ten minutes to get a handsome brown. They are then served as a garnish
or on slices of buttered toast. When smelts are used as a garnish,
serve one on each plate with the other fish. If you wish to have the
smelts in rings, for a garnish, fasten the tails in the opening at the
gills, with little wooden tooth picks; then dip them in the beaten egg
and in the crumbs, place in the frying basket and plunge into the
boiling fat. When they are cooked take out the skewers, and they will
retain their shape.