Broiled Smelts
Smelts are not split open and cleaned, but the entrails are squeezed out carefully so as not to bruise the fish, and the heads are left on. For a dozen large smelts put three tablespoons of butter, one of lemon juice, one of salt and one-half teaspoon of pepper in a deep plate on the back of the stove where the butter will slowly melt. On another plate place three tablespoons of flour. Wash and wipe the fish and roll each first in the melted, seasoned butter, and then lightly in the flour. Arrange them on a double broiler and cook four or five minutes over clear coals. Serve on a warm dish with remoulade sauce.
A straightforward broil that depends almost entirely on very high, very dry heat and a fish small enough to cook through before its skin scorches. Two details in the original — the coal fire and the hinged broiler — need translating.
- "Clear coals"Coals burned down past the flame and smoke stage, glowing and even. On a gas or electric broiler, preheat fully and put the rack in the top position, 3-4 inches from the element; on a charcoal grill, wait until the coals are ashed over. Flame or smoke at this stage will taint the fish and blacken the flour.
- The double broilerA hinged wire basket with two grids that clamp the fish between them, so the whole dozen turns at once and no skin tears. A fish grilling basket is the direct modern equivalent. On an oven broiler you can skip it and use a preheated, oiled rack over a sheet pan, turning once with a thin spatula.
- "Back of the stove"The coolest zone of a wood or coal range, used here only to soften the butter without browning it. A bowl set over warm water, or ten seconds at low power in a microwave, does the same. The butter should be melted but not hot, or the flour will clump on contact.
- Cleaning smeltsSqueezing the entrails out through the vent keeps the belly wall intact so the fish holds together on the grill. Many fishmongers now sell smelts already cleaned. Heads on is traditional and helps them hold shape; remove them after cooking if you prefer.
- The saltA tablespoon of salt in three tablespoons of butter reads as a great deal, but most of the seasoned butter stays in the plate — it is a dip, not a marinade. If you are making the butter mixture to scale for fewer fish, reduce the salt by half and taste.
- TimingFour to five minutes appears to be the total; the recipe does not mention turning, though the hinged double broiler makes a single turn partway natural. Smelts are small — those sold as 'large' still only a few inches to a hand's length — and cook through almost immediately; overcooked they dry out and the flesh goes mealy. The skin should be crisp and lightly blistered.
- RemouladeIn this period a remoulade is a mayonnaise sharpened with mustard, capers, chopped herbs and often anchovy — not the pink, paprika-heavy Louisiana version. Any good tartare-style sauce serves. Lemon wedges alone are also entirely correct.
- YieldA dozen large smelts is two to three servings as a main course, four or five as a first course. Serve immediately; they lose their crispness within a couple of minutes of leaving the heat.
Smelts are small, silvery, oily fish that run up coastal rivers to spawn in early spring, historically in such numbers that they were netted in quantity and sold cheap by the pound. That abundance is why they turn up in a general-purpose household book of this kind, whose fish chapter leans on what was seasonal and inexpensive in American markets around the turn of the twentieth century. The instruction not to split them reflects the way smelts were eaten — whole, the fine bones of the smaller fish crisping down to nothing — which is also why the heads stay on and the gutting is done by pressure rather than a knife. Pairing them with a remoulade reflects the period's habit of dressing even the humblest fish in a French sauce, a gesture toward restaurant cooking that is common in American cookbooks of the era.