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Deviled Sardines
Scrape the skin off some sardines, split them lengthwise, lift the bones out carefully, trim them neatly, and spread a small quantity of made mustard over them; season with moderate quantities of salt and pepper and a few drops of lemon juice. In about an hour's time lay the sardines on a gridiron and broil them over a clear fire. When delicately browned lay them on a hot dish over which has been spread an ornamental dish-paper or a folded napkin and serve. Garnish with fried parsley.
A savoury from the era when tinned sardines were a luxury import and every good kitchen had a gridiron. The whole dish takes minutes once the fish have had their hour with the mustard.
- The fishAlmost certainly tinned sardines in oil rather than fresh, which is what a kitchen of the period would have had to hand year-round; the recipe itself only says "some sardines." Drain them well before splitting, and choose the largest tin available; small brisling will fall apart.
- Made mustard"Made" mustard simply means mustard already mixed with liquid, as opposed to dry powder. English mustard suits a devilled dish; a smooth Dijon works and is milder.
- The hour's restThe recipe simply gives the mustard, salt and lemon an hour to season the fish before broiling. Keep them refrigerated during the wait, and bring them back to room temperature before broiling.
- Gridiron and clear fireA clear fire is one burned down to steady coals with no flame or smoke — flare-ups from the fish oil are the enemy here. A hot broiler set 3-4 inches from the element, or a ridged grill pan, gives the same result. Oil the bars first; sardine skin welds itself to hot metal.
- How longOne to two minutes a side, at most. The fish is already cooked; the object is to brown the mustard coating and heat it through. Anything longer dries it to a chip. Turn once, with a spatula rather than tongs.
- Fried parsleyFlat-leaf or curly parsley, thoroughly dry, dropped into 350F oil for about ten seconds until it stops hissing and turns brilliant green. Wet parsley will spit violently. Drain on paper and salt lightly.
- The dish-paperA pierced or lace-cut paper doily laid on the platter to absorb oil, standard service in hotel dining rooms of the period. A folded napkin, which the recipe offers as the alternative, does the same job.
- YieldOne tin of sardines, split, serves two as a savoury or a first course. Traditionally set on hot buttered toast fingers, though Oscar leaves that unsaid.
Devilling — coating something in mustard, cayenne and pepper and then browning it hard — was one of the standard British savoury treatments of the nineteenth century, applied to kidneys, bones of cold roast fowl, biscuits and, in this case, tinned fish. The savoury course, a small hot and highly seasoned dish served after the sweet, is often said to have crossed to American hotel dining rooms along with much else from the London club table, and Oscar Tschirky's Cook Book of 1896 records dozens of them. Sardines belonged in that company because canning had made them cheap and reliable: commercial sardine canning is generally traced to Nantes in the 1820s, spreading to the Breton ports thereafter, and by the end of the century tinned sardines in oil were a pantry staple on both sides of the Atlantic, an ingredient a kitchen could rely on year-round when fresh fish could not be. The elaborate presentation here — the dish-paper, the folded napkin, the fried parsley — is Waldorf convention rather than cookery, and tells you the dish was expected to arrive at table looking as though considerable trouble had been taken over it.