James Beard's New Fish Cookery - James Beard [77]
You will find that this dish is a welcome change from the usual fish salad.
Smelt
Columbia River smelt, which are related to Eastern smelt, are the best I have tasted. They are fat, rich, and mildly flavored. Their oil content is so high that Indians used to dry them in large quantities and then burn them for light, a practice that led to their being known as “candlefish.”
During my childhood the smelt run in the Columbia River and its tributaries resembled an orgy. The word that the fish were running attracted thousands of people, many of whom had never baited a hook. The smelt were so abundant that the channel of a small stream would glisten with the silver of their bodies. I have watched entire families — men, women, and children — dragging the fish from the water with nets, bird cages, gunny sacks, and even old dresses knotted together. The squirming fish were dumped into boxes, and the sight of so many smelt and so much waste was far from appetizing. For a long time I disliked the fish and only in recent years have I become fond of them.
The smelt is sometimes called the “king” of the small fishes. Its relationship to the salmon gives it a distinctive flavor and good texture. Sometimes the smelt is excessively oily, or it may absorb unpleasant flavors of the river. When this happens, the only thing to do is discard the fish.
In New England, as on the Pacific Coast, the smelt is a migrating saltwater fish. The Great Lakes smelt is a transplant from New England. It has flourished in fresh water, but has retained the migratory habits of its marine ancestors. During the spawning seasons, it runs up the streams and rivers of the Great Lakes region. In all locations, coastal and inland, the spawning season of the smelt is variable, and a run may last a week or so.
Most people like smelt cooked crisp in butter or oil, and some people like them crisp enough to eat the bones. As a matter of personal preference I recommend boning the fish.
BROILED SMELT
Split and clean the smelt. Brush them well with butter, dip in cream, and roll in crumbs until they are well coated. Broil over charcoal, basting with butter during the broiling process. (You may skewer them, if you wish, and make your task easier.) Salt and pepper to taste.
SAUTÉED SMELT
Split and clean the smelt and bone them if you wish. However, it is a simple job to do this after they are cooked — just remove the head and backbone at one time.
Dip the fish in flour and sauté them quickly in butter or oil. Season to taste and serve with tartar sauce (pages 35–36) or sauce rémoulade (page 35).
VARIATIONS
1. Split the smelt at the back and remove the bone. Dip the fish in beaten egg and then in finely rolled crumbs. Sauté quickly in butter, browning well on both sides. Season to taste and serve with tartar sauce.
2. Bone the smelt as above and then marinate them in lemon or lime juice for 1 hour. Roll them in flour and sauté in olive oil very quickly. Season to taste and serve with lemon or lime butter (pages 31–32).
3. Split the smelt at the back and remove the bone. Dip the fish in beaten egg and then in finely rolled crumbs. Sauté in butter and add 1/2 cup buttered, toasted almonds to the pan. Season to taste.
4. Dip the fish in milk and roll in seasoned corn meal. Sauté in butter or olive oil. Serve with a tomato sauce (page 23).
5. Split the fish and remove the bones. Spread with mustard, dip in crumbs, and sprinkle with dry mustard, salt, and cayenne. Sauté in butter or oil and serve with a sauce diable (page 29).
FRIED SMELT
You may bone the fish, or not, before frying. Heat fat in your deep fryer to 375°. Dip the smelt in crumbs, then in beaten egg, then in crumbs again. Fry according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 11). Drain, season to taste, and serve with tartar sauce (pages 35–36) or sauce rémoulade (page 35). Always serve fried parsley (page 253) with smelt.
VARIATIONS
En Brochelle. Skewer the smelt S-shape