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Sprat Lunch
by Oregano @ 2007-11-17 - 19:12:27

After a full morning and midday working in the garden we had a simple but tasty lunch. I had bought just over 300 g of sprats for 90 p yesterday evening and we grilled them.

In the UK, I have always thought you should clean fish unless they are tiny like whitebait. However I was surprised this summer in Portugal to see that sardines, squid and smaller fish were grilled uncleaned. When we had sardines that way the flesh seemed to separate from the inedible parts quite well.

However, we decided to be conservative. Cleaning sprats is easy with scissors. Just cut through most of the fish from the top behind the gills, almost all the way through. A little tug will also bring most of the innards with it too. To be sure do a second snip along the belly to the anus and remove any remaining guts. Cleaning is not onerous for 300 grams (3 people) but if you were doing this for 10 people it would be a bit of a drag.

Season with salt, pepper and a little oil. Grill for 5 minutes (3 minutes for the first side, 2 minutes for the second) and serve with lemon.

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RunDontWalkRunDontWalk pro
http://menomamauk.blog.co.uk
2007-11-18 @ 05:22

I must google sprats to see what they look like.

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OreganoOregano pro
http://outdoors.blog.co.uk
2007-11-18 @ 09:55

I had a photo in my previous posting http://foodfun.blog.co.uk/2007/11/16/sprats_in_season~3308542

They are roughly 10 cm long and are in the herring family.

Another example is at http://www.wildinbritain.co.uk/LifeontheEdge/FISH.htm#SPRATS

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RacyTracyRacyTracy pro
2007-11-18 @ 09:47

My husband loves them, I'm not so keen - we used to feed them to our cats when I was little!!

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OreganoOregano pro
http://outdoors.blog.co.uk
2007-11-21 @ 23:43

Well, about 30 years ago I remember catching lots of coley with a simple net in Wester Ross. My aunt and uncle said they were suitable for their cats.

Now coley is a respectable alternative to our endangered cod!

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technomisttechnomist [Member]
2007-11-19 @ 20:19

Its the simple dishes that reward the effort most.

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OreganoOregano pro
http://outdoors.blog.co.uk
2007-11-21 @ 23:28

You won't get much simpler than this! :)

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technomisttechnomist [Member]
2007-11-21 @ 23:36

Sprat sushi?

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OreganoOregano pro
http://outdoors.blog.co.uk
2007-11-21 @ 23:41

Well that's a thought... When I had what I thought were smoked sprats in the Netherlands in October my wife pointed out that they did not taste "smoked". She was back there 10 days ago and took back some more and I tend to agree with her. Especially as my sister-in-law said they should be eaten within 24 h!

However, I thought that only a real fishmonger would fillet a sprat!

O.

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