#whitebait

[c98sancturary]

green onion and raw whitebait rice bowl topped with raw egg yolk F2U with source

[theyshapedlikefriends]

Friends forever

(x)

[falseandrealultravival]

Whitebait (Shirasu) grated radish mix(Cooking)

"Shirasu" is sardine fry that is boiled and dried to the extent that the water is drained. Mix this with the grated and drained radish and add some soy sauce. The grated radish is spicy like horseradish, the bitterness of whitebait and the saltiness of soy sauce combine to create a unique taste. It is rich in protein, calcium and vitamin C. Japanese traditional food.

シラス卸し

「シラス」は、イワシの稚魚を茹で、水を切る程度に乾燥させたもの。これを、すりおろして水を抜いた大根と混ぜ、醤油をいくらか合わせる。すりおろした大根は、ホースラディッシュのように辛く、シラスの苦み、醤油の塩辛さと相まって、ユニークな味になる。タンパク質、カルシウム、ビタミンCなどが豊富だ。日本の伝統食。

(2023.03.06)

[clove-pinks]

Whitebait à la 1845

Being an attempt to replicate the white-bait recipe in Joseph Bregion and Anne Miller's 1845 cookbook, The Practical Cook, English and Foreign.

Following my first attempt at this historic English dish, I discovered a period recipe that is surprisingly more helpful in elaborating the serving and preparation: Bregion and Miller's Practical Cook.

I blended some salt and pepper into my flour, influenced by Annette Yates' Traditional English Recipes, and I also brought my cooking fat to 375F (approximately) using her instructions for hot oil. I happen to have lard on hand for other historical recipes, and it was convenient for me since my local supermarkets only sell lard in gigantic tubs.

Removing excess flour in a colander, and checking on my hot lard with an electronic thermometer.

I was probably too conservative with the flame, but in the absence of a way to regulate the temperature I was worried about burning the lard. 375F is over the smoking point of many fats and oils, and actually over the smoke point of lard, according to this chart. But I didn't have any issue with it smoking; if anything the addition of the fish brought the temperature down too low.

Ebullition commenced!

I do not have a 'fish-drainer' for the serving plate (whatever that is), but the fact that the recipe calls for one made me think of an artifact recovered from the Franklin expedition ships: a meat draining dish. (See Visions of the North blog for more information).

They just really loved draining things in 1845, what can I say.

For the iced punch, I absolutely cheated with a non-alcoholic fruit punch from the store (I suppose I could pour some brandy in there to make it more 1840s). Bregion and Miller have several punch recipes in the Practical Cook, including this one for a spiked lemonade:

Speaking of lemons, I used even more lemon wedges this time, from my previous experience with whitebait. The immature fish fry called "whitebait" are from various species, but they are pretty much all oily, rich-tasting fish such as herrings, sprat, and mackerel, and they benefit from a generous amount of lemon juice.

[marryat92]

Cooking with the Captain: Whitebait Dinner

My latest cooking project has been rewarding, not only as the recreation of a meal mentioned in Captain Marryat's novels, but a meal that Frederick Marryat himself enjoyed on at least one documented celebration: presiding over the whitebait dinner welcoming Charles Dickens home on his return from his American tour of 1842.[1]

Whitebait dinner, prepared from tiny whole fish lightly breaded and fried, was once a staple of London life. “They used to be caught in large numbers every summer in the Thames estuary,” writes Annette Yates in her cookbook, English Traditional Recipes, “and an annual whitebait dinner held at Greenwich and attended by government ministers marked the end of each parliamentary session for most of the 19th century.”[2]

A whitebait dinner at Greenwich drawn in 1860 by John Leech, an English caricaturist who also illustrated Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (Wikimedia Commons)

Marryat, in his 1840 novel Poor Jack, traced the popularity of whitebait dinners to the early 19th century:

...before steam-boats made Greenwich so come-at-able, there were many families of distinction who resided there and in its environs especially in the autumn of the year, when the river offered such amusement. It was just at that period that the white-bait parties became so much in vogue, and Greenwich was considered a pleasant retreat for a few months by many of the fashionable world.

The title character, who is a poor mudlarker in his early life, mentions that the well-heeled patrons of these parties were a source of income as they waited for their dinner in river-side taverns:

There were other ways by which money was to be obtained during the summer season; which were from the company who used to come down to the white bait parties at the Ship and other taverns. There were many other boys who frequented the beach, besides me; and we used to stand under the windows, and attract attention by every means in our power, so as to induce the company to throw us halfpence to scramble for. This they would do to while away their time until their dinner was ready, or to amuse themselves and the ladies by seeing us roll and tumble one over the other.

— Frederick Marryat, Poor Jack

(Yes, Marryat spells it as both white-bait and white bait in the same book—this is another reason why book critics roasted him).

For a recipe, I turned to Annette Yates' English Traditional Recipes, quoted above, which is a beautiful, well-illustrated book filled with cultural notes and careful instructions. Her 'Deviled Whitebait' calls for cayenne pepper, which I imagined would improve the taste of the frozen imported whitebait that I used as a raw material.

You know you married the right woman when you open up a box of frozen tiny fish and she calls them cute. (I think my wife also enjoyed the finished product even more than I did!)

Allowing my whitebait to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, I rinsed them and followed Yates' simple recipe: dipping the fish in milk, coating them in flour seasoned with black pepper, salt, and cayenne pepper, and deep-frying them in small batches. They are to be served very hot, and dusted with additional cayenne pepper.

I was leery of all the hot pepper—and the irony of this deadly heat coming from a book called English Traditional Recipes—but it was sound advice. I'm usually not a fan of lemon juice on seafood, but it was very good on the whitebait. Tartar sauce was also very good, but once the whitebait cooled down they were less appetizing. According to Yates, fried whitebait “were once so plentiful that they were sold from barrows in the streets.”

Another John Leech drawing, this one from 1853 (source). Did the dinner at Greenwich in honour of Charles Dickens and attended by Captain Marryat resemble this gathering? The poet and author Thomas Hood wrote that he declined a leading role, and “Captain Marryat presided instead. On his right Dickens, and Monckton Milnes, the poetical M.P., on his left, Sir John Wilson,” and he lists a number of other writers, artists, politicians, and minor celebrities of his day in attendance.[3]

References:

[1] Tom Pocock, Captain Marryat: Seaman, Writer, and Adventurer p. 169 (2000)

[2] Annette Yates, English Traditional Recipes: A Heritage of Food and Cooking, 2015 edition pp. 49, 90 (I should have paid more attention when she wrote that whitebait have "bold flavours", i.e. they are fishy)

[3] W. Teignmouth Shore, Charles Dickens and His Friends p. 102 (1909)

[atmeal012]

もうそう店長/喫茶トラノコク@toranocoku  しらす丼。

[zensama]

#ブルスケッタ #ブルスケッタ祭り #トマト #アボカド #バジル #釜揚げしらす #大葉 #クリームチーズ #生ハム #カッシェロデルディアブロ #シャルドネ #bruschetta #tomato #avocado #basil #whitebait #perilla #creamcheese #prosciutto #casillerodeldiablo #chardonnay https://www.instagram.com/p/CRGdbrAA-rV/?utm_medium=tumblr

[bluedesignwall]

Hubby celebrated Whitebait season with a good feed of the little fish for dinner tonight. There are White-baiters all along the river as I bike home but they never seem to be catching anything. I have been checking the river out on my morning walks but I have not seen any Whitebait swimming past. Hubby's Whitebait came from the West Coast and is the last of last seasons catch. While Hubby was cooking up the Whitebait I was taking my cool down walk around the garden. The garden needs some attention but the flowers still outnumber the weeds so all is well.