Wash the fish, drain well on a sieve, dry them in a soft cloth and then drop them on a well-floured cloth, carefully rolling each little fish over in it, so that they shall all be nicely and evenly floured. Put them immediately into a frying-basket, and dip them into extremely hot boiling lard; hold it there for a very short time, lift the basket out of the lard, and dust the fish over with black pepper and a small quantity of salt; some cooks dip them again into the boiling lard for a second, remove them, sprinkle with cayenne pepper, and serve.

Fried Whitebait

Wash the fish, drain well on a wire sieve, dry them in a soft cloth, and then drop them, when quite dry, on to a well-floured cloth, rolling each fish carefully in it. Put them immediately into a frying basket, dip them into extremely hot lard, hold it there until the fish is crisp, which will be before it browns, take it out while still white, and serve as quickly as possible on a napkin laid on a hot dish, and garnish with fried parsley, and quarters of lemon. Serve with them cayenne, grated lemon peel and thin slices of brown bread and butter.

Baked Fillets Of Whitefish

Scale some large whitefish, split them, remove the backbone, season the fillers with salt and pepper, and dip them in beaten egg, then in breadcrumbs, and again in beaten egg, then in breadcrumbs, and again in beaten egg. Put a lump of fresh lard in a baking dish, heat it, and then put in the fillets. Bake the fish in the oven for twenty minutes, until they are lightly colored. When cooked, drain the grease off the fillets, place them on a hot dish, garnish with fried parsley, and serve with potatoes and a sauceboatful of parsley sauce.