Madeleine Kamman

Fried Smelts

Preparation info
  • FFR—

    6

    servings
    • Difficulty

      Easy

Appears in
top 1000The New Making of a Cook
The New Making of a Cook

By Madeleine Kamman

Published 1997

  • About

This spring dish invariably evokes memories of my grandmother Marguerite cleaning buckets of goujons, those tiny, silvery blue river fish now decimated by pollution. Use the smallest smelts you can find; whitebait, or any fillet of a flatfish cut into little strips 2 x ½ inches, called goujonnettes, will do just as well.

Ingredients

  • Unbleached all-purpose flour
  • Salt
  • Pepper from the mill
  • 3 pounds small smelts, dressed, with heads left on

Method

Season the flour with salt and pepper. Toss the smelts into the flour. Coat well and tap off any excess. Heat the oil to 365°F. Deep-fry about ten fish at a time until golden and crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Keep in a 225°F oven until all the fish have been cooked. Serve with any condiment you like.