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Ajjpendices to Fifth Annual Report 



APPENDIX F. — No. II 



THE PREPARATION OF SPRATS AND OTHER FISH AS 

 " SARDINES." By C. E. Fryer, Inspector of Fisheries for England 

 and Wales. 



The following suggestions for the preparation of sprats in tins a la 

 sardine are based upon the results of my investigation into the methods 

 adopted in France for the treatment of " sardines," and my subsequent 

 experience in the application of the system to the preservation of pilchards 

 in Cornwall. 



The fish should be landed in as fresh a state as possible, spread on the 

 floor, and sprinkled with salt. They should then without delay be beheaded 

 and gutted — all bruised fish being rejected — thoroughly washed, and 

 immediately placed carefully in vats, with a thin layer of coarse British 

 salt between each layer of fish. Here they should remain for one or two 

 hours, after which they should be taken out, again washed, and ranged in 

 specially prepared wire baskets (grilles) to dry. 



One great object to be aimed at is to handle the fish as little as 

 possible, and to pass them through the preliminary stages with all speed. 

 With this object the maunds or baskets into which the fish are thrown by 

 the ' gutter ' should be of a size to be easily handled, and should be con- 

 structed of open wicker-work, so that the fish in them can be effectually 

 washed by merely plunging the baskets into an open tank plentifully 

 supplied with fresh water. The wire drying-baskets are so contrived that 

 the fish will not need to be touched by the hand again, after they are once 

 placed in them, till they are ready to be packed in the tins. 



The following sketch (fig. 1) represents the form of these wire re- 

 ceptacles, which, as they are filled with fish, are ranged in the sun, or 



under shelter in a dry atmosphere in wet weather, and in a free current of 

 air, till the fish are thoroughly dry. The grille is then taken to the 

 cooking stove. This consists of a series of shallow pans (each large enough 

 to hold a grille full of fish) containing boiling olive oil, in which the fish 

 are cooked. This will take from two to three minutes, according to size. 



