Split twelve good-sized or eighteen medium-sized smelts up the back, remove the backbone, rub them with one tablespoonful of oil, and season with half a pinch of salt and a third of a pinch of pepper. Broil them in a double broiler for two minutes on each side; pour a little more than a gill of good Bearnaise sauce (No. 133) on a dish, arrange the smelts carefully on top, and serve, finishing with a very little cream sauce (No. 134) around the dish.

52. Smelts A La Toulouse

Take twelve large or eighteen medium-sized smelts, bone them as for No. 51, and then close them up again. Put them in a stewpan, with half a glassful of white wine and three tablespoonfuls of mushroom liquor; season with half a pinch of salt and the third of a pinch of pepper, and cook on a moderate fire for six minutes. Arrange the smelts on a dish, add to the sauce twelve mushroom buttons, two sliced truffles, six fish quenelles (No. 111), and moisten with half a pint of Allemande sauce (No. 114). Thicken with a tablespoonful of butter sufficiently, and throw the sauce over the smelts. Neatly dress the garnishing around the dish, and serve with six heart-shaped crou-tons (No. 116). (Smelts are all prepared the same way, only adding different garnishings.)