This section is from the book "The Table: How To Buy Food, How to Cook It, and How to Serve It", by Alessandro Filippini. Also available from Amazon: The Table: How To Buy Food, How To Cook It And How To Serve It.
Wash well, and thoroughly dry, eighteen fine, fresh Long Island smelts. Split them right along the backbone in the centre; remove the backbone of each. Season with a pinch of salt and half a pinch of pepper; sprinkle them with half an ounce of flour, then place them in a pan with one ounce of good butter on the hot range, and fry for two minutes on each side, or until they obtain a good light brown color. Dress them on a hot dish; place in a pan one ounce of good butter, fry it until it becomes of a good nut-brown color; add to it a tablespoonful of vinegar, then pour over the smelts; decorate the dish all around with parsley-greens, and serve.
 
Continue to: