A Holy Thursday and Good Friday staple, mouthfuls of crispy sprats are consumed with hardough bread or bun, their crispy delightfulness practically melting on the tongue. One is never sufficient, so fry lots. Sprats [in our opinion] taste even better 24 hours post-frying and crunchy cold from the fridge.
Ingredients
5 lbs sprat
Olive oil and sea salt for seasoning on fish
¼ cup flour
Vegetable oil for frying
Escoveitch Sauce
Ingredients:
1 cup vinegar
1 cup water
3 tsp sugar
1 1/2 cups julienne strips of carrots
4-5 medium-size onions, cut into rings
Scotch bonnet, cut into rings to taste
Handful of olives (pitted Kalamata olives)
Pimento grains
Salt to taste
Method:
Prepare fish for frying.
Season the sprat dry.
Pat them down until completely dry.
Use a large deep frying pan and heat the vegetable oil over high heat.
Add garlic and pepper and let it burn a little in the oil.
Remove garlic and the pepper as soon as oil is hot.
Fry the fish in 1-inch deep oil.
Remove when crisp and set aside.
Escoveitch Sauce Method:
Boil water and vinegar with a pinch of salt and sugar.
Add julienne strips of carrots and onion rings, Scotch bonnet pepper, olives and pimento to taste.
As soon as the liquid boils, pour over the fish and serve.
