A guide to modern cookery

of a crown with curled-leaf parsley in the middle. 386—SPRATS These are smoked sardines. Select the very fleshy ones, for there exist many kinds, a few of which are dry and quite flavourless. In order to prepare them, suppress the heads and remove or leave on the skins, in accordance with the consumer’s taste. Put them on a dish with some finely-chopped shallots, chopped parsley, and oil and vinegar, using a very little of each ingredient. Leave them to _marinade_ for five or six hours, taking care to turn them over from time to time so as to thoroughly saturate them with the _marinade_. 387—TARTLETS AND BARQUETTES These articles play an important part in the service of hors-d’œuvres, and represent the class I designated under the name of _Frivolities_. The garnishes suitable for tartlets are likewise used with _barquettes_, the latter only differing from the former in their shape. The directions which follow below, and which should be carefully noted, apply equally to both. _Special Paste for Tartlets and Barquettes._—Sift one lb. of flour on to a mixing-board; make a hole in the centre, into which put one-eighth oz. of salt, one-half lb. of cold, melted butter, one egg, the yolks of two, and a few drops of water. Mix the whole into a paste, handling it as little as possible; roll it into a ball, and put it aside in the cool for two hours. _The Preparation of Tartlet- and Barquette-crusts._—Roll out the paste to the thickness of one-eighth inch, and stamp it with an indented fancy-cutter into pieces of the same size as the tartlet-moulds to be used, which in this case are the same as for “_petits fours_,” and, therefore, very small. The fancy-cutter should be round for tartlets, and oval for _barquettes_. Lay the paste in the moulds, prick the parts lying on the bottom, lest they should blister, garnish the insides with pieces of kitchen-paper to protect the paste, and fill them with rice or flour. Bake in a moderate oven; remove the rice or flour, the sole object of which was to preserve the