Name: Sprats (Sprattus sprattus) — tiny, oily, silvery fish of the herring family, usually 10 to 15 cm long, found in the Baltic, North Sea, Black Sea and Mediterranean. They are eaten whole, fresh, smoked, salted or canned in oil, and are close relatives of sardines and whitebait.
Description
Sprats are caught in huge numbers in northern Europe, and have long been a staple of Baltic and Scandinavian cooking, and of the cooking of Russia, Poland, the Baltic states and Britain. Smoked sprats in oil are a classic Christmas and festive food in Eastern Europe, and in Estonia and Latvia, sprat sandwiches (kilu) on dark rye bread are national dishes.
Most sprats are used for fishmeal and oil, but they are valued for eating too, since they are small, rich and flavourful. They feed on plankton, so they are low in mercury, and their bones are small and soft, so they are eaten whole.
Main nutrition value
Sprats is an oily fish, and a rich source of the long-chain omega-3 fats EPA and DHA, vitamin D, vitamin B12, selenium and protein. The bones are soft and edible, adding calcium, and they are very low in mercury.
How best to be consumed
Sprats are eaten whole, fresh, smoked or tinned.
- Fry fresh sprats whole in flour or breadcrumbs for 2 to 3 minutes until crisp, and eat with lemon, bones and all.
- Serve smoked sprats on dark rye bread with butter, onion and dill.
- Grill or bake them, or pickle them in vinegar.
- Mash canned sprats into pâté, or add to salads and sandwiches.
- Buy fresh sprats very fresh, and keep them cold.
Overconsumption could cause…
Sprats are healthy in food amounts.
- Fish allergy, which can be severe and is usually lifelong, so anyone allergic must avoid fish and check labels, including fish in sauces and dressings.
- Scombroid (histamine) poisoning, causing flushing, headache, rash and stomach upset within minutes to hours, from fish that were stored too warm, so buy very fresh fish and keep it cold.
- High salt (sodium), which can raise blood pressure over time, especially in cured, smoked or canned fish. This applies to smoked and canned sprats.
- Gout flare-ups in people with gout, since fish and shellfish are moderately high in purines.
- Compounds from smoking, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, with heavy regular intake of smoked fish.
Wikipedia — European sprat, used for origin, naming and history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_sprat
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