Latvian Tinned Smoked Sprats

Before last year I didn’t even know what a sprat was, but now I’m hooked on the little fishes. Similar to sardines but slightly smaller with a more assertive flavor, these sprats are fished out of the Baltic Sea in winter. They’re smoked over black alder wood and then layered in a tin with rapeseed oil and a touch of mustard seed according to an old Latvian recipe.

They’re plump and meaty with a distinctly smoke-forward flavor. I love serving them in the tin alongside a hunk of crusty bread and pickled vegetables so the fish can really shine.