Sprats with jalapeño in tomato sauce. Wild-caught Baltic sprats in a light, smooth tomato sauce with a kick from the jalapeño chilli. The sprats or brisling have pristine silver skins, are lightly fried and have a tender texture. They are canned in Latvia by Diplomats, an artisanal cannery noted for the quality of its tinned sprats, a staple of Latvian cuisine.
Serving tip: try the sprats with jalapeño mixed through giant couscous with lemon zest and chopped herbs.
About the fish: the sprats, known as brisling in Latvia, are wild-caught in the Baltic Sea. Smoked, it is a traditional staple in the country's cuisine. The sprat (Sprattus sprattus) is one of twenty species of sardines found across the world. It is an oily fish with all the goodness of its celebrated sibling, the European pilchard (Sardinus Pilchardus), the sardine found in Spanish and Portuguese tins. The sprat, however, is smaller, less scaly, more tender, and the colder waters where it is found means it is fattier and has a more buttery texture.
About the cannery: they are canned in Latvia by the artisans at Diplomats, a renowned tinned fish brand, with a history dating back to 1907. The fish is canned using 100% artisanal methods in its state of the art cannery in the seaside village of Engure, on the shore of the Gulf of Riga. Diplomats is noted for its high quality smoked sprats and has built its reputation upon them. Its signature is taking traditional Latvian cuisine - smoked sprats, salmon, trout and herring - and introducing elements from international cuisine to give their recipes a novel spin.
