The next time you are to have smelts try cooking them in this way:
After they are cleaned have them wiped till perfectly dry, and lay
them in a baking dish; over them pour a wineglass of white wine, add a
sprinkling of salt and pepper, according to your judgment, half a
dozen whole fresh mushrooms, and pour over them one-half a pint of
Spanish sauce. Sprinkle ever so lightly with bread-crumbs and a little
warmed butter, and bake in a hot oven for twenty minutes. This is the
way you would prepare a dozen or fifteen of the fish; of course for a
larger number the amount of seasoning, etc., would be increased
proportionately. Garnish the smelts before serving with thinly sliced
lemon, each slice sprinkled with chopped parsley.