Deviled Whitebait

Wash the fish, drain well on a sieve, dry them in a soft cloth and then drop them on
a well-floured cloth, carefully rolling each little fish over in it, so that they shall all be
nicely and evenly floured. Put them immediately into a frying-basket, and dip them
into extremely hot boiling lard ; hold it there for a very short time, lift the basket
out of the lard, and dust the fish over with black pepper and a small quantity of salt
;
some cooks dip them again into the boiling lard for a second, remove them, sprinkle
with cayenne pepper, and serve.