During the Soviet era, sprats were considered one of the main attributes of the holiday table: small smoked fish in large quantities of golden butter were used both as a decoration for sandwiches and as an addition to mashed potatoes. However, few people understand what kind of fish sprats are made from. Today it is very difficult to find those same, real sprats - is it possible to cook them at home to remember the forgotten taste?
?
The very first jar was produced in the last decade of the 19th century by the Riga factory Maurice & Co, and was called “Tsar’s Sprats”. The dish was recommended to be consumed without heating, i.e. it served as an appetizer. At that time, the fish of the same name, sprat, which belonged to the herring family and was very small in size, was packaged in jars. It barely reached 18 cm in length (most often the figure is within 12-15 cm), weight did not exceed 12 g. The Baltic sprat was a subspecies of the European one. The fish was actively found in the Baltic Sea, which contributed to its subsequent use.
However, later, not only sprat became the main component of the dish of the same name: they began to put herring, sprat from the Caspian Sea, young small herring, and capelin into jars. Thus, the label “sprats” could hide absolutely any small fish that had been well smoked and covered in oil. This is how this product is perceived today. But if you want to know what real sprats are (like real Italian Parmesan), look for Riga ones - today this is the only way not to get “just small fish in oil.”
- A separate nuance is storage. With sprats, a kind of “reverse” principle applies: they, like wine, only become better over time. A jar that is a year or a year and a half old contains a more tasty and aromatic product.
- An interesting point: the method of laying sprats varies depending on the time of year. Winter fish is always laid with its back up, and summer fish - with its belly. The rows intersect each other, the carcasses are positioned at an angle.
The difficulty of finding good sprats is complicated by another nuance: initially the product, without receiving any additional processing, underwent a smoking procedure, during which a dangerous substance was produced - benzopyrene, which belongs to the 1st hazard class carcinogens. According to professionals, it is prone to accumulation, and 100 g of sprat contains the same amount as 4 cigarettes. For this reason, sprats produced in Russia only have the addition of “liquid smoke,” while the fish itself is not smoked, but simply preserved in oil. This changes the taste, aroma and even the shade of the finished product, but this technique is also not safe.
Read also:
European products are still prepared using standard technology, through smoking, but it has been impossible to find Riga sprats in Russia since 2015. All factors combined have led to more and more people becoming interested in how to independently prepare the treasured fish.
You should immediately understand that without smoking you won’t be able to get a result identical to the store bought one. Unless you use liquid smoke, but this is not the best solution, and then the finished product will not be any different from low-quality jars with “small fish in oil”. However, there are good recipes for homemade sprats from herring or sprat, one of which is offered below. Long-term storage of such fish is contraindicated, but it turns out so tasty that it is unlikely to even survive until tomorrow.
Compound:
- small fish (ideally sprat) - 700 g;
- black tea without additives - 2 tbsp;
- vegetable oil - 600-700 ml;
- salt, pepper - 3 tbsp.
Preparation:
- Select good carcasses up to 9-10 cm long, free of damage and dark spots. Remove the heads.
- At the same time, brew strong tea: pour the indicated amount of dry leaf with 200 ml of boiling water, cover with a lid, wait 5-7 minutes.
- Rinse the fish well, dry with a paper towel, rub with salt and pepper, and place tightly on a baking sheet lined with parchment.
- Take spoonfuls of tea from a glass and carefully pour it over the fish, trying to sprinkle it rather than pour it over it. Salt and pepper should not be washed off, otherwise they will not add anything to the dish.
- The same must be done with the oil, but it is poured out in full, releasing a stream between the carcasses. The oil should cover the fish, so you may need a little more.
- Place the baking sheet in an oven preheated to 150 degrees, leave for 90-100 minutes. After this, you need to turn off the oven, open the door slightly, but do not remove the baking sheet until the product has completely cooled.
- It is recommended to store in a glass container on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.
A hundred years ago, Stavanger was the center of the canning industry - the best delicacies could not be found in all of Norway. The plant actively supplied fish to Russia and in 1902 canned food from Stavanger was awarded a special Imperial charter. Today, the factory building has been converted into a museum, where the fish processing process has been completely restored. I propose to see how sprats were rolled at the beginning of the last century.
First, let's understand the terminology. In our country, the word “sprats” usually means any canned small fish, but for Norwegians, “sprats” are fish from the herring family.
Since sardines are much more attractive to buyers, but they live in warmer waters and are not found near the coast of Norway, the Norwegians resorted to tricks and called their canned sprat “Norwegian sardines.”
The first canning factory in Stavanger was opened in 1873. At that time, it was mostly women who worked there. Now there is an interactive museum - guests are invited to participate in all cycles of the process.
At first, the fish were “salted” in large wooden vats:
3. 
Then it was manually placed on knitting needles for subsequent smoking. In an hour, a worker could string up to a thousand fish in this way:
4. 
After some time, they came up with a special apparatus in which sprats were placed head down and all the fish were pierced at once:
5. 
This automation made it possible to increase the volume to 4000 fish per hour:
6. 
The finished fish garlands were inserted into a smoking frame and placed in the oven. Smoked from 45 minutes to 2.5 hours depending on the oven:
7. 
Then the sprats were taken out and placed on a special table, where with one swing of an industrial knife, all the fish in the frame had their heads removed. Before the invention of this thing, children armed with scissors worked on their heads. Their productivity was 4 frames per hour. With the device it went up to 10 frames per minute. The children were fired:
8. 
The firebrands were removed from the knitting needles using a “comb”:
9. 
Packing shop. Before you start placing fish in jars, you should familiarize yourself with the packaging requirements:
10. 
The placement method depends on the size of the fish. There were sixteen standards in total:
11. 
Each has its own jar and its own quantity - from 3 to 38 pieces, depending on the size of the sprats themselves:
12. 
After installation, you need to add oil. This process also underwent automation over time: at first it was poured manually into each jar, so a pump was invented that poured the required amount into 10 containers at the same time.
In general, this museum is an ideal place to see how humanity developed during the era of industrialization:
13. 
The cans were then rolled by hand using a special machine. Before this machine, they made 500 cans a day. With machine up to 10,000 cans. The invention revolutionized the industry:
14. 
On the left is a rolled up can, on the right is an unrolled can. The machines are still working:
15. 
At the end of the process, the jars were sterilized with steam, heated to a temperature of 115°, and kept there for an hour. It has been experimentally proven that after such treatment a bank can live up to 100 years:
16. 
After this, the jars were washed, dried and wrapped in polished paper. A label was placed on the paper:
17. 
On the second floor there is a whole collection of labels with different motifs and countries:
18. 
19. 
Henrik Ibsen - Norwegian playwright:
20. 
21. 
22. 
Mermaid motifs:
23. 
Special series for the British and their 5 o’clock tea:
24. 
Series for the German market:
25. 
Business dictionary in four languages for international deliveries:
26. 
Accounting apparatus:
27. 
The museum displays a rare exhibit - a tin can that is more than 100 years old. She visited the South Pole with Amundsen and was not eaten. In 2003, it was discovered and sent to the laboratory. Nothing happened to the fish. She was completely normal and ready to eat.
In Soviet times, these canned fish were in short supply, and the lucky ones who managed to get them took care of the treasured jar for the holiday and proudly put it on the table. Today we do not perceive sprats as a delicacy, although it is unlikely that anyone would think of eating them every day. But if you really want to feel nostalgic and treat yourself to sprats, then it would be good to find out what the quality of this product is.
Latvia has been the undisputed leader in sprat production both before and now. Therefore, it is not surprising that all 7 test participants that we bought in stores were made in this Baltic state.
“Alax”, “Shturval”, “Tasty canned food”, “KAIJA”, “Riga Gold”, as well as two samples called “Old Riga” - one in a tin can, the other in a glass jar.
All results and conclusions presented in the article refer only to the studied samples.
The study was carried out for compliance with GOST 280-2009 “Canned smoked fish. Sprats in oil." The experts had to find out whether the sprats contained harmful microorganisms, how much salt and the carcinogenic substance benzopyrene were in the fish, and also evaluate the organoleptic properties of canned food - taste, smell, consistency, etc.
First of all, let us remind those who have forgotten or are not at all aware of what real sprats are. This is Baltic sprat, which is called “sprat”. And in former times it was mainly used in the production of sprats in oil. Today, these canned foods are made not only from the Baltic, but also from the North Sea and Black Sea sprat or herring, from the Caspian sprat and other fish, but not from any fish, but only from those whose length does not exceed 11 cm.
The technology for making sprats is generally simple: the fish is smoked, cut into carcasses, placed in jars and filled with vegetable oil (or a mixture of vegetable oils). Then the jar is hermetically sealed and sterilized at temperatures above 100 degrees.
The benzopyrene problem
The classic way to prepare sprat is smoking on alder sawdust. Their smoke gives the product a special taste that distinguishes it from other canned fish. But you need to keep in mind that any smoke contains benzopyrene, a carcinogenic substance that is unsafe for health. This is why nutritionists do not recommend getting carried away with smoked meats. With prolonged and excessive consumption of such products, cancer can occur. It is not for nothing that the concentration of benzopyrene in smoked meats is strictly regulated: according to Russian GOST, it should not be higher than 0.005 mg/kg.
It was this important indicator that the experts checked first.
Fortunately, all test samples had benzopyrene contents below 0.001 mg/kg.
Benzopyrene is a chemical compound classified as a substance of the first hazard class. Formed during the combustion of hydrocarbon fuels. Benzopyrene is extremely toxic to humans even in small concentrations, since it tends to accumulate in the body. May cause malignant tumors and have a mutagenic effect.
The main food sources of benzopyrene are cereals, oils, fats, and smoked foods. The latter include sausages, smoked lard, smoked meat and poultry by-products; smoked fish, canned and preserved fish, etc. So you shouldn’t get carried away with smoked meats.
If we talk about sprats, then this fish itself is very useful. 100 grams contain a third of the daily value of calcium and half of the daily value of vitamin E. It is known to slow down the aging process, strengthen the walls of blood vessels, and prevent the formation of blood clots. In addition, sprats contain a very important and rare microelement chromium, which is responsible for stable blood glucose levels and preventing the development of diabetes.
Salt and oil are ok, fish is not
Everything turned out to be ok with the salt. According to the standard, it should be from 1% to 2.2% in canned fish. All test participants met the standard (see table). The least amount of salt is in the sprats “Alax” (1%), and the most in the samples “KAIJA” and “Riga Gold” (tin can) - 1.8%.
Diagram of the content of fish and oil in sprats But in terms of the ratio of fish and oil in the jars, two samples slightly did not fit into the requirements of the standard. According to GOST, canned sprat must contain at least 70% fish and at least 10% oil. Two manufacturers slightly under-incorporated sprat into their products: for “KAIJA” this figure was 66.5%, for the “Riga Gold” sample - 68.4% (the average value based on the results of measurements of three cans). Most of the fish were found in “Tasty Canned Food” (see diagram). The red line shows the limit of the minimum standard for keeping fish.
To preserve sprat, vegetable oil is used, not only sunflower, but also olive, rapeseed, mustard, and peanut. True, manufacturers do not always clearly indicate its type. Only the labels of the canned food “KAIJA” and “Old Riga” (in a glass jar) say that rapeseed oil was used. It is interesting that these particular samples did not comply with GOST in terms of organoleptic indicators. The rest simply said “vegetable oil.”
All is clear!
Now let's see what microbiological studies have shown. As stated in the laboratory report, “all samples of canned food “Sprats in Oil” submitted for research meet the requirements of industrial sterility of canned food group A according to the requirements of GOST 30425-97.” This means that dangerous bacteria and microorganisms that could cause food poisoning were not found anywhere.
Taste, color and smell
Safety is, of course, good, but I would like my favorite delicacy to also be tasty. GOST lists clear criteria by which experts assessed the organoleptic properties of sprats. Here they are:
Taste: Pleasant, typical for this type of canned food, without any extraneous taste or bitterness. Possible bitter taste.
Smell: Pleasant, typical for this type of canned food. There may be a noticeable smoke odor.
Meat consistency: Tender. Perhaps a bit dry.
Condition of fish and skin: The fish and skin are whole. When carefully placed out of the jar, the fish should not break. There may be no more than 30% of fish in individual jars with partially slipped skin and a burst belly.
Skin color: Homogeneous. Golden yellow or dark golden. Possible heterogeneous - from light golden to brown.
Oil condition: Transparent above the water-protein sediment. Possible: slight cloudiness or “mesh”; insignificant presence of suspended particles.
Cutting characteristics: The head with gill covers was removed with an even straight cut; caudal fins removed or trimmed.
Order of placing fish: Fish carcasses are placed in jars with their bellies or backs to the lid of the jar in parallel or mutually intersecting rows, and in a row, each fish in relation to the neighboring one is placed head to tail.
Presence of scales: Deleted. There may be separate scales.
Presence of foreign impurities: Not allowed.
Smoking is one of the oldest methods of food preservation, which has been used by humanity since time immemorial. Table salt in combination with wood smoke inhibits the growth of microflora and has a bactericidal effect.
So which sprats are better? Unfortunately, four out of seven test participants did not pass the strict “casting” of experts from an accredited laboratory. The “Shturval” sample does not meet the taste requirements of GOST: it is sour, not typical for this type of canned food. Sprats in oil “KAIJA” and “Old Riga” (in a glass jar), in addition to taste, did not meet the standard requirements for smell - it is also not typical for sprats in oil. And the canned food “Riga Gold”, in addition to the taste and smell, also caused criticism from experts due to its consistency, which was rated as “weak” (that is, the fish fell apart when they were taken out of the can). Samples “Alax”, “Tasty canned food” and “Old Riga" in a tin can was recognized by experts as meeting GOST standards for all organoleptic indicators.
Well, to make it easier for you to choose delicious sprats in oil, RIPI also conducted a tasting, the results of which are given below.
Laying rules
GOST also imposes strict requirements on the methods of placing sprats in jars: either with their bellies or their backs up, parallel to each other or crosswise, but not “side-by-side”. By the way, the length of the fish in one jar should be approximately the same - the permissible deviation cannot be more than 2 cm. And one more interesting point. There is a difference between winter and summer laying sprat. In summer, when it is warm, the fish moves little and gains fat, so the skin on its back may crack. For this reason, in the summer, sprats are placed in jars with their bellies upside down, and in winter, when, as they say, there is no time for fat, it’s the other way around.
Test conclusions
As laboratory tests have shown, the amount of the dangerous substance benzopyrene in all tested canned fish is normal.
Microbiology tests did not reveal dangerous bacteria in any sample.
An organoleptic study found that sprats in Shturval oil do not meet the taste requirements of GOST; “KAIJA” and “Old Riga” (in a glass jar) - by taste and smell, and “Riga Gold” - by taste, smell and consistency.
For the “KAIJA” and “Riga Gold” samples, the fish in the jar turned out to be slightly less than required according to the standard: 66.5% and 68.4%, respectively, with a norm of at least 70%.
Meets GOST requirements
Sprats in oil “Old Riga” (in a tin)
Rating: 4
Tasting results: Sprats are gray-brown in color with a golden tint. The skin is not elastic. The consistency of the fish itself is loose and mushy. But the taste is harmonious, with a taste of a “country fire”. Oil without foreign taste, characteristic of canned sprats.
Large sprats in oil “Tasty canned food”
Rating: 3.5
Tasting results: The appearance of sprat is unappetizing. The color is yellowish-gray, the backs are dark. The fish are mostly large. The taste is typical of sprats, but the taste is a little burnt. The consistency of the fish is tender, but slightly overcooked.
Sprats in oil "Alax"
Rating: 3
Tasting results: The color of the sprat is silvery, pale, unappetizing. The taste is atypical for these canned foods, almost tasteless; the smoked taste characteristic of sprats is practically not felt. The consistency is tender, but slightly overcooked. There is a lot of oil in the jar, it tastes unpleasant, with a bitter taste.
Does not meet GOST requirements
Sprats in oil “Riga Gold”
Rating: 3
Laboratory evaluation results: does not meet GOST requirements for taste, smell and consistency.
Tasting results: The appearance of the sprat is unappetizing, the surface seems to have a streak. The skin color is soapy-dull, gray-brown. The smell is stale. The fish has a rather pleasant taste of typical sprats, although a little burnt. The consistency is delicate, so when put out of the jar the sprats fall apart. Oil with an off-flavor that is not typical for sprats.
Large sprats in Shturval oil
Rating: 3
Laboratory evaluation results: does not meet GOST taste requirements.
Tasting results: Large brown sprats. The consistency is dense and elastic. When taken out, the fish does not fall into pieces. Sprats are quite salty, with a strong smoky flavor that overpowers the taste of the fish. There is an extraneous, non-fishy aftertaste. The oil in the jar is cloudy and dark yellow.
Sprats in oil "KAIJA"
Rating: 3
Tasting results: The appearance of the sprat is appetizing, golden in color. The smell of smoked meats is too strong; due to such excessiveness, it is perceived as unusual for sprats. The taste of the fish is over-salted and sour, “not sprat.” The taste of the oil is extremely unpleasant, it is bitter and has an off-flavour. The consistency of the fish is dense, even slightly harsh.
Sprats in oil “Old Riga” (in a glass jar)
Rating: 1
Laboratory evaluation results: does not meet GOST requirements for taste and smell.
Tasting results: Small, unusually golden fish, especially compared to other samples. However, the tasters saw some strange, repulsive-looking spots on the surface of the sprat (photo). The smell is chemical, not typical of canned fish. The fish tastes salty and sour, which is not typical for sprat. The same can be said about the aftertaste: it is unpleasant, with a bitterness uncharacteristic for sprat. The consistency of the fish is a little dry.
By the way
In 2008, a monument to sprats was erected in the city of Mamonovo, Kaliningrad region. It is a large marble table with an open can of sprat on it. One of the fish is decorated with a crown. The monument, of course, appeared in Mamonovo not by chance. Fishing in these places is the most important industry, and sprats began to be smoked at the local cannery in 1948.
If you are faced with a violation of your consumer rights, you can contact the DEMAND portal completely free of charge and report a dangerous or low-quality product. To do this, click on the “Complain” button and fill out the form. Specialists will analyze the application,, if necessary, conduct an examination, provide advice, and also help to correctly draw up an application to government agencies. And all this is completely free! Moreover, the employees of the “SPROS” website control how citizens’ appeals pass through the authorities, and then publish the decisions made on the portal. In this way, the work of government agencies is monitored.
A hundred years ago, Stavanger was the center of the canning industry - the best delicacies could not be found in all of Norway. The plant actively supplied fish to Russia and in 1902 canned food from Stavangen was awarded a special Imperial charter. Today, the factory building has been converted into a museum, where the fish processing process has been completely restored. I propose to see how sprats were rolled at the beginning of the last century...
First, let's understand the terminology. In our country, the word “sprats” usually means any canned small fish, but for Norwegians, “sprats” are fish from the herring family.
Since sardines are much more attractive to buyers, but they live in warmer waters and are not found near the coast of Norway, the Norwegians resorted to tricks and called their canned sprat “Norwegian sardines.”
The first canning factory in Stavanger was opened in 1873. At that time, it was mostly women who worked there. Now there is an interactive museum - guests are invited to participate in all cycles of the process.
At first, the fish were “salted” in large wooden vats:
3. 
Then it was manually placed on knitting needles for subsequent smoking. In an hour, a worker could string up to a thousand fish in this way:
After some time, they came up with a special apparatus in which sprats were placed head down and all the fish were pierced at once:
5. 
This automation made it possible to increase the volume to 4000 fish per hour:
6. 
The finished fish garlands were inserted into a smoking frame and placed in the oven. Smoked from 45 minutes to 2.5 hours depending on the oven:
7. 
Then the sprats were taken out and placed on a special table, where with one swing of an industrial knife, all the fish in the frame had their heads removed. Before the invention of this thing, children armed with scissors worked “on their heads.” Their productivity was 4 frames per hour. With the device it went up to 10 frames per minute. The children were fired:
8. 
The firebrands were removed from the knitting needles using a “comb”:
9. 
Packing shop. Before you start placing fish in jars, you should familiarize yourself with the packaging requirements:
10. 
The placement method depends on the size of the fish. There were sixteen standards in total:
11. 
Each has its own jar and its own quantity - from 3 to 38 pieces, depending on the size of the sprats themselves:
12. 
After installation, you need to add oil. This process also underwent automation over time: at first it was poured manually into each jar, so a pump was invented that poured the required amount into 10 containers at the same time.
In general, this museum is an ideal place to see how humanity developed during the era of industrialization:
13. 
The cans were then rolled by hand using a special machine. Before this machine, they made 500 cans a day. With machine up to 10,000 cans. The invention revolutionized the industry:
14. 
On the left is a rolled up can, on the right is an unrolled one. The machines are still working:
15. 
At the end of the process, the jars were sterilized with steam, heated to a temperature of 115°, and kept there for an hour. It has been experimentally proven that after such treatment a bank can live up to 100 years:
16. 
After this, the jars were washed, dried and wrapped in polished paper. A label was placed on the paper:
17. 
On the second floor there is a whole collection of labels with different motifs and countries:
18.
19. 
Henrik Ibsen - Norwegian playwright:
20. 
21.
22. 
Mermaid motifs:
23.
Special series for the British and their 5 o'clock tea:
24.
Series for the German market:
25.
Business dictionary in four languages for international deliveries:
26.
Accounting apparatus:
27.
The museum displays a rare exhibit - a tin can that is more than 100 years old. She visited the South Pole with Amundsen and was not eaten. In 2003, it was discovered and sent to the laboratory. Nothing happened to the fish. She was completely normal and ready to eat.
Sprats have been known to many of us since Soviet times. Today, this delicacy has not lost its charm, but, on the contrary, has become even rarer. Only a few factories in Latvia have preserved the tradition of preparing real sprats. And we'll tell you how they make them.
Just three decades ago, every Soviet citizen considered it a blessing to buy a few jars of sprat, so that he would have something to surprise his guests during the feast. Today they are no longer a mandatory attribute of every holiday, having given way to other delicacies. Nevertheless, sprat in oil neatly placed in tin cans is still considered the queen of canned food in Russia. Today we will try to find out what kind of fish sprats are made from, what technology is used, and also visit a Latvian factory that has preserved the Soviet traditions of producing this delicacy.
Fish or canned food?
Even sprats lovers cannot always answer a simple question: “What is a small fish or a type of canned food?” It turns out it's both. Initially, Baltic sprats were placed in jars - small fish no more than 10-12 cm long, living in the sea of the same name. But over time, natural reserves were depleted and calibrated sprat, Caspian sprat or herring began to be sold under the name “Sprats”. However, even today you can see that same fish in a tin can - some factories are jealous of the technology for preparing original canned food, carefully controlling what their sprats are made of.
Sprat production technology
It's quite simple. First, the fish are caught and delivered to the factory. Then the raw materials are washed in fresh water and cut. Clean fish are placed in trays and sent to be smoked for a while. After that, it is placed in jars, filled with oil and sprinkled with spices, which are mainly salt and pepper. At the last stage, the cans are rolled up, labeled and placed in boxes.
This is interesting
It turns out that in Russia the sale of sprats produced using original technology is prohibited. The reason is smoking, which leads to the formation of benzopyrene in fish meat, a carcinogenic substance that increases the risk of cancer. In our country, conventional smoking has been replaced by the addition of so-called liquid smoke, which is completely safe for the human body. Most Latvian factories still use traditional smoking. Therefore, it is not easy for Russians to try real Riga sprats, although their health only benefits from this.
The Brīvais Vilnis enterprise, located in the Latvian town of Salacgriva, is considered one of the best factories for the production of real sprats. The canned food here is still made using traditional technology, using real smoke for smoking and manual labor when sorting and packing the fish.
Production of sprats with checking and sorting of raw materials. Several samples are taken from each batch and sent to the laboratory, which gives a conclusion on the suitability of the fish for consumption. If everything is fine with the fish, some are sorted, and some are sent to a large freezer.
For sprat, only the best fish is selected, which has an attractive appearance (not wrinkled, without visible damage) and the carcass size is within 11-13 centimeters. Some believe that it is precisely because of careful sizing that real sprats taste so good. Sorting is done manually, as machines often damage delicate fish carcasses and are not able to select them with such precision as Latvian workers do.
The next stage is stringing the fish. Small sprat and large sprats are strung on the same tables. When the master gives the command: “Let’s string a big one!”, the work is carried out with a large fish. If the master says: “Let’s string small fish!”, the workers switch to small fish. They cannot be combined together, as this may affect the quality of smoking.
Before entering the smokehouse, the fish settles a little. This is necessary so that moisture and smoke can freely penetrate into the meat. By the way, alder sawdust is used to create smoke. During the smoking process, the fish passes through a special tunnel, divided into 15 zones. For each of them, special conditions for processing carcasses are created. The smoker is responsible for the microclimate and monitors each section. This is almost the most responsible position at the plant, since the taste of the product largely depends on the work of the foreman.
At the last stage of sprats production, smoked fish enters the packaging workshop. Here, instead of the usual machines, dozens of workers also work, carefully placing carcasses into jars. In recent years, the plant began producing sprats in containers with transparent lids. So it’s immediately clear that the manufacturer is not slacking, carefully controlling such, at first glance, an unprincipled nuance as the quality of fish placement. Filled jars are rolled up, washed and dried with steam. After labeling, they are put into boxes and sent to the warehouse.
Sprats are the most interesting type of canned food from a production point of view. In this area, traditions and their customers are respected. Let's hope that the robotization and new technologies that are popular today will not affect production methods that have been honed by several generations of craftsmen and technologists for a long time to come.
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