When I was in Italy I enjoyed some very simple and delicious country cooking, and got some good tips in the kitchen.

When cooking oily fish like smelts or fresh anchovies, layer them with breadcrumbs or thin potato slices to absorb the oils. In a baking pan, start with a layer of fresh Italian bread, finely crumbled, a pinch of salt, and dash of olive oil. Clean and remove the backbones of fish and spread them skin side down over the breadcrumbs. Put another layer of crumbs and oil , another layer of fish and another layer of crumbs and oil and pinch of salt. Bake in medium hot oven until brown. The same method can be used with thin sliced potatoes instead of bread crumbs.