Sarde In Saor

Now at last, the fish.

There are various reasons to delight in the humble sardine and other literal small fry. I will expand on the ethical ones in a later post, but here is a great recipe meanwhile. It's not specific to Lent, but beloved in a place where it might matter what you eat then - Venice.

Ingredients
1 kg sardines
2 large onions, finely sliced
1/2 cup of dry white wine
1/2 cup vinegar
2 Tbp sultanas (small raisins)
2 Tbp pine nuts (pignoli)
1 tsp sugar
flour for dusting
olive oil

Method
Clean sardines: scale (if necessary - scraping them towards the head with a knife), then open by sliding a knife along the gut from the opening to the head, and remove innards. Remove heads; you can do this just with fingers if you prefer, and if you work carefully the spine will come as well when you pull down and in, holding a finger against the back of the head. Otherwise, turn the opened fish skin up and rub down the back, which will loosen the spine and allow its easy removal when you turn it back over and pull down towards the tail. Forget the other bones, they're good for you anyway.

You've done most of the work now.

Heat 2 Tbp of olive oil in a pan, and gently sauté the onions until softened and separated into rings. Add wine, sugar, vinegar and sultanas, and set aside.

In a clean pan, heat another 1 Tbp of oil, lightly dust the sardine fillets in flour and fry them over medium heat, starting skin-side down, for just a few minutes until browned on both sides but still firm. Do a batch at once, adding more oil when necessary, but don't crowd the pan.

Spread half the onion mixture on a ceramic or glass platter or wide dish, place browned sardines on top, then add remaining onions and the pine nuts.

Sarde in saor are meant to be marinated in this state before eating at room temperature, over the next couple of days, with other foods - a salad and bread go well. If you can't resist eating them straight away, go ahead, but don't tell the Venetians.