Sardines

[XeniA]

Fresh sardines: unbeatable. Grilled, topped with a mix of olive oil and fresh lemon juice, then some fresh rosemary. Pan fried are wonderful too, but then it's vinegar.

Canned sardines? Can anybody get canned in coarse salt? Similar to your anchovies, I think. If you have a Greek grocery store nearby, try to get the "Kalonis" ones (from the Gulf of Kaloni on the island of Lesvos) since they're considered the best.

They keep forever in salt but when you want to eat them you rinse them under running water, at the same time removing the spine to leave a tender little butterflied fillet. Lay out a few on a plate and drizzle plenty of olive oil over the top and some vinegar. You can eat them that way as part of "meze" and/or they are absolutely perfect when you eat legumes ... a little bite of a lemony chickpea soup together with a bite of sardine is perfect!

The canned-in-oil ones are good, but entirely different. They make an easy office lunch, for instance. However, eating the spine?! Why would you want to do that? It's so easy to remove and it's far, far nicer without (just squeeze the fish top to bottom and it will easily separate into two fillets. Pull the spine out, zip, scrape away any extra intestiney, scaley, spiney goop -- voila!

 

[GB]

Do the canned sardines have a head and tail on them? Do you eat that as well?

 

[XeniA]

Tail, most likely. Head, I don't think so. Ditto with the salted ones. Nor guts, not that you asked.

Fresh of course have the lot but, no, you wouldn't eat the head. The tail you would though -- it's pretty innocuous. Cleaning fresh involves grasping the fish in your left hand and a little, flexible paring knife in your right, put the knife at what you'd imagine to be the nape of the fish's head and squeeze the fish between the knife and your thumb. When the knife reaches your thumb, pull a bit downward toward the fish's belly. The head and intestines should all come out in one neat, quick movement that will take you about 5 seconds.

What type(s) can you get ahold of in Massachusetts, GB?

 

[GB]

Honestly I do not know what types are around here Ayrton. I have seen tins in the supermarket, but never paid attention. We do have a large Portugese community here (my FIL is Portugese) so I am guessing we could get fresh with just a little looking.

 

[XeniA]

You know, they're almost apples and oranges, fresh and canned. Very different.

Meaning, try to get ahold of any and all types you can get ahold of and see what you think (and get back to us!).

If you can get fresh, bigger ones are a bit easier to handle than smaller ones (6" versus 4" let's say) but perhaps you won't have a choice. DO ask someone Portugese ... or Greek, or Spanish.

If you can find fresh easily, I'll give you a couple of other wonderful ways to deal with them. My hubby does a salt cure /vinegar bath procedure, adding in whole allspice berries, bay leaves, and thin-sliced onions that produces THE most wonderful, tender, white fillets that pop down very easily after work accompanied by an ice-cold vodka ...

 

[GB]

Thanks! I plan on getting some tonight (canned). The fresh will need to wait until I have time as that will take some research and some driving.

 

[XeniA]

I still vote for cleaning the canned ones a wee bit ... spine and goop.

Then lay them out and accompany with something fresh and cool and crisp (I like cucumber) and a nice cracker (didn't someone suggest a Triscuit and cream cheese? could do worse!). A bit of wine or some other mild, cool alcohol of choice.

If you can get the spicy ones with a little hot pepper tucked in the can, and you're into that sort of thing ... smash the pepper on top. Yum!

 

[kadesma]

I saw some at the market the other day that were packaged in a vinegar solution. They were white and listed as sardines..Anyone seen these or know anything about them? Pricey little things but looked beautiful.

kadesma

 

[urmaniac13]

I never cared for sardines out of tins, so I had my mind set on "I don't like sardines, period" for most of my life. However earlier this year Cristiano finally convinced me to try the fresh one. They are available at the nearby market for something like 2€ a kilo (slightly more than 2lb), though it took him quite a long time to clean each and every one of them, he made them into a gorgeous sardines au gratin, baked with plenty of bread crumbs, parmigiano and flat leaved parsley. It definitely changed my opinion about sardines for good!

 

[ChefJune]

GB, if you live in or near Boston or Cambridge, there is a wonderful Portuguese fish market on Cambridge Street in Cambridge. They have fresh sardines, and lots of other great treats.

 

[Seven S]

urmaniac, just curious, is cristiano italian or portuguese? is the au gratin recipe particularly from portugal or italy or is it just something he came up with?

 

[kitchenelf]

I don't know if I've ever seen a fresh sardine in our stores - I'll hve to keep my eyes open! urmaniac - your gratin sounds wonderful!!!!!

 

[urmaniac13]

urmaniac, just curious, is cristiano italian or portuguese? is the au gratin recipe particularly from portugal or italy or is it just something he came up with?

Cris is a true Roman to the bones I think it is his own recipe, he just whipped it up without looking up any recipes. If you are interested I can ask him for a detailed instruction when he comes home tonite

 

[jennyema]

Geebs,

Stop and Shop here in Quincy has a selection of maybe 5-6 kinds of Portugese sardines in the little Portugese section of the store. You'll probably find some in yours if there is a community there. If not (or in addition) look near the canned tuna and you'll find a number of decent choices.

Fresh sardines I've had many times in Euorope, most memorably @ Livebait, a restaurant in London. But if you can find them here, I'd think they would not be fresh, but who knows.... Suffice to say that fresh and canned are as different a culinary experience as fresh and canned tuna.

Kadesama,

Hmmmm... I love white anchovies which are pickled in vinegar but have never seen white sardines. Oh wait ... I think I did see them @ Dean and DeLuca in NYC, but never have had them. I'm sure they're yummy.

 

[Snoop Puss]

Sounds like Ayrton will be able to give you a recipe to do them at home, Kadesma. They're not difficult and taste fantastic. If you can find the fresh fish, they'll work out much cheaper. Here in Spain, we have fresh anchovies marinaded in olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt, garlic, red chillis and parsley. Delicious, but because the fish are quite small, they would take longer to prepare than sardines.

If you can't find the fresh fish - GB's posts suggest that might not be easy in the States - try the ones you saw in the market as a pre-dinner nibble with some white wine, for example. The fish are surprisingly acidic but firm in texture. I love them.

Ayrton, I'd be pleased to hear your recipe. I'm a fish fan!

Have just read jennyema's post. I have to say that less than perfectly fresh sardines are a bit smelly. They tend not to freeze brilliantly either.

 

[Seven S]

Cris is a true Roman to the bones I think it is his own recipe, he just whipped it up without looking up any recipes. If you are interested I can ask him for a detailed instruction when he comes home tonite

sarebbe buono, mi piacerebbe tanto... grazie!

 

[urmaniac13]

di nietnte amico mio, I will post it tomorrow, stay put

 

[Seven S]

i have made fresh sardines into a recipe called SARDE IN SAOR from venice italy... i have seen it in spain as SARDINAS EN ESCABECHE.... fillet the sardines into two fillets, rinse them in water, pat dry, salt & pepper, toss in light coating of flour, fry in olive oil until golden.... take some julienned onions, and saute in a pan with evoo until wilted and translucent but not browned, add a substantial amount of high-quality white wine vinegar, then throw in some golden raisins and some toasted pine nuts and turn heat off, allow to cool down... in a jar, place a little of the onion/vinegar mixture, layer some sardine fillets, then cover w another layer of onion/vinegar, repat until all the ingredients are used up, u should finish w a layer of onion/vinegar... store in a cool place (i use the fridge) for at least 24 hours but a week is best... then serve at room temperature w some nice crusty bread as an antipasto!! buon appetito!!

(and urmaniac, yes, i am a chef at an italian restaurant and have received extensive training nella cucina italiana)

 

[Romany123]

"Shambles" Potatoes and sardines
A sort of loose re-hash of "Jansons Temptation" Serve with seasonal vegetables.
Just use sardines straight from the tin, no need to remove any bones.
just a note here Sardines are rich in omega 3 which is good news, also this must be one of the cheapest and most wholesome dishes you can make. serve withe seasonal vegetables


1 Tin of sardines in olive oil
1 Onion
1 Clove of garlic
750 g Potatoes
2 tbs Cream (optional)
½ cup Milk
1 Clove Garlic
1 tsp Thyme
S&P to taste



1 In a large bowl mix the following

2 Peel the potatoes slice and julienne (fine chips)

3 Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic clove

4 Add the Thyme and salt and pepper

5 Add the Sardines in olive oil Tip the lot into the bowl including the oil (120g Tin) Just a note here, you can use Sardines in brine which you should drain and add ½ a tablespoon of olive oil

6 now get in with your hands and incorporate the above

7 Place in an oven proof dish with a lid.

8 Mix the milk and cream together and pour over. Cover with the lid and place in a pre heated oven (350f or 180c) for one hour. remove the lid turn up the oven to 220c (425f), dot with butter and cook for another 20 minutes until golden brown.

 

[XeniA]

Sardines ... and anchovies

Time for some fun pictures!

I'm including both sardines and anchovies because they're handled (at least here in Greece) in such similar ways and the recipes are mostly interchangeable.

The below are anchovies -- "gavros" in Greek. Next post shows sardines.

-- Top left photo is filletted and in, it appears, oil only. That's exactly how they should look once the head, guts, and spine are removed.

-- The drawing gives a good idea of the overall shape of this fish.

-- The bottom photo is how they look fried. In this case they've been beheaded and gutted, only. We usually split and remove the spine, and then eat.