When asked what my favorite really cheap food is in Italy, two actually come to mind. Polenta is one -- with its endless possibilities to serve as a savory or sweet dish, how it changes when you fry it in oil, how good it is for you.The other is sardines.
Sardines are just about the perfect food. They are among the fish with the highest Omega 3 content. We can eat them every day and we would be doing something good for our bodies. They can be prepared in a myriad of ways. Like pineapple and string beans, they are infinitely better in fresh form than in the canned version.
And here in Acqui, only an hour from the Ligurian coastline, they cost about 1 Euro, or a buck twenty eight a pound.
The work is in the cleaning. Like with all small fish, this is the tedious part. My fish monger showed me how to snap the head, separate the meat from the spine with my nail, and yank out the guts. After doing about 20 of them, you get over it being the unpleasant part.
Last night, I made them in the very simplest way possible. Dredged in flour and fried in olive oil.
I squeezed one of last Ligurian lemons over the fried filets (the lemons were gifts from our guests Paula and Angelo last season) and sprinkled them with course sea salt. We ate them with a big tossed salad, lots of crusty Italian bread and a chardonnay from the Piemontese winery Noceto Michelotti.
The flavor of fresh sardines is sublime -- like the best white fish. There is very little overt "fishy" flavor. Sardines are subtle and modest. Absolutely one of my favorite antipasti, this one.
Last night, I made them in the very simplest way possible. Dredged in flour and fried in olive oil.
I squeezed one of last Ligurian lemons over the fried filets (the lemons were gifts from our guests Paula and Angelo last season) and sprinkled them with course sea salt. We ate them with a big tossed salad, lots of crusty Italian bread and a chardonnay from the Piemontese winery Noceto Michelotti.
The flavor of fresh sardines is sublime -- like the best white fish. There is very little overt "fishy" flavor. Sardines are subtle and modest. Absolutely one of my favorite antipasti, this one.The total cost of this meal was 4 Euro for two without the wine (we could have chosen a less expensive Cortese. The lovely, lightly wooded Chardonnay we drank from our friend Graham Kresfelder at Noceto Michelotti runs about 11 Euro a bottle).
Eating like a king in Italy. Not bad, huh?
13 comments:
Delicious I've no doubt. The simplest dishes are often the best It all starts with the quality of ingredients.
Rob
Look delicious, I will certainly try them out :-)
Your dinner sounds very lovely. I love sardines! I grew up eating Spanish sardines and could eat them everyday. My Thai SIL makes a tasty sardine salad and I’ve made Sarde in Saor a couple of times. Sardines are good for the heart but also for the brain.
sounds delicious! My husband absolutely LOVES sardines.
Ciao Diana! Ohh I love sardine!!! They must have been delicious! I'm hungry now...I'll go to the bar for a coffe break...cappuccino and cornetto!!!
Have a nice week!
Hugs
Vale
Cara,
Sardines from the market - just a dream in Umbria. Here we find them in jars. Envious!!!! Bacione, Ingrid
For a Texas kid who grew up with a father who loved sardines on saltine crackers, this sounds terrific! Those sardines and saltines were a typical roadside picnic feature.
This post made me hungry! My mother would make a sandwich with them in crusty bread with avocado slices..yum!
delicious!
My parents were big on sardines. I've never had them fresh. Something else I will have to try.
Oh if only you were my neighbour I'd be banging on your door begging for my supper every night. I love this kind of food.
Polenta and sardines are two of my favourites. I can get polenta here of course but alas no sardines, we're in cow country.
That wine sounds good too.
Seeing as how I *love* Italian sardines, this made me salivate. Seeing as how I have to buy them imported for a good deal more than *just pennies* makes me ache with envy.
It is soooo not a good idea to read about delicious food and wine when I am hungry. The pictures aren't helping either.
Bev
man, that sounds like the perfect meal.
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