An old recipe created out of necessity and passed on for its tastiness. History and ingredients of sardines in saor.
The charm of the Venetian lagoon is made of colors, history, sunrises and flavors. And it is flavors that I want to talk about. Because it is exactly on the word “taste” that the whole Venetian recipe is based on. I am referring to the recipe of sardines in saor (marinated sardines).
Saor in Venetian dialect, taste in Italian. And as soon as I describe the ingredients that all combined create this kind of flavor, I guarantee that you will start to taste the recipe in your mind.
The origin of sardines in saor
Sardines in saor are fried sardines covered with sweet and sour onions, raisin and pine nuts. And when I say covered with onions, I mean it literally. Suffice it to say that to make this dish the sardines-onions ratio is about 2:1 which means that for a 1 kg of sardines you need about 2 kg of onions.
The origin of sardines in saor is an old one. Fishermen, already in 1300, used onions and vinegar to prevent fish from going bad during long travels. As it often happens, it started out of necessity, and was then passed on, improved and enriched until it became a tradition. Rasin and pine nuts are, in fact, ingredients added to the recipe only later on and are not essential, without them the recipe still manages to maintain its strong character.
Sardines in saor are a staple of the culinary culture of the Venetian lagoon. Every bacaro, restaurant and rotisserie offer them. They are the entrée per excellence, cicheto (a sort of Venetian-style finger food) ideal with a glass of prosecco. It is a recipe that tempts both lovers of sweet and salty dishes, winning over both of them.
It is one of the traditional dishes prepared during the Redentore, the celebration that is held on the third Sunday of July to celebrate the end of the plague in 1575 and the construction of the Church of Redentore built, ex voto, on the Giudecca Island.
The recipe of sardines in saor is easy, it needs a few ingredients, but because of that, the ingredients need to be the right ones, local. The onions, for example, must be white onions from Chioggia, cultivated in the sandy soil near the lagoon. The same onions that are used for the recipe of Venetian-style liver.
The recipe of sardines in saor
Ingredients (for 6 people):
- 1kg of sardines
- 2kg of white Chioggia onions
- ½ glass of seed oil
- 100g of white wine vinegar
- Flour
- 50g of raisin
- 30g of pine nuts
- Salt
- Extra virgin olive oil
Process:
First of all, peel, wash and thinly slice the onions. Cook them in a pan slowly for about 20 minutes, with two tablespoons of extra virgin oil, making sure that they soften and deglaze them with vinegar.
Meanwhile, put raisin in a glass of water (for about 10 minutes). When the cooking is done add the raising and the pine nuts.
While braising the onions, start preparing the sardines: remove the entrails, the head and fishbone. Wash them, flour them and fry them in seed oil for 2 minutes per side. Once done, place them on absorbent paper to as to remove excess oil.
The essential rule to create the dish is to wait that the onions and the fish have cooled down. This so as to prevent the heat from unraveling the fish.
AS soon as your ingredients have cooled off, start creating layers of onions and fish. The first and last layer must be onions. And remember: the sardines in saor, once prepared, need to be left to rest in the fridge for 24 hours to then be served at room temperature.
This dish is perfect as entrée or as main course. It can be accompanied by polenta or enjoyed just like that, rich as it is thanks to the softness and taste of Chioggia’s onions.
I love to think about saor as more than a simple recipe and more of a magic touch that makes every dish special and unique. An example? You can replace saor with pumpkin and create a vegetarian saor. But this is another story, for another time.