Italian · Sicily · appetizer

Sarde a Beccafico

Sarde a Beccafico reads umami 6.9, salinity 5.8 and citrus 5.8 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Italian · Sicily appetizer, about 49 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 6.9 · Salinity 5.8 · Citrus 5.8 · Marine & Briny 5.8 · Fruity 5.3 · Sweetness 4.9 · Richness 4.8 · Sourness 4.6 · Funk & Ferment 4.0 · Nutty 3.6 · Floral 1.9 · Herbaceous 1.8 · Bitterness 1.3 · Warm Spice 1.1 · Earthy 1.1

What's in it (13)

Time & effort: about 49 min (39 min active) · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 202.8 kcal, 17.5 g protein, 9.8 g fat, 11.1 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (6 steps)

  1. Heat the oven to 200 C. Toast the breadcrumbs in a dry pan with 3 tbsp of the olive oil over medium heat for 4 minutes, stirring the whole time, until they are sandy gold and smell nutty. Tip them into a bowl at once.
  2. Add the pine nuts, drained sultanas, chopped anchovies, parsley, both zests, the salt and the pepper to the warm crumbs and mix. The stuffing should hold together when squeezed but still be loose and crumbly, not a paste.
  3. Lay each butterflied sardine skin-side down and open on the board. Put a heaped teaspoon of stuffing at the wide end and roll the fish up towards the tail, so the tail stands up. That upright tail is the whole point of the name: the sardines are meant to look like beccafichi, the little fig-eating warblers Sicilian nobles once ate whole.
  4. Pack the rolls tightly into an oiled baking dish, standing tails up, and slip a bay leaf between every fish. Scatter any leftover stuffing over the top.
  5. Whisk the orange juice, lemon juice, sugar and the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil together and pour it around, not over, the rolls, so the crumbs stay crisp.
  6. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until the crumbs are deep gold, the juices at the bottom have reduced to a syrupy glaze and the flesh flakes when pressed. Let them stand 10 minutes before eating: warm, not hot, is correct, and cold the next day is better still.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.