Monday Night Fried Fish Fest: Whole Sardines, Smelts, and Wild Dandeloins

by

IMG_5060

(Photo: Tommaso staring down a fried sardine: this is one metaphysical moment)
 
A simple rule for buying fish goes as follows: buy what’s fresh, as opposed to what you want.  The idea may sound counterintuitive but freshness is king when it comes to seafood.  I’m mentioning the whole buying fresh seafood concept today because I headed to my favorite fish shop thinking salmon for dinner and I came home with whole sardines and smelt.  I’ve become friendly with my local fish monger and given that he 1. told me about the fresh sardines and smelt that just came in and 2. that the wild salmon wasn’t looking superb I opted for the fish monger’s suggestion as opposed to the salmon I was craving.

IMG_5049
(photo: closeup of a close friend: Sardine Scordo – notice his great eyes and skin))

IMG_5050

(photo: beheaded smelts waiting for flour and the frying pan, notice the beautiful skin)

I grew up with smelts as they are a favorite amongst Calabrians especially during the winter months and, at times, during the traditional Christmas Eve fish fest.  Smelts are small, fresh water (native to New England as well!), fish and are best prepared whole and fried with a light coating of flour (I like mine with lots of kosher salt and a splash of red wine vinegar).  While smelts were common during my childhood, we consumed sardines mostly via the salt or oil packed variety.   And I do love canned sardines, but the fresh variety (again, lightly floured and fried) is fish nirvana!  Fresh sardines have an oily and firm texture and are high in omega acids.  Fresh sardines do contain many small bones, but part of the eating fun is using your hands and finding nuggets of steaming white meat and crispy skin!

IMG_5055

(photo: sardine nirvana)

IMG_5056 

(photo: post fry sardines. notice the very light flour coating, you’re not making Kentucky Fried Chicken here)  

IMG_5053 

(photo: post fry smelts, salted heavily with kosher salt)

IMG_5059

(photo: our simple dinner table)

Our sardine and smelts dinner included wild dandelions and brown jasmine rice.  The dandelions were sautéed with garlic, olive oil, and some red pepper flakes.  The brown rice was tossed with olive oil and lots of fresh ground pepper.  We had a bottle of Altos de Luzon 2003 Jumilla (a Spanish wine consisting of 50% Monastrell, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 25% Tempranillo).  Admittedly, I thought the wine wouldn’t pair well with fish, wild greens, and nutty brown rice, but I was shocked at how well it tasted with our meal.  Proving again that consuming wine is about drinking what you like (or at least what your mouth tells you it likes with the food you are consuming).

11 Comments

  1. Loved this one! Tommaso is getting so big!!! Hi to Erin!!! xoxox

  2. Tomasso is getting so big. He is adorable. Say hi to Erin for me.

  3. Introduction to Aged Balsamic and Red and White Wine Vinegar: Acetaia Leonardi and Castello di Volpaia

    One of the first things I learned to make from scratch was salad dressing.  Our family, of course, always made a simple red wine, olive oil, salt/pepper salad dressing, but the proportions and blending of the simple ingredients remained…

  4. One Plate Summer Lunch: Tomatoes, Whole Milk Mozzarella, and Oil Cured Sardines

    Lazy, weekend, lunches are one of the small pleasure in life and I define a lazy lunch as a simple plate of food (with little to no manipulation), fresh, crunchy, bread, and a bottle of exquisite wine (psychologically, get…

  5. Recipe: Baked Mackerel with Vinegar, Mint, and Garlic Sauce

    (photo: just out of the oven baked mackerel)I’ve written about my love of fish on multiple occasions here on Scordo.com, expounding on sardines, smelts, tuna, branzino, and salmon.  Yet I was sad to discover that while I hold all…

  6. Recipe: How to Make Chicken Cutlets

    I made my first chicken cutlet when I was 12 years old and it was a complete disaster.  From what I remember, I over seasoned the breadcrumbs, placed the breaded cutlets in below temperature oil, had very little of…

  7. La Cucina Povera: The Kitchen of the Poor

    (photo: my grandmother and relatives on the family farm during the wheat harvest)What is Cucina Povera?A friend recently asked me to explain the concept of cucina povera and here’s the working definition I came up with :a style of cooking…

  8. Traditional Italian Dessert or Cake: Panforte From Tuscany

    (photo: close up of panforte made by Pasticcerie Sinatti in Siena)We’ve never been much of a desert type of site here at Scordo.com – holding the view that sugar and chocolate can’t compete with salt and fat!  So, when we had the&n…

  9. Fried Sardine Fillets (Sarde Fritte)

    (photo: fried sardine fillets or sarde fritte with lemon wedges)You really can’t go wrong with fried fish and every important food culture in the word has many variations of deep frying creatures from sea in a lipid like oil….

  10. A Food Guide to an Italian Christmas

    (photo: various Christmas food plates: left to right string beans, baked broccoli, baccala in tomato sauce, mussels in red wine tomato sauce, zeppole, fried calamari, stuffed squid, baked flounder, salad, etc.)At this point in the holiday frenzy, you’…

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.