GRILLED SARDINES

If there is a dish that I really love it is Grilled Sardines with salad and cooked potatoes. It is a Traditional Portuguese Plate from a land of generations of fisherman, originally from the Lisbon Region and the Tagus Valley. There is a huge demand of sardines during the Feasts of Popular Saints (June) and it´s consumption lasts until late summer / early autumn.

Although sardines are sold from the month of May / June, they are usually tastier from July to September (when they are "fatter"). Personally, I think smaller sardines are the tastiest. Sardines are grilled on a charcoal grill, the so-called "sardinhada", and is accompanied by cooked potatoes and a salad of tomato, lettuce and roasted peppers.

Curiosity:  There are two popular Portuguese proverbs about sardines:

• The woman and sardines are best when small ( In ancient times Portuguese woman where short, so this is the reason for this proverb);
• Each one pulls the coal for his sardine ( Take advantage exclusively for personal gain).

For those who have never tried sardines here goes the Recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

 - 5/6 Sardines per person (if they are small you can add more)
 - 3 potatoes per person
 - Lettuce or Arugula, tomatoes and peppers as desired
 - 2 garlic cloves 
 - 1 small onion 
 - Salt, olive oil and vinegar as desired

METHOD:

Heat up the charcoal grill or an electric grill. Put the fresh sardines on a dish seasoning with lots of salt. Peel the potatoes and put them in a pan with enough salt and water to cook. When the coal / grill is hot grill the peppers. Then grill the sardines until they look enough grilled, not too much neither too little (see photo above).  

Meanwhile, wash the lettuce or arugula, tomatoes and peppers and prepare the salads. The tomatoes and lettuce are accompanied by onion and the grilled peppers are cut into thin strips by adding the finely chopped garlic. Both salads are seasoned with salt, olive oil and vinegar as desired.

Now just taste this delicious Portuguese dish!

Have a good "sardinhada"!