Sardinhas assadas

Ingredients

• Sardines — whole, large1.5 kg
• Coarse salt150 g
• Country bread8 slice
• Potatoes800 g
• Bell peppers3
• Olive oil100 ml
• Garlic3 clove
• Wine vinegar3 tbsp
• Parsley20 g

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Rinse the sardines without gutting them and pat them dry on the outside.

   10 min

2. 2

   Bury the fish in coarse salt on all sides and leave it half an hour at room temperature.

   32 min

3. 3

   Light the coals and let them ash over; an open flame burns the skin within a minute.

   25 min

4. 4

   Char the peppers on the coals, peel them and dress them with oil, garlic and vinegar.

   20 min

5. 5

   Shake the excess salt off the fish and lay them on a hot, oiled grate.

   5 min

6. 6

   Grill four minutes a side, turning them exactly once.

   10 min

7. 7

   Lay the sardines on slices of bread and serve with boiled potatoes and the pepper salad.

   8 min

About the dish

The sardines are not gutted. The insides give fat and flavour, and in Portugal they are removed at the plate rather than before cooking.

The salt is coarse and generous — the fish is buried in it half an hour before grilling. It draws moisture off the surface so the skin does not stick to the grate.

A slice of bread goes under the fish to catch the dripping fat. Eating it is part of the dish, and in Lisbon in June that is how it is done in the street.

Worth knowing

• — Heat and oil the grate before the fish goes on. On a cold one the skin sticks and comes off whole on the bars.
• — Turn them exactly once, with tongs at the tail. A spatula breaks the fish, and a second turn strips the skin.
• — The sardine season runs June to October, when they are at their fattest. Outside it, Portugal simply does not grill them.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

620 kcal

Protein

48 g

Fat

34 g

Carbs

34 g

More from Portugal

• Bacalhau à brás — Salt cod with matchstick potatoes and egg that binds everything without becoming an omelette.
• Pastel de nata — Flaky pastry cases of custard baked in extreme heat until the surface blisters black.
• Caldo verde — A potato purée soup with finely shredded kale and slices of smoked chouriço.