Sardine Toast, Five Ways: The Portuguese, the Catalan, the Sicilian, the Breton and the One with an Egg
Every sardine coast has its own toast, and none of them is complicated. A tin of good sardines is already cooked, already seasoned and already sitting in its own sauce; the bread is the plate, and the rest is one idea per country. We covered the principles in how to serve sardines straight from the tin. These are five specific toasts, each one tin and one slice, each ten minutes, each from a place that has been eating this for a century.
The bread for all five: a thick slice of sourdough or country loaf, grilled or toasted hard, still warm. The tin for all five: whole sardines in olive oil, or the specific tin named. Our tinned fish guide has the shelf.
1. The Portuguese: butter, lemon, salt
In Lisbon a sardine on bread means butter first, a thick, cold, salted layer, because the butter's fat and the sardine's oil together are the whole pleasure. Spread the warm toast thickly with good unsalted butter and a pinch of flaky salt, or with salted butter and none. Lay two or three sardines across, skin up. Grate lemon zest over, add a few drops of juice, and a grind of black pepper. That is the dish. If the tin is José Gourmet's sardines in Azores butter, skip the butter on the bread and spoon the tin's own melted butter over instead, which is the reason that tin exists.
2. The Catalan: tomato, oil, Espinaler
Make pan con tomate: rub the hot toast with a halved ripe tomato, pour over olive oil, salt it. Lay the sardines on top, split open so the flesh faces up. Shake three or four drops of Espinaler sauce over the fish; its vinegar and paprika are made for exactly this, as our Espinaler guide explains. A few slivers of raw onion if you like them. Eat standing up, ideally at one on a Sunday.
3. The Sicilian: raisins, pine nuts, breadcrumbs
Sicily's great sardine dish, pasta con le sarde, pairs the fish with sweet raisins, pine nuts, wild fennel and toasted breadcrumbs, the Arab-influenced sweet-and-savory of the island. On toast: warm a tablespoon of the sardine oil in a small pan, add a spoon of golden raisins, a spoon of pine nuts and a handful of coarse breadcrumbs, and toast until the crumbs are golden and the raisins plump, about two minutes. Rub the toast with a garlic clove, lay the sardines on it, spoon the crumb mixture over, and finish with chopped parsley or fennel fronds and a squeeze of lemon. A drop of sherry vinegar over the top is not Sicilian and is very good.
4. The Breton: brown butter, chives, cider
Brittany cans more sardines than anywhere in France and eats them with the region's salted butter. On toast: melt two tablespoons of butter in a small pan over medium heat and cook, swirling, until it foams, smells nutty and turns the color of a hazelnut, about three minutes. Lay the sardines on plain buttered toast, pour the hot brown butter over them so it sizzles, and scatter chopped chives and a pinch of flaky salt. A glass of dry cider is the correct drink; a sparkling tea stands in.
5. Ours: the egg and the hot sauce
This one has no country. Toast the bread, rub it with garlic, drizzle it with olive oil. Split two sardines and lay them flat, skin up. Fry an egg in a little of the sardine oil until the white is set and the yolk is runny, slide it on top of the fish, and streak it with a fruity hot sauce; Noma's corn yuzu is the one we use. Flaky salt, black pepper, and a few chopped green olives if there is a jar open. Cut the yolk and let it run into the fish. Breakfast, lunch or the dinner you make at eleven at night.
Notes that apply to all five
Buy sardines in olive oil for toast; brine-packed fish are for salads and sauces. Warm the toast, not the fish; sardines are served at room temperature everywhere they are loved. Use the oil from the tin somewhere on the plate, on the bread, in the pan, over the top, per our guide to using the oil. Acid is not optional; every one of the five has lemon, tomato, vinegar or hot sauce, because oily fish without acid is heavy. And a single tin serves one person as a meal or two as a snack; for four, open three tins and make three toasts each.
The tins, olive oil, salt, Espinaler sauce, hot sauce, olives and sherry vinegar are at 263 Josephine Street in Cherry Creek, Denver, and ship nationwide from theambrosianpantry.com. The bread, butter and egg are around the corner.
