Salted Sardines Preserved Recipe - Self-sufficient

In the world of fish nomenclature, humans are lazy. Rather than pay respect to each type of tiny silver fish in the ocean, we have lumped these fast swimmers into an amorphous category called "the sardine." Basically, when we say "sardine," we mean a small fish, usually of the herring family, that is tasty but oily. There are 20 types of small fish that can be classified as a "sardine."

It seems the more common the fish on our table, the lazier we are. When we say "bass," we’re usually referring to anything of medium size with grayish or black coloring; “snapper" is any finned fish with red coloring; "salmon" is a fish with pink flesh; "sole" is any mild, flaky flatfish; "trout" is something you catch in a river and looks, well, troutlike. Often these names are chosen by marketers looking for a familiar word to use to sell their catch. Whereas the Inuit famously have more than 50 words for snow, we have pitifully few words for the fish that grace our tables, reflecting and reinforcing our detachment from the natural world.

Cleaning and Filleting Sardines

If you’re fortunate enough to be able to fish for the sardines, you’ll have to clean and fillet them, too.

To clean: Rinse each fish under cool running water while gently rubbing its skin with your thumb, from tail to fin, to flake off the scales. Slice off the head and make a lengthwise incision in the belly from tip to tail and remove the insides. Rinse the fish again to wash away any remaining blood and dark matter (improper cleaning is one of the things that cause that "fishy" taste).

To fillet: Turn a sardine on its side and put the tip of a sharp knife inside the cavity where the head was. Run the knife along the skeleton (you’ll feel it click against the bones as if you were playing a tiny xylophone), pressing gently, until you get to the tail. Remove the fillet and turn the fish so that the tail points toward the left. Insert the point of the knife beneath the tip of the spine and gently run it toward the tail, pulling up on the spine with your other hand. The skeleton should slip away.

Make 1 Pound Salted Sardines with Coriander and Thyme

This recipe is simple and you’re rewarded for your efforts much more quickly than you are for preparing. In addition, the fish retains the taste and the texture close to those of the fish in its freshest form. A copious amount of salt is called for; don’t be scared away, though, as it’s applied for only a short time before you wash it off. The quick salting tightens the flesh as it extracts a little bit of the moisture to extend its shelf life. These citrusy sardines are an excellent addition to a bitter-green salad.

In a medium bowl, combine

• 1 cups kosher salt
• cup sugar

Sprinkle a third of the salt-sugar mixture into the bottom of a 9- by 13-inch baking dish. Carefully add, flesh-side down,

• 1 pound (about 6) 6- to 8-inch cleaned and filleted fresh sardines.

Cover the sardines with the remaining salt-sugar mixture, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, prepare the citrus marinade. In a small skillet set over medium heat, toast

• 2 tablespoons coriander seeds

Shake the pan occasionally until the seeds are fragrant and golden, about 1 minute, then transfer them to a plate to cool. When they’ve cooled, crush with a mortar and pestle, or put them in a resealable, quart-size plastic bag and crush with the bottom of a heavy pot or skillet (one thwack should be sufficient). Empty the crushed seeds into a medium bowl.

Peel the rind from

• 3 lemons
• 1 orange

Scrape off any pith (the white part) from the underside of the rind and then slice the rind into long, thin strips. Squeeze the juice from the fruits into the bowl with the coriander and add the strips. Stir in

• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Remove the sardines from the refrigerator. Transfer the sardines to a fresh plate and brush the salt off both sides. The skin should be slightly wrinkled, with beads of moisture on the surface, and the flesh should have a rosy hue. Discard the salt mixture still in the pan and put in half of

• 10 sprigs fresh thyme

Dip the sardines, one by one, in the citrus marinade and then lay them, skin-side up, on top of the thyme. Cover with the remaining 5 sprigs of thyme.

Pour the remaining marinade, along with the lemon and orange rinds, over the fish. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 16 to 24 hours.

Into a 6-inch-long plastic container or mini glass loaf pan, pour ¼ cup of

• extra-virgin olive oil

Remove a few sprigs of thyme from the baking dish and lay them on top of the oil, then add a few sardines. Repeat two or three times, pouring ¼ cup of the olive oil after each layer of sardines. Once all of the sardines are in the loaf pan, pour in enough olive oil to cover the last layer. Tightly cover the loaf pan and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but preferably overnight.

The sardines will keep for 10 days to 2 weeks, depending on how fresh the fish was to begin with.

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Vintage Sardines

Would you consider eating sardines that were tinned 40 years ago? Lots of people clamor after "vintage" sardines, which means the sardines were canned anytime from a few years to decades ago. These sardines boast a nutty, nuanced flavor and less "fishy-ness," and collectors value the arty tins as much as they do the contents within. They even turn the cans monthly to ensure that the sardines don’t dry out. (Over 40 years, that’s a lot of turns!).