Sicilian Stuffed Sardines

SARDI A BECCAFICU

recipe @ bottom, but you may enjoy my story first

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My uncle Michele a musician, a painter and a Sicilian prose writer was one of my favorite uncles. He lived in a high rise on the top of a hill overlooking most of the city, the Valley of the Temples and the Mediterranean Sea. He was a very docile man with many talents, but one of his more influential skills, was that he took the time for me and the time to enjoy the moments.

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I suppose in so many ways he was much like my father, but I could talk to my uncle in a way I could not talk to my father, and he understood me. Probably my father might have done the same, but I didn?t want to chance being punished because of my confessions.

My uncle Michele would share his art with me and I felt appreciated as if I was of intellectual use to him, even though  I was still young.

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He was a school tutor by profession, that?s how he made an income, but his love was fishing or better, fishing in the Mediterranean waters.

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Almost everyday after lunch unless it was raining, he would ride on the bus, on his way to the seashore with his bamboo fishing cane, his fishing bag filled with live bait, line and bobbers. He would find a tranquil rocky spot, sit and throw his line below him waiting for the bobber to be tugged under by an unsuspecting fish, so that he would gently  give it a small yank, to set the hook inside the fish?s mouth and then he would lift it out of water and place his catch of the day in his bag. He would go on for hours, until it was time for his tutoring appointments.

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This was a routine my uncle did for years. I only understood the reason for this love of fishing in those waters, after I met my husband who also loves to fish, not for the catch but for the hours of delightful solitude on the water that offers clarity of mind and a restoration of the soul.

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Somedays we would drive down to the water with my father by way of the valley of the temples. In the spring the valley would be white with fragrant white almond blooms, and it was a site to imprint in one?s mind and heart. The path to the seashore was rocky and dry, some homes in the far distance, and cactus on the edge of the roads. The windows of the car rolled down bringing the tempting breeze in, filling our lungs with the scent of the sea salt waters as we neared San Leone, in anticipation to finding my uncle fishing, always by himself.

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I would see him in the distance sitting on the rocks like a solitary statue, and recognize his silhouette against the seascape, with a fishing hat and his famous bamboo rod. I would run up to him eager to be heard, with no regard for breaking the silence and after checking his bag for fish, I would sit next to him and ask what he was catching and he would guide me through the art of fishing, and give me some casual science lessons. He was the one to introduce me to fishing. At that age I delighted in catching a fish and taking it home to my mom, the benefit of catching my thoughts was not yet in my program. But I too loved those most beautiful waters of the Mediterranean, even as young as I was, I knew they were special. And there was something special about spending time with someone who took the time to make me feel at ease even though our age difference was vast.

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I remember those days with fondness of my uncle, my secret friend who shared his thoughts with me and helped me through some  pre-teenage hard times. I remember the Sicilian waters, salty, clean and beautifully scented.

My uncle would sometimes take his fish with him inside his fishing bag on the bus, but by the time he got home he had shared the fish with  those who rode with him and were weighed down by their daily work loads.

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We moved to the United States in my early teens and soon after we received a call from Sicily informing us of my uncle?s death. On a sunny day,  on his regular trip to the seashore one afternoon, he died of a heart attack quietly, with no one noticing on the bus. He died traveling to the place he so much loved, doing what he always did regularly, taking the time to enjoy the moments.

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As I look at my daughter, my grandchildren, my husband, my mom, my young and old friends, their traits and face details, the landscapes and the beauty of creation my own eyes absorb, I really appreciate the lesson my uncle left behind. The art of taking the fleeting moments that vanish past your eyes and paint them in your mind as etched pictures to cherish them as  lifelong treasures, where time and fading can do no harm.

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Beccafico

The recipe below gets its name from a small songbird called Beccafico, that feeds and engorges itself on figs in the summers, making himself fat and tempting, to be eaten by those who love such a delicacy.

Perhaps because of its tails, the size and the color of this dish, which resembles this bird, is the reason for its name.

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Ingredients

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8 Sardines, approximately 2 lbs

4 Anchovy finely chopped

8 Bay leaves

2 Lemons, rind and juice

6 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

4 oz Bread crumbs toasted

2 oz Pignoli (in want of pignoli you may substitute with almonds, Agrigento

is the city of almonds and when other nuts are not available we use them

as substitute for many things. Make sure they are chopped so as to give

texture, do not cream them)

4 garlic cloves finely chopped

1 Tbsp Parsley finely chopped

2 oz Raisins finely chopped

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

8 tooth picks

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Directions

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Pre heat oven at 400º

Toast bread crumbs in a dry skillet, on medium heat, stir continuously until

golden brown, be careful not to burn the crumbs.

Remove from heat, transfer into a dish until ready to use.

Clean sardines of scales, head and guts,

Then pry one side open with the aid of a knife, making sure you leave the

other side attached, as in picture to the right.

Pull away the bone going along the whole fish. Leaving tail attached.

Wash the sardines and pat dry with a paper towel, and set aside.

Mix the raisins, parsley, pignoli, anchovy, half the bread crumbs, lemon

juice, salt and pepper, 1 Tbsp of olive oil

With a spoon mix well until the paste is well blended

Place a spoonful of the paste on the flesh of the fish

Roll the fish from head to tail, with the skin on the outside of the roll

Spike it with a toothpick to hold the roll in place.

Mix the rest of the bread crumbs with the rind of the lemon

Roll the fish in the bread crumbs and rind mixture

Place in a baking dish with tails sticking up

Stick a bay leaf through each toothpick

Sprinkle each Sardine with 1/2 Tbsp of olive oil

Bake at 400º for 20-25 minutes or until they become golden and toasted.

Serve at room temperature

As bite size appetizers

As an entree with salad or perched like birds on my Sicilian Mashed Potatoes