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"I wrote this recipe as a result of some irritation at being given such delicacies as perfectly fresh sardines in the fishing village of Port-Vendres that had been fried within an inch of their lives. It was almost like eating sticks. I’d noticed the same phenomenon after a morning’s freshwater fishing on the Dordogne River. We had a lunch of hard-fried gudgeons, minnows, crayfish and eels, all overcooked in the same way; the saving grace was the mayonnaise. Granted a lot of river fish are quite tasteless but not sardines. No excuse there. Here’s a better way.”

GRILLED SARDINES WITH A TOMATO,

GARLIC & THYME DRESSING

Ingredients

SERVES 4

12 sardines, cleaned

1 tbsp olive oil

Dressing

Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 large clove garlic, grated

or very finely chopped

1/4 tsp piment d’Esplette

(page 306) or a pinch

of chilli flakes

1 medium tomato, skinned

and cut into small dice

1 small shallot, finely chopped

1 thyme sprig,

leaves chopped

1 tsp chopped flatleaf parsley

Salt and black pepper

How to make

Mix the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl

and season with salt and plenty of pepper.

Brush the sardines all over with the oil and sprinkle them

with a pinch of salt. Grill them on a hot barbecue or under

a hot grill for about 2–4 minutes on each side, depending

on size.

Spoon the dressing over and around the sardines and

serve with a green salad.

Recipe and images taken from 

Rick Stein’s Secret France