Fish & seafood · Oily fish

Fresh sardines

Whole small silver oily fish, grilled or roasted whole; the classic of Portuguese and Spanish summer grills.

Also called: whole sardines, sardinhas, sardinas, pilchards (fresh)

Around the world: sardinhas (pt) · sardinas (es) · sarde (it)

A kind of sardines

2 recipes with it

Photo: Sentimentalna, via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-4.0)

What it is

Fresh sardines are small (around 12–20 cm), silvery-blue oily fish sold whole. Their flesh is rich and soft, and the small bones soften when grilled. They are usually scaled and gutted and cooked whole on the bone.

How it’s used

Sardinhas assadas (chargrilled with salt)
Stuffed and baked Sicilian sardines
Fried or pickled en escabeche
Butterflied and grilled on toast

Characteristics

Taste: Rich and savoury.
Texture: Soft and oily.
When cooked: Grill over high heat for a few minutes per side; heavy salting before grilling is traditional.
Sold as: fresh, frozen
Cooking uses: Commonly cooked, Suitable for grilling, Suitable for frying
Common in: Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Moroccan, Greek, Turkish

Storage

Refrigerated. Very perishable: cook on the day or next day, kept on ice.

Diet, allergens and safety

Contains Fish.

Vegetarian
Vegan
Dairy-free
Egg-free
Gluten-free
Nut-free
Soy-free
Caffeine-free

Contains fish, a common allergen.
Keep fish very cold (on ice or in the coldest part of the fridge) and cook within a day or two of buying; a strong ammonia or sour smell means it has spoiled. Cook to 63 °C (145 °F), when the flesh turns opaque and flakes.
Spoils quickly and can cause scombroid (histamine) poisoning if not kept cold.