PASTA WITH SARDINES

Pasta ch’i sardi

 

PASTA WITH SARDINES

Pasta ch’i sardi

 

History

Pasta with sardines is a classic of the cuisine of Palermo and Sicily. An elaborate dish that plays on the balance of contrasting flavors, first example of pasta mare e monti for the combination of sardines with wild fennel. It is a first course in which these two poor ingredients are mixed with pine nuts and raisins using the saffron.

According to a legend it was created by the talent of a chef employed by the Tourmarches Euphemius of Messina around the IX century AD, astride the Byzantine and the Arab domination. Euphemius, Sicilian-Byzantine, allied with the Saracens as anti-Byzantine, landed at Mazara del Vallo leading the Arab fleet and there the anonymous native cook would feed the troops, exhausted by the journey, with what the earth offered, sardines and wild fennel with Arab saffron. Apart from the veracity of the story, several historical knowledge acquired allow to consider the pasta with sardines an Arab-Sicilian dish, where the typical local ingredients mixed with tastes and knowledge of others, from the use of long pasta, introduced in Sicily by the Arabs. There is indeed evidence of the existence of a pasta factory in Trabia that produced spaghetti, the triyah, in the early X century AD. Even the Corinth raisins (in dialect passolina), the pine nuts and the saffron became ingredients of the Sicilian cuisine after the Saracen conquest of the island. Eventually, it was the Arabs to practicing and promoting a more complex cuisine, based upon striking a balance between flavors well represented by the sauce of the pasta with sardines: a harmony between the fresh aroma of wild fennel and the strong one of sardines, between the spicy note of saffron and the sweet one of raisins and pine nuts. Common ingredients are enhanced by the technique of preparation and the presence of precious elements, of all saffron, the red gold. In this sense, it is also possible to give a celebratory character to the pasta with sardines: the exaltation of the wealth and splendour of Palermo, capital of the Emirate of Sicily. Over time, the recipe reached its present form, with the addition of anchovy or salted sardinas in the fried onion (the Normans introduced, especially in inland Sicily, the use of fish preserved by salting) and the mollica atturrata (toasted breadcrumbs), the cheese of the poor. It represents the peculiarity of Sicilian cuisine, that manages to be at the same time both popular and aristocratic. Bucatini and maccheroncelli are today the pasta shapes that give to the dish the necessary relevance, while maintaining the tradition of the long pasta shape. Present on the Sicilian tables from March to September, period in which there were both sardines and, above all, the fresh wild fennel, is one of the traditional dishes consumed for Father’s Day, on Saint Joseph’s Day, March 19. In Palermo is also very popular the baked version, available in cafeterias, cafe or bakeries, in the classic aluminum foil tray. There are many variations, as in the case of popular dishes. Some of them, over time, have reached a relative autonomy with respect to the original recipe, becoming new appreciated preparations: e.g. pasta con l’anciova (pasta with anchovies or sea sardines or a’ milanisi), palina and – news that will surprise a lot of people of Palermo – the famous pasta with broccoli arriminati.

Recipe

INGREDIENTS (Serves 4)

  • 400g bucatini
  • 500g fresh bone sardines
  • 700g wild fennel
  • 1 onion
  • 3 salted sardines
  • 100g raisins and pine nuts
  • 2 sachets saffron
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • breadcrumbs

Clean the wild fennel removing the hardest parts, then cook them in plenty of salted water. Once ready and drained finely chop them. Reserving the water which you will use later. Toast the breadcrumbs in a pan with a little oil stirring until it takes on a brownish tint. In a large pan add chopped onion and salted sardines in small pieces, until the latter are dissolved in the sofrito. Add the raisins, pine nuts and wild fennel. Mix the ingredients, then add the sardines and a ladleful of the fennel water. Stir gently and cook over medium heat. At the end of cooking, mix the saffron in some water (also in the the fennel water) and add it to the mixture, adding salt and pepper. In the meantime, put the pot with the fennel water on the fire to cook the bucatini. Once cooked, mix the bucatini with the sauce (you can add, if you want, another sachet of saffron, to make the typical color more uniform). Serve with toasted breadcrumbs, known in Palermo as “muddica atturrata”.