The sardine, poor fish present in a great number of local recipes, in this case is used to contain a soft filling with breadcrumbs, raisins and pine nuts. The closing of the roll is emblematic: the sardine is rolled up and placed in a baking pan with the tail, kept intact during the cleaning of the fish, side up. Characteristic of this recipe is again the sought and reached valorization of poor raw materials through the evocation of a noble imaginary, as the name suggests. The reference to the little bird greedy of figs, captured during the hunting by the aristocrats and skillfully cooked by the monsù at their service, is understandable whereas the popular classes could not afford such fine meats. The monsù used to cook the whole garden warblers, stuffed with their own entrails and with citrus fruit sauce; they were served in the dish with the tail feathers side up – as the tails of sardines – to be taken more easily consumed by diners. This is a formal and practical analogy expressed in the name. Sardines beccafico, as often happens in popular versions of noble recipes, became over time much more famous than the stuffed little bird: we already find them among the fish dishes on a 1853 menu of the Real Collegio Carolino Calasanzio in Palermo. As filling, simple and popular ingredients frequently used for the so-called conza: mollica atturata (toasted breadcrumbs) to give consistency, raisins for sweetening and pine nuts for contrasting, thanks to their antiseptic properties, the possible harmful effects of the fish if not fresh. The use of bay leaves and slices of citrus fruits (lemons, oranges) as dividers between the rolls is also attributable to the attempt to alleviate the strong smell and flavor of sardines. Although it is an easy recipe, sardines beccafico are based on a delicate organoleptic balance that determines its success: The bitterness of the bay leaves and the sour of the citrus fruit must be well balanced. The best time to enjoy this preparation is spring, because there are the best sardines. Among the most popular dishes of Sicilian cuisine, its denomination, a beccaficu, over time was used for other preparations with a tasty stuffing, for example the homonymous eggplant.