10-08-2025
Try Making Traditional Sicilian Dish Sarde a Beccafico to Fully Enjoy Savory Sardine Flavor
Italian cuisine chef Yoshinaga Jinbo rolls fatty seasonal sardines with breadcrumbs and raisins, and bakes them in the oven together with oranges. These sardines are part of sarde a beccafico, a delicious stuffed sardine dish enjoyed in Sicily, Italy.
Beccafico literally translates as 'fig-pecker' and refers to a small songbird. The dish is a baked delicacy in which a rolled sardine with its tail standing straight resembles the shape of a small bird.
Sicilian nobles are said to have baked the stuffed birds they had hunted. The common people, unable to afford the birds, are believed to have substituted the dish with sardines instead, which became popular.
'In Sicily, they make breadcrumbs from hardened bread or use familiar fruits. The dish reflects their culinary culture,' Jinbo said.
Sardines are rich and fatty. You can fully enjoy the flavor as the fat, which oozes out while cooking in the oven, is absorbed into the breadcrumbs. The breadcrumbs need to be thoroughly toasted and dried beforehand.
'After toasting the breadcrumbs, lightly press them with your palm to check the temperature,' he said. They should be warm but dry enough not to stick to your palm.
Mix raisins and other ingredients, then spread plenty of the mixture on the sardines and roll. Sprinkle the spilled mixture on top when baking.
Bake the sardines until their tails become crispy and golden brown.
The strong aroma of baked sardines should fill the air as soon as you open the oven. Squeeze some lemon juice over the dish and enjoy while hot. The aroma of oranges, the savoriness of the sardines, the sweetness of the raisins and the saltiness of the anchovy create a complex and profound flavor.
'It's best enjoyed while hot and would pair great with chilled white wine,' Jinbo said.
Sarde a beccafico
Ingredients (serves 2):
6 sardines
½ orange
50 grams breadcrumbs
½ clove garlic
15 grams pine nuts
15 grams raisins
1 anchovy fillet
A handful of Italian parsley
2 bay leaves
¼ lemonDirections:
1. Make a cut in the belly of each sardine, remove the innards and cut off the head. Cut along the backbone to butterfly the fish. Carefully remove the backbone using a pair of scissors, being careful not to break the flesh. Slice the orange without peeling.
2. Mix the breadcrumbs, minced garlic, pine nuts and a little salt in a frying pan, and toast until the breadcrumbs become dry. Press the breadcrumbs with your palm to check the dryness. Move the mixture to a bowl and leave to cool.
3. Add coarsely chopped raisins, minced anchovy and Italian parsley to the mixture, and mix.
4. Lightly sprinkle salt over the sardine fillets and spread the mixture evenly over them. Roll each fillet toward the tail. Seal with a toothpick. Make six pieces.
5. Place ½ tablespoon of olive oil in a heat-resistant dish, place orange slices on the bottom, while leaving some aside. Put the rolled sardines on top. Sprinkle the remaining mixture over the sardines. Cut the remaining orange slices into small pieces and add. Add bay leaves, pour over 2 tablespoons of olive oil and bake in an oven preheated at 180 C for 10-15 minutes. Squeeze the lemon over the dish to finish.
The Yomiuri ShimbunCarefully remove the backbone using a pair of Yomiuri ShimbunLightly press breadcrumbs with your palm to check the temperature and Yomiuri ShimbunRoll the sardine fillets toward the Yomiuri ShimbunPlace rolled sardines on top of orange slices.
