I made this sandwich at our recent Lipstick and Bred Pirate Food performances at the Village Festival and people just loved it. I have promised to publish the recipe, so here it is.
A big favorite of mine, which I started to prepare long time ago had now become a dish ready to touch the hearts of more people here in Australia. A very Mediterranean sandwich, in this case with a touch of Asia. And what is so very cool about it is that it brings the fresh sardine to taste buds of Australians- who for some mysterious reasons do not really eat this glorious fish fresh, but canned.
This sandwich has been named after the ship that came to the shores of what is now St Kilda in Melbourne. The beautiful bohemic, wild place full of debauchery and such a colorful history- I call home. There is a longer beautiful story about the name, but I will explain it next time at one of our live cooking classes.
So what you need are fresh sardines, flour, Spanish sweet (or hot) paprika powder, salt and pepper and a lemon. You will also need mayonnaise, garlic, flat leave parsley, dill, coriander and bread. I used here Vietnamese bread rolls, because they are crunchy but light- almost like a little bread cloud but still they have enough substance.
Clean the sardines first, than put them into a mixture of the paprika powder and flour. Put quite some powder so the sardines are orange- red when battered. Now cook them in hot oil. You can use olive oil, but I prefer sunflower oil. Be careful not to overcook them as they will dry out. Put them on paper towels once cooked to rinse some of the oil and prepare the spread. Now salt the sardines. Mix mayonnaise with finely chopped garlic and chopped herbs. But use a third as much dill as you use parley and coriander. Mix the garlic and herbs with the mayonnaise, add a splash of lemon juice and salt and pepper. Spread generously on the lower half of the bread roll, put two or three sardines on top and close with the second half of the bread roll. Eat straight away and smile.
