Grilled sardines: quick and healthy

The thing about El Jadida is that there is an abundance of mints (many types), vegetables and sardines. So it will be rude not to enjoy all these things while I’m here!

People over here do not like the big sardines, they’ll tell you that medium size and slightly curled is a sign of a good sardine which is good for grilling, straight from the sea…

Last weekend, my mother went to the port and went crazy, she bought squids, whiting, anchovies, a big fish for stuffing and of course sardines..

I was trying to convince my mother that the best grilled sardines should be as fishermen do: as a whole with intestines and everything, literally straight from the sea to the grill, no fuss. She said that it needs inner cleaning..So I made 2 rows in my grill, one with cleaned sardines from the inside, one without.

Guess what? Keeping the sardine intact gives you tasty and juicy sardines, there should be no argument about it. When you have it in front of you in your plate, clean it up (inside and skin off)! Ask the fishermen! They know their stuff..

Ingredients

Serves 2 to 6 (entrée or main dish)

Prep: 15 min - Cooking: 8 to 10 min

Preparation

Line up the sardines on a grill, sprinkle sea salt and char-grill them (low flame) about 3 minutes from each side or until there is no red colour close to the bone.

Serve with squeezed lemon or harissa sauce (paste with lemon and olive oil).

Note: if you can’t grill this BBQ style, heat the oven at maximum temperature, grill position. Place them on a grill, covered with aluminium foil.

We peel off the sardines and serve them with a spicy tomato and harissa sauce

That's how juicy the sardines are, when freshly caught and grilled