Some foods, everyone seems to love. Spaghetti with tomato sauce. Chocolate cake. A perfect peach.
Other foods, only some people really love. Cabbage. Stinky blue cheese. That green stuff in the lobster (tomalley). Liver.
But those who love these dishes love them with an uncommon fervor. They are personal, and their champions are loyal and unwavering.
That’s how I am with my sardines.
I love sardines grilled or panfried and served with a garlicky herb sauce, or in a pasta. But I like them most of all just piled on a slice of bread. To me, there is no more delicious and comforting snack than sardines on toast. Salty, briney, meaty little fillets of sardine, draped across a heavily buttered piece of toast, with maybe a grind of pepper over the top — this, to me, is a splendid treat.
But I’m the only one I know who thinks so, and so, when I have sardines on toast, I usually have it alone, in the kitchen, eating each piece of toast as I make it, generally not stopping until the tin of sardines is empty.
Lonely? You may think so. But somehow, the stillness of the surreptitious moment makes my snack taste even better.
Here’s a recipe (new to me) for Sardines on Toast that dresses up my basic preparation. It’s good enough to serve to company, but remember this: If you’re a party of one, all the more for you.
Sardines on Toast
Adapted from a recipe by Stephane Reynaud in “French Feasts,” (Stewart Tabori & Chang). Makes 6 toasts.
Ingredients
6 slices of country bread
3 scallions
1 yellow pepper, sliced
1 shallot, chopped
1 bunch red radishes, julienned
3 tablespoons salted butter
3 cans of sardines in oil
6 sundried tomatoes in oil, chopped
Chopped fresh dill to taste
Directions
Drizzle a little olive oil on the bread slices and brown them in a hot oven.
Brown the scallions and sliced pepper under a hot broiler.
Combine the chopped shallot and julienned radishes with the butter using a fork. Spread the mixture over the toasted bread.
Break up the sardines roughly and arrange over the toasts. Top with grilled vegetables, chopped sundried tomatoes and dill.
