Cut an avocado in half, remove and dicard the pit, and scoop the avocado flesh out of the shell with a spoon. Mash it up a little with a few drops of lemon juice and some pepper.
Meanwhile, open a tin of sardines. Finely dice a shallot. Take the sardines out of the oil they are packed in and pour the oil over the shallot. Let it sit for a few minutes at least, or an hour or two.
Sardines, avocado, and shallots on toastWhen the times comes, spread some of the avocado on a piece of toast (a biscotte is good). Lay a sardine or a sardine fillet over the avocado. Spoon on a little of the diced shallot that has soaked in sardine packing oil. Finally, squeeze on a few drops of lemon juice. Shake on a few drops of Tabasco sauce if you want.
Eat. Enjoy. Repeat.
These sardines were boneless, skinless filletspacked in sunflower oil.
CHM said in a comment that he mashes sardines together with unsalted butter and spreads that mixture on toast. That recipe is in the Larousse Gastronomique:
Beurre de sardines. — Piler 75 grammes de filets de sardines à l'huile. Ajouter 100 grammes de beurre. Passer au tamis fin.In English, take the contents of a tin of sardines packed in oil and mash it up in a mortar with a pestle. Add about 3 oz. of butter. Push the paste through a fine sieve.
S'emploie froid : pour hors-d'œuvre divers ; chaud : pour canapés, croûtes, croustades.
Serve cold as an hors-d'œuvre (on toasted bread or melba toast, I assume), or hot on canapés, toasted croutons, puff pastry.
I am so proud! I had no idea my sardine recipe would end up in the Larousse Gastronomique. Wow!
ReplyDeleteBeing extremely lazy, I skip the fine sieve bit. And it is still edible.
I agree with chm... and don't bother messing up a pestle and mortar. I use a wide fork [a Danish design sample my Dad obtained in the '60s] and mash it all up in the tin. Spread on toast and put back under the grill for a few mins until the oil is bubbling... serve with salt and pepper to taste. Variation... a blob of Heinz Tomato Ketchup mashed in with it [it has to be Heinz... no other gives the right taste] or some mustard powder and a bit of honey [this is a variation from the honey mustard served with smoked fish in the UK.]
ReplyDeleteEnjoy... with some ale.
WV is "bedrolos"... eating chocolate covered toffee in bed!
Bonjour Cousin
ReplyDeleteMy dad used to eat the sardines as per you recipe. He said he learned it from his war buddies when they were campaigning in North Africa.
Is it hard to get avocados (avocadoes?) in France? Are they expensive?
ReplyDeleteThat sardine & avocado sandwich is something I'm going to try...looks wonderful.
ReplyDeleteHowever, much as I've been getting the grandkids(aged 13 & 15) to try "unusual" foods, I don't think I would have much luck with this.
Caviar and Epoisses cheese were 2 of my latest successes (my daughter wasn't real happy that I'd opened up caviar tastes for them...$$$).
Last night we were at a good steak house for dinner and Howie (age 13) picked salmon over a steak!! Another small victory!
p.s. Plum trees in beautiful bloom.
Just found your blog because I'm researching the Loire Valley for Photography Getaways. Love your blog. I'm vacationing on the South Carolina coast right now, though live in Florida. So far I'm enjoying your blog and find it very informative as I'm trying to learn more about the area.
ReplyDelete-nicolette
http://www.simplycolette.blogspot.com
http://www.photographygetaways.com
CHM, are you sure you weren't a member of the team créatif — that's the current French usage — that wrote and edited the Larousse Gastronomique?
ReplyDeleteTim, Heinz ketchup? Honey? Ale? Not sure.
Ginny, the avocados here come mostly from Israel, I think, and they are always available. We paid a euro for two avocados and that was a good price. Sometimes they cost as much as a euro apiece.
My spell checker marks "avocadoes" with the E as an error.
Bill, I hope the grandkids don't expect you to foot the caviar bill on a regular basis. And that Epoisses cheese might cost even more over there. It's expensive here.
Your plum trees are way ahead of ours, that's for sure.
Hello, 'colette. Thanks for the comment. Hope the weather is good in S.C. (and in N.C., where I will be in a week's time).