Pickled Sardine + Red Earth Sauce

Suragh is an earthy, fishy salty, reddish relish from Hormoz in the Persian Gulf. Attributed to the Portuguese conquerors of the island in the sixteenth century, the sauce is made with sardines pickled in salt and flavored with sour orange rind and the local red ocher/gelak. Eating small amounts of the mineral-rich earth is believed to give the body strength. I have adapted this recipe from one by Halimeh Jonaybi, a talented cook from nearby Evaz.