Sardines, Sardelle e Acciughe, Anchovies

Fresh sardines and gleaming anchovies provided the fundament of Mediterranean fish markets, both in terms of quantity and modest price. (Their numbers have declined in recent years, which is reflected in their price.) When they were abundant they were ‘too cheap’ to be found in restaurants; one had to penetrate into a vini or an osteria for working men, often combined with an eating-place near a fish market, to find them. You enter a crowded bar, thread your way through the vociferous male company and seek refuge in a farther room where oilcloth covered tables promise restoration. Here sardines or anchovies are served which have been cleaned, dried, ’shaken in flour and rapidly deep-fried, then sprinkled with salt; served with hunks of bread in a basket, a bottle of wine vinegar being plonked on the table and a quarto di vino (¼ litre of rough red wine).