Sardines are a much underrated fish in
my view; people tend not to eat them because they are bony.
You can get most of the bones out if you
follow the guidelines below, although not all, you will be left with a small
amount of the very small hair like bones, a small price to pay for a very
tasty fish that is full of goodness.
Sardines like most fish are best eaten
on the day of purchase, if you are lucky enough to live near a fishing port;
then straight from the boat and onto the griddle or barbecue is an unbelievable
experience.
When I was camping in the south of
France a few years ago I did just that, I went to the harbour and bought all
kinds of fish and took them straight back to the barbecue I had never tasted
such wonderful fish before or since.
OK here we go:-
First off, cut off the head below the
gills.
Place the point of your knife into the
tail end at the bottom of the stomach and run it all the way to where the head
was.
You will find that a lot of the guts
will come out with your knife. Now put your thumb down the middle and butterfly
it.
Take hold of the back bone right up
close to the tail and snap it then pull it out along with most of the bones.
Open out the fish and scrape all the dark bits away with your knife, then trim
off the edges and
cut off the tail.
Turn the fish over and locate the fin that’s
around the middle of the back and cut it off, wash any scales from the skin and
you are ready for cooking.
Barbeque, griddle or fry, I pan fried these for my breakfast, they only need about 4 minutes on a high heat.
sardine spinal cord
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