Rome
2.5 - 3 hours
Rome: Pasta & Tiramisu Class with Fine Wine by the Vatican
Discover the secrets to making authentic homemade pasta and tiramisu from a local chef. The cooking class takes place in a locally loved restaurant,...
from€35Check dates
History
The name comes from the beccafichi, small birds that Sicilian nobles hunted and had their monsù cooks pluck, bone and stuff. Peasants made do with sardines, keeping the V-shaped tail like the bird's. In the Palermo version the sardines are boned, rolled around breadcrumbs with garlic, parsley, sultanas, pine nuts and sugar, laid with bay leaves in orange juice and oil, and baked for about 15 minutes. Italian Wikipedia says the dish is often sold in the fry shops of Palermo's markets, such as the Vucciria, and that in the west of the island the filling goes inside one rolled sardine.
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Naples
3 hours
Naples Official Pizza Making Class & Tiramisu with wood oven
Roll up your sleeves and discover the flavors of Naples by making authentic pizza and creamy tiramisù with a passionate local chef. Cook, laugh, eat,...
from€29Check dates
Florence
Day trip · 12 hours
From Florence: Siena, San Gimignano, Pisa & Lunch at Winery
Discover the Chianti vineyards and medieval architecture of Siena, San Gimignano, and Pisa on a full-day tour. Depart from Florence and explore...
from€135Check dates
Common allergens: Gluten, Fish, Nuts
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 16 fresh sardines, butterflied (head, spine and tail-skin removed)
- 150g coarse breadcrumbs
- 50g pine nuts
- 50g sultanas, soaked
- 4 salted anchovies, chopped
- Zest of 1 orange
- 30 bay leaves, fresh
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 orange, juiced
- Sea salt
Method
- Toast the breadcrumbs in 3 tablespoons of olive oil until golden. Cool slightly.
- Mix toasted breadcrumbs with pine nuts, drained sultanas, chopped anchovies, orange zest, grated cheese and a pinch of salt.
- Lay each butterflied sardine skin-side down. Place a spoon of filling at the head end and roll up towards the tail.
- Arrange the rolls in a baking dish, tail-up, with a bay leaf between every two sardines.
- Drizzle with olive oil and the orange juice. Cover with foil.
- Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes. Remove foil for the last 5 minutes to crisp the breadcrumbs. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Tip from the editors. The orange-zest-and-anchovy filling is the Palermitan distinction; the Catania version uses lemon and capers instead.
Where to eat sarde a beccafico
Sarde a beccafico in Palermo
Buatta Cucina Popolana ★ 4.8
Buatta Cucina Popolana cooks authentic home recipes in Palermo and Turin, on ancient recipes and traditional methods, at Via Vittorio Emanuele 176.
TipThe restaurant also takes events: an informal buffet or a dinner served at the table, with customised menus of Sicilian tradition.
Antica Focacceria San Francesco ★ 4.1
Antica Focacceria San Francesco in Palermo dates from 1834 and brings together street food, restaurant and gastronomy at Via Alessandro Paternostro 58.
TryPane câ Meusa
TipThe Pane câ Meusa comes in two historic versions, the Schietta and the Maritata.
Mercato della Vucciria ★ 4.5
Mercato della Vucciria is a market at Piazza Caracciolo in Palermo.
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