Sarde in saor is a signature dish of Italy; we have verified places to eat it in Venice. Fried sardines marinated with caramelised onions, raisins, pinenuts and white wine vinegar, served at room temperature. Start with where to eat Sarde in saor in Venice.

Sarde in saor · Venice

Fried sardines marinated with caramelised onions, raisins, pinenuts and white wine vinegar, served at room temperature. The canonical Venetian cicchetto.

Sarde in saor traces back to the 14th-century Venetian Republic's spice-trade preservation methods. Sailors needed a way to keep fried fish during long Mediterranean voyages; the sweet-and-sour onion-vinegar marinade pickled the fish and added the raisins and pinenuts that signalled wealth from the Levant trade routes. The dish is on every bacaro counter and every osteria carte to this day; it is to Venice what bouillabaisse is to Marseille. The 14th-century cookbook Libro per cuoco of the Anonimo Veneziano contains the earliest written recipe.

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