Country 38: Croatia - Grilled Sardines w/ Swiss Chard, Potatoes & Ajvar

**I have to confess, I skipped two countries. I'll go back to them, but I ended buying fresh sardines and I wanted to use them before they started to stink up my fridge - and I always maintain that fresh fish is better than slightly older fish, so I stand by my decision!**

I'm getting much braver, I think. Not at the cooking, but certainly I'm more willing to let other people taste the food. I asked my flatmates to join us for our Croatian meal, which just goes to show that I'm more confident that my food tastes better. That being said though, I might not have done so had I thought the meal would have actually turned out badly. I think I already knew that it was going to turn out fairly decently. 

And I wasn't wrong either, it was pretty bloody tasty. 

I have said previously that I am extremely fortunate to live in such a multicultural city. And not even that, but the proximity to which I live to these places that sell food from all around the world. I ventured out to Borough Market again over the weekend, knowing that I was more than likely able to find the exact ingredients I wanted for my Croatian dish, simply because Borough Market has such a variety of stalls and shopowners. I knew that I was probably going to get fresh sardines from one of the fishmongers, baby potatoes from one of the vegetable shops, and ajvar from the Taste of Croatia stall. 

I was right. And I didn't even mind that everything was a little more expensive than what I'd probably pay at the supermarket, because I'm supporting a local business which I would much rather do - we're in the middle of a pandemic after all and I think I'm conscientious enough to want the best for everyone, including small business owners. 

Let's talk ajvar for a moment.

According to Wikipedia, ajvar is made from roasted, minced, and then cooked peppers (capsicum), with eggplant and oil. It's popular throughout the Balkans, and it's a weird hybrid between a sauce, a dip, a spread, and to some it's also considered a relish. Whatever it is, I was a little unsure about it. I had no idea if it was spicy or sweet, or anything like that, but the recipe I was using called for some so I off I went to source some. I didn't even consider making it myself (which is probably cheating), but the one that I found was absolutely delicious so I'm really not complaining. Besides, for my Cambodian dish, I used jarred curry paste, so I don't think using jarred ajvar is cheating that badly.  

I was a little sceptical about cooking fresh sardines, as I've never fried whole fish before. The recipe called for 3 minutes either side but I probably did them for 5 minutes. I wasn't timing it, I just flipped them when I thought it looked good. Fried sardines reminds me of when I was in Portugal with my mum and we ordered a plate of sardines between the two of us, thinking we might get three or four each... It turns out that we got about 20 between the two of us, and we had a feast!

I have actually been to Croatia - twice, in fact. The first time I went with a friend of mine and we went overland with only 2 nights on one of their numerous islands. The second time I went with Nick and we joined a tour that sailed around the islands over the course of about 10 days. Each of my Croatian trips were absolutely fabulous so it was pretty amazing to be able to eat more of their food. Nick was actually a little surprised about the dish that I ultimately chose to cook, thinking that I might be a little more adventurous, but I'm glad that I chose this one because I thought it was really tasty. Plus, I've found that when I'm more adventurous in my selections, they don't often turn out the way that I want.  

Not the case for this dish at least. It was super duper yummy and actually I've been looking at ways to serve a different sort of potato salad as well, and this one ticked all the boxes (except for the quantity of dill, which I don't love, but actually the taste wasn't too strong so whatever). 

I adapted my recipe from this one here. 

 Grilled Sardines w/ Swiss Chard, Potatoes & Ajvar

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 8 sardines, descaled and gutted
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced (I probably used 5 but I love garlic so reduce if you're not so keen)
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 tablespoon dill, roughly chopped
• 3 cups mini potatoes
• 1 bunch Swiss chard
• 1/2 lemon, squeezed
• 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 5 anchovies, chopped into thirds
• Salt and pepper
• Ajvar, to serve

Instructions

1. In a mixing bowl, marinate sardines with olive oil, half the garlic and 1 tablespoon chopped parsley. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. In a medium-sized pot, boil potatoes and season with salt. Once potatoes are cooked, remove from water and set aside to cool. Once cool, cut into halves or thirds.
3. Add salt, pepper, olive oil, two tablespoons parsley, anchovy and dill. Toss to combine.
4. Boil and season water in a medium pot, then blanch Swiss chard for 2 minutes. Remove and shock in ice-cold water for one minute. In a non-stick pan, saute shallot and remainder of garlic, then add the Swiss chard and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper, then set aside.
5. Oil a hot non-stick pan (or griddle skillet), place sardines and grill until cooked - approximately 3 or 4 minutes on each side. Season with salt and fresh black platter.
6. Serve with Swiss chard and potatoes on the bottom, sardines on top. Serve with ajvar.