SARDINE OR "MACHETTO" SAUCE

Ingredients:

600 Gr. Small and wet sardines

1 deciliter extra virgin olive oil

250 Gr. cooking salt

How to prepare it:

Take out the sardines’ entrails. Wash and dry them, then lay them in a glass or earthenware pot (10 to 12 cm in diameter): each layer of sardines is to be separated from the following one by one layer of cooking salt. Cover them and put a load onto the cover of the pot, let the sardines marinate for 1 ½ month at least. Do not forget to drain the juice, which is created inside the pot. Take the sardines out of the salt, crush them in the mortar and then sift them. This sauce has to be kept in oil and in a glass jar, which has to be covered by means of a top. It was once used in Sanremo to prepare the "Sardenaia" and the "Sardenea". Nowadays this sauce is prepared by using anchovies and it has been as such for years already. It is perfect for canapés, mixed with mayonnaise as the dressing for boiled meat, fish and vegetable cakes.