Destination
Casablanca
The story
Sardin meshwi (spelled without the terminal e, and often called sardines mchermel farcies in French) is Al Hoceima and the Rif's twist on the classical Moroccan grilled sardine: two butterflied sardines are sandwiched around a green chermoula stuffing (coriander, garlic, cumin, paprika, olive oil) and grilled over hot coals until the outside is charred and the stuffing is cooked into the flesh. Each finished sandwich is one 'sardine' — two fillets held together by the chermoula between them — and eaters typically eat 3 or 4. Sold at the Al Hoceima port and increasingly seen at Casablanca and Tangier grill counters, this is the more theatrical cousin of the plain grilled sardine.
Method
Working with each sardine: run a thumb along the belly cavity (already opened from gutting) to press the fish flat, skin-side down, on a board. Press firmly along the backbone with your palm to release it from the flesh. Flip and lift the backbone away in one piece — with the head attached — leaving two fillets connected by the tail. You should have 16 butterflied double fillets.
Combine all chermoula ingredients in a bowl. Stir into a wet green paste. It should be thick enough to hold on a spoon.
Lay a butterflied sardine open, skin-side down. Spread 1 heaped tbsp of chermoula on one fillet. Fold the other fillet closed over the stuffing, sandwiching the chermoula. The tail should still hold the two together. Repeat for all 16.
Set the stuffed sardines on a plate. Rest 15 minutes at room temperature so the chermoula partly absorbs into the flesh.
Heat a charcoal grill to hot (coals white-ashy) or a heavy cast-iron ridged pan on high heat. Brush the grill with oil.
Brush the sardines lightly with olive oil. Lay them on the hot grill or pan. Grill 2 to 2.5 minutes on the first side, then flip carefully (a fish spatula helps — the stuffed sandwich is fragile) and grill 90 seconds on the second side. The skin should be charred in patches and the flesh should be just opaque.
Lift onto a warm platter. Scatter with coarse sea salt while glistening.
Arrange on a big platter with lemon wedges, warm khobz, sliced tomatoes and a small dish of extra chermoula on the side. Eat with hands, taking one stuffed sandwich at a time. The bones are gone — you can eat the whole thing.
Tips
- Very fresh sardines only. Butterflying is finicky enough with fresh fish; frozen or day-old sardines fall apart. Buy the morning's catch.
- Butterfly cleanly. Practise on the first two — the technique of pressing the backbone flat then peeling it out with the head is worth learning. Get a fishmonger to butterfly them for you if you can.
- Don't overstuff. One heaped tablespoon per sandwich is the target. More and the stuffing squeezes out during grilling; less and the flavour is muted.
- Rest before grilling. Fifteen minutes lets the chermoula bind to the flesh and firms the sandwich for handling.
- Fish spatula for the flip. Regular tongs will squeeze the stuffing out. A wide, thin fish spatula slides under and flips as one piece.
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