Outside of my trip to California my other favorite gift of this Christmas was my copy of The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg. It has given me ideas and flavor combinations I had never thought of and probably wouldn’t have ever. So when I bought a bunch of sardines the other day I hit the Bible for some ideas.
One idea stood out; raisins. I hardly use raisins outside of snacking so I figured I would give it a try knowing they are used in a lot of cooking in the Mediterranean and Middle East, places that also eat a good amount of sardines and oily fish. I threw some raisins along with garlic and parsley inside the sardines, topped with some salt, pepper, and olive oil, and broiled them.
They came out awesome. The raisins worked great. The sweetness of the raisins and the fishiness of the sardines complemented each other really well. Along with a loaf of bread I had a meal that I can guarantee no other US college student had that day, and will probably have ever.
