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Sardines à la Diable
Created by Chef Juliette
Sardines, Dijon mustard, cayenne, and a fierce last-minute fry: the crisp shell sets before the tender fish can break, and each piece lands on a croûton cut to match.
Sardines à la Diable (mustard-and-cayenne crumbed sardines on butter-fried croûtons) teach one uncompromising principle: delicate fish must meet properly hot fat. The heat sets the crust before the sardine can shed its coating, drink oil, or fall to pieces. Hot and fast is the dish.
The original recipe assumed a bowl of Anglaise (for Egg-and-bread-crumbing) (No. 174) always ready, a deep fryer held at service heat, and several hands to skin fish, shape croûtons, and fry everything at the final moment. Your honest equivalent is twelve sardines for four people, a frying thermometer, and one deep skillet used first for the buttered croûtons and then for the fish. One cook, one stove, one evening.
The separate frying station was brigade scaffolding, so it goes. Skinning and boning fresh sardines, coating them with mustard and cayenne, treating them pané à l’anglaise, and serving them immediately on shaped croûtons are the dish itself, so every one stays. Before the first sardine enters the pan, bring the oil fully to 365°F (185°C); that single reading decides the result.
Ingredients
medium fresh sardines
Quantity
12 (about 1¼ pounds / 560 g total)
heads and innards removed
Dijon mustard
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 45 g)
cayenne pepper
Quantity
¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 0.5 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| medium fresh sardinesheads and innards removed | 12 (about 1¼ pounds / 560 g total) |
| Dijon mustard | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 45 g) |
| cayenne pepper | ¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 0.5 g) |
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