Moroccan · Street food
Grilled Sardine Sandwich (Street Style)
Fresh sardines butterflied, marinated in chermoula, grilled over charcoal and packed into bread with a sharp tomato-onion salad and a squeeze of lemon — the everyday fish sandwich of Morocco's Atlantic ports and city stalls. Cheap, oily-rich and completely delicious eaten standing up.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 10 min
- Total
- 35 min
- Serves
- 4
- Level
- Medium
Ingredients
- 12 fresh sardines, butterflied and boned
- For chermoula: 1 bunch coriander and parsley, 3 garlic cloves, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp paprika, juice of 1 lemon, 3 tbsp olive oil
- 4 lengths of bread or baguette
- 2 tomatoes and 1 onion, diced
- Extra lemon and salt, to serve
Method
- 1
Make chermoula
Blitz or pound the coriander, parsley, garlic, cumin, paprika, lemon and oil into a loose green marinade.
- 2
Marinate
Coat the butterflied sardines in half the chermoula and leave 20 minutes.
- 3
Grill
Grill the sardines over hot charcoal or a very hot pan 2 minutes a side until just cooked and lightly charred.
- 4
Build
Warm the bread, spread with a little chermoula, fill with sardines and the diced tomato-onion salad, and finish with lemon and salt.
Chef's tips
- Grill sardines hot and fast; overcooked, they dry out and fall apart.
- Butterflying and boning the sardines makes them far easier to eat in a sandwich.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use another fish?
Mackerel works well with the same chermoula treatment; sardines are the cheap, traditional coastal choice.
Fresh or tinned sardines?
Fresh, for grilling — this sandwich is all about the charred, oily-rich flavour of just-grilled fish.