Boquerones en vinagre is a Spanish recipe for fresh anchovies marinated in vinegar, olive oil, parsley, and garlic. It is often served as tapas in Spain. A very similar preparation is the Italian alici marinate, with the main difference that Italians often add fresh lemon juice to the marinade. The problem with making this recipe is that you need fresh anchovies for this, whereas anchovies in many places in the world are only available already salted/cured or marinated. Another issue is that if you can find anchovies, it is a lot of work to clean them. I found a solution for that: sardines have a very similar flavor, and frozen sardines are readily available. Cleaning sardines is still a bit of a chore, but as the fish are bigger it is much less work. If you slice the sardines into strips of the size of anchovies, it is hard to tell the difference. And if fresh anchovies are not available at all, this may be your only option.

Ingredients

• 180 grams of sardine fillets, from 4 to 5 sardines
• 150 ml white wine vinegar
• 50 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 Tbsp minced flat leaf parsley
• 1/2 tsp table salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Start by cleaning the sardines. Remove the scales and do not flush them down the drain, as they will clog the drain. Cut off the head, make a slit from the anus towards the where the head used to be, and remove the entrails. Now you can remove the bones with your fingers. Trim away the bones from the dorsal fine and from the belly. Rinse the fillets with cold running water, and pat them dry with paper towels.

Slice the sardine fillets into strips of about the size of anchovy fillets.

Put the sardines in a bowl and add the other ingredients.

Stir until everything is mixed well. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. The fish will be ‘cooked’ in the vinegar, just like ceviche. You can also allow them to marinate for much longer; they will keep for quite some time in the refrigerator.