In this case, grilled means barbecued, but a grill works well too.
It’s the end of the barbecue season and I bought some briquettes on sale. My real barbecue is on loan, so I constructed a makeshift version out of four bricks, an old rusted iron oven pan and the grill from our cooker. It worked a treat. However, I hadn’t realised the nights were drawining in quite so quickly – so most of the cooking was done not only in the the company of a few determined mosquitos but also by the moonlight.
This recipe is from Jarvis in Norbiton, where I bought my sardines. The fish were spanking fresh and looked like they had been lifted from the sea only a few hours earlier. I suggested that I would put them on the barbecue and the fishmonger said absolutely – just as they are, no cleaning – bit of salt and olive oil. I said like they do them in Spain, and he replied, yes, and Portugal… and I suppose you can add any country you like that has access to sardines, warm weather, the seasid and beaches.
For surely, the eating barbecued sardines is hard-wired in our minds to make us think of hot, sunny holidays by the sea.