reliving Venice: Gamberi in saor

Memories of the terrific food from my recent trip to Veneto are permanently etched in my brain. Since we returned, not a day has gone by without me thinking about how to best recreate some of the classics. Sarde in saor (sardines in a savory sauce) is one of those classics found in every single bar, trattoria, and restaurant in Venice. The dish was invented as a way to preserve the bounty of wonderful seafood in the region, in the days before refrigeration. Sardines (or, if you were richer in the 14th century, sole fillets) are pan fried and then marinated for days in a sour-and sweet concoction that provides a flavor punch and a long shelf life.

I'm sure many families had their own traditional recipes for the dish, and an internet search reveals quite a few versions. I departed from tradition by using more readily available seafood, and I added a few extra touches that I thought would provide deeper, more complex flavor. And I doubt you'd find any Venetians who serve the dish on Mexican talavera, as I did.

Below is a picture of this classic, wonderful dish, along with my recipe.



Gamberi in saor (serves 12 smallish portions)
- 2 lb of shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used wild caught, previously frozen stuff from WF, 26-30 count. It was very good quality shrimp)
- olive oil for sauteeing
- 4 large onions, thinly sliced
- a cup of golden raisins, chopped
- 2 cups of moscato wine vinegar (most recipes call for red wine vinegar, but I found this stuff at Bari foods and it seemed appropriate for the recipe)
- 1/4 cup of sugar
- 3/4 cup of pine nuts, toasted (I just toast them in a dry skillet on the stove, careful not to burn)
- 1/2 cup of red wine

Place onions in a large pot over medium/low heat with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Cover the pot, and after the onions have released plenty of liquid (about 20 minutes), remove the cover. Continue to cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and light-tan in color (about an hour total cooking time). Add the chopped raisins, vinegar, and sugar. Cook for a few minutes (long enough for the raisins to plump some) and taste for balance. You want it to be sour, but tempered by enough sweetness not to overwhelm the palate. Add more sugar, salt, pepper to taste, and let the concoction cool.

Sautee shrimp in small batches until barely cooked through (no more than 2 minutes per batch). Crunchy bits will start sticking to the pan and may make it difficult to cook later batches, which tend to stick and become difficult to turn. Do not try to clean the pan between batches - just keep adding enough additional oil to prevent the sticking. When the shrimp are done, blast the heat on the pan to high, and add the red wine - working quickly to scrape up all the good flavorful bits. Now add this flavor-packed pan deglaze to the onion concoction. Place the shrimp in a single layer in a glass or ceramic dish (do not use anything metal), and pour the marinade over. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours, up to several days. Serve cold or room temperature, with pine nuts sprinkled over the top.