Ralf’s Sardine Butter

I was bored with the same stupid herb butter. So I tried sardines instead. Then the bowl was empty.

Sometimes a recipe starts because you have a fantastic idea. Sometimes it starts because you are simply bored.

We had friends coming to visit and normally you put some herb butter on the table with fresh bread. But I thought, Every time the same stupid herb butter is a little boring.

So I started looking around for something different and found the idea of sardine butter.

I made it.

It disappeared.

That tells you almost everything you need to know.

Ingredients

• Good-quality tinned sardines
• Softened butter
• A little basil butter
• Garlic seasoning, to taste
• Freshly cracked black pepper
• Fresh baguette, preferably still warm and properly crisp

The original conversation did not give exact quantities. This is one of those recipes where I mix it, taste it and decide when it is right.

Method

First, drain the sardines very, very well. You do not want all the oil from the tin going into the butter.

Depending on the sardines you buy, there may also be pieces of lemon peel or other flavourings in the tin. Take these out.

Purée the sardines until they are smooth.

Then mix the sardines thoroughly with the softened butter. I also add a little basil butter, some garlic seasoning and freshly cracked black pepper.

Mix everything properly and taste it. The important thing is the balance. You should taste the sardine, of course, but it should become a spread rather than simply tasting like a fish from a tin sitting inside some butter.

Put the finished sardine butter into a small serving pot.

Then you need bread.

Not bread that has been sitting around all afternoon. A proper fresh baguette, ideally still a little warm and with a good crisp crust.

Then the Friends Arrived

When our friends came, Ira sliced the baguette and I put the sardine butter on the table. Everybody had a little knife or wooden spreader and could simply help themselves.

Of course, very quickly somebody wanted to know:

What is this?

And I said:

“I can’t tell you. If I tell you, I have to shoot you.”

This is perhaps not the traditional way of introducing a canapé.

But it worked.

They kept eating it.

And eating it.

The bowl was empty in no time.

For me, this is always the best test of a recipe. You do not need a long discussion about whether people like it. Just look at the bowl.

Empty.

Finished.

Now our friends know the system. If they are coming again and want the sardine butter, they should remind me beforehand.

It Doesn’t Have to Be Sardines

The nice thing is that the same idea works with other fish.

You can use smoked mackerel. There are many possibilities — pepper mackerel, onion mackerel or simply plain smoked mackerel. You can also try smoked trout.

Take a good smoked fish, mix it with butter and add some freshly cracked pepper.

That can be a dream.

So perhaps this is not really one recipe. It is more an idea: fish, butter, seasoning, good bread and friends around the table.

Very simple.

But completely different from the same stupid herb butter.