In short. Small fish fried, then layered with breadcrumbs and left to marinate in vinegar coloured with saffron. It is bright yellow, it is sold from wooden tubs at the festivals of Gallipoli, and it keeps.
You will meet it at the feste around Gallipoli, sold by the people known as scapecieri. The colour is startling the first time.
Ingredients
- 1 kg of the small fish known as pupiddi
- breadcrumbs
- vinegar
- saffron
- extra virgin olive oil
Method
1. Frying. Clean the fish and fry them in olive oil.
2. Layering. Put them into the breadcrumbs.
3. Marinating. Leave them to marinate in vinegar in which the saffron has been dissolved.
The home version. In domestic kitchens the saffron is often replaced by crushed garlic and mint — cheaper, and a completely different dish to taste, though it works on the same principle.
Why it exists. Vinegar and breadcrumbs together are a preserving method that predates refrigeration: the acid keeps the fish, the bread absorbs it. Scapece was food that could sit in a tub on a summer feast day and still be safe to eat.
More on the second courses page.
