Veneto — Venice, traditional preservation food of the fishing fleet
Venetian sour-marinated mackerel — the saor technique (from 'sapore', flavour/sauce) applied to oily fish. Fresh mackerel portions are floured and fried, then submerged in a hot sweet-sour marinade of softened onion, white wine vinegar, white wine, raisins, and pine nuts. The fish is left to marinate for 24–48 hours in the refrigerator before serving at room temperature. Saor was originally a preservation technique for the Venetian fishing fleet, extending the shelf life of fried fish for days on long voyages. The sardine version (sarde in saor) is more famous, but mackerel accepts the technique with excellent results due to its fatty flesh.
Sweet-sour-oily complexity; the fatty mackerel flesh absorbs the vinegar-onion-raisin marinade into a rounded, Mediterranean agrodolce that is neither sharp nor cloying — the flavour of Venetian maritime tradition
{"Fry fish in abundant oil at 180°C until fully cooked and golden — the fish must be cooked through, as it will not receive further heat","Pour the hot saor marinade over the still-hot fish — the temperature difference is required for the marinade to penetrate the flesh","Submerge completely in the marinade — exposed surfaces oxidise and discolour during marinating","Use white wine vinegar — red wine vinegar colours the onions too assertively and is too sharp for this delicate fish","Rest 24–48 hours — the flavour integration period is the difference between sour fish and saor"}
{"Soak raisins in warm grappa or white wine for 20 minutes before incorporating — they plump and carry additional flavour","Toast pine nuts lightly in a dry pan before adding — raw pine nuts have a raw, slightly bitter note that reduces after light toasting","Add a strip of orange peel to the marinade for a Venetian-Moorish spice note — remove before serving","The saor marinade improves the second and third day — make a larger batch and use over several days"}
{"Serving same-day — the flavours haven't integrated; the fish tastes acidic rather than complex","Using cold marinade on hot fish — prevents penetration and produces unevenly flavoured fish","Under-frying — the fish must be fully cooked through; undercooked fish does not hold its structure in the marinade","Skipping the raisins — their sweetness is counterpoint to the vinegar; without them the saor is just sour"}
La Cucina Veneziana (Emilio Lavit de Crouy)