Mackerel with sweet and sour anchovies, sultanas, capers and pine nut sauce according to Elisabeth Raether

I found the following recipe in Zeit Magazin from Elisabeth Raether. She, in turn, copied it from a "friendly signora" on Italian breakfast television. In fact, it's so easy and quick to make that you could even watch TV while you're preparing it. But of course we don’t do that, but rather treat ourselves to a glass of wine while we’re snipping and sizzling and dreaming of ourselves – while September is eclipsing summer outside – to sunny Italy again. Because that's where this summery and stunningly hearty and aromatic recipe comes from. To describe it, I spontaneously think of this new adjective from the culinary field: "umami". This fifth taste (besides sweet, sour, salty and bitter) stands for spicy, meaty, smoky, hearty... That sounds like many facets at first. But once you have tasted this umami, you will undoubtedly recognize it the next time. And that this will not be the last time we eat this sweet and sour mackerel is already clear.

Ingredients for 2 people (as a starter)
olive oil
1-2 shallots
Salt
4 - 6 anchovy fillets in oil (depending on taste)
1 handful of pine nuts
1 bay leaf
1 clove of garlic
1 handful of sultanas (soaked in water for 15 minutes)
2 tbsp capers
2 to 3 tablespoons white vinegar
1 can of mackerel fillets in olive oil with lemon and pepper
Pepper or piment d'Espelette
1 unwaxed lemon
Parsely

Once the pan is on the stove, everything happens very quickly. That's why it's best if you pre-cut and prepare all the ingredients, as with wok cooking.
That means: cut the shallots into fine rings, peel the garlic cloves, roughly chop the anchovy fillets, chop the parsley, desalt the capers – if necessary – and let the sultanas soak.

When everything is prepared: heat the oil in a pan, add the shallot rings, sauté for 2 to 3 minutes, then add 1 pinch of salt. Reduce the heat and sauté, stirring, about 5 to 7 minutes. The shallots should not turn brown, but should melt. But don't worry: it still tastes very good if a shallot turns brown here and there...
Add the roughly chopped anchovy fillets. Also add: the pine nuts, the bay leaf, the peeled clove of garlic. Now add the soaked sultanas to the pan. If they seem too watery for you, just gently squeeze the water out. Then add the capers as well and then deglaze the whole thing with vinegar. Cook on low heat for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, briefly fry the mackerel fillets in oil in another pan. Since our canned fillets are already cooked, this step is just to warm them up and maybe let them crisp up a bit.
When they're done, remove them from the pan and place them on a plate. Pour the sauce made of anchovies, pine nuts, sultanas and capers over it and pour some lemon juice over it. Finally garnish with grated lemon zest, parsley and Piment d'Espelette. Bon Appetit!

This dish has made us very happy in a very simple way. And that already started with the preparation, because in no time the whole kitchen was filled with the scent of the ingredients sizzling in the pan... It tastes of the south (eg, but not only Italy), but also has an oriental flavor thanks to the sultanas and garlic Grades.
We just ate it like an appetizer, but we can also imagine rice as an excellent accompaniment. Basmati or wild rice or white rice with saffron would be ideal, which would also be a really nice addition from a purely visual point of view.

Our wine recommendation: Both white wine goes well with this meal - because of the fresh acidity of vinegar and raisins and mackerel, as well as a nice red wine - because of the spiciness of anchovies, garlic and shallots.
We recommend the Contraste wines from Conceito by Rita Ferreira Marques from the Douro Valley:
The Contraste Branco is a wine made for Riesling lovers, with intense, tropical, almost exotic notes of lime and litchee, of great freshness, minerality and elegance, which goes well with fish.
The Contraste Tinto is beautifully spicy and berry, with a lot of power, finesse and elegance and goes well with spicy dishes and fatty fish.

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A little digression: If you want to know more about umami, we recommend these beautiful articles from Taste & Stories .

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The original recipe is from here .