Grilled sardines and tomato and anchovy pie – Irina Janakievska’s Balkan recipes for summer

A tomato, olive and anchovy pastry pie, and grilled sardines with a funky fermented green tomato sauce

Along the Adriatic coast, sardines are usually grilled over an open fire (na gradele) and served with lemon, excellent local olive oil and blitva, a side dish of young swiss chard, potato and garlic. Fresh sardines are key (they should smell of the sea) and do cook them whole (the heads add wonderful flavour and the small bones soften during cooking). On the Croatian island of Vis, two beloved pogačas (bread)– viška and komiška – tell a tale of friendly rivalry. Both are savoury bread pies (pogača being the word for bread and similar in both composition and etymology to Italian focaccia) filled with onions and salted fish (typically anchovies or sardines), a nod to the island’s ancient fishing and seafaring heritage. The key difference? Tomatoes. In Vis town (one side of the island), they’re absent; in Komiža (the other side of the island), they’re essential and cooked down into a rich sauce. The tomato version is a perfect celebration of summer.