Ingredients

Servings 5

• 3 ½ lb smooth dogfish
• 4 cups white wine vinegar
• 1 package saffron
• 1 handful all-purpose flour
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt

Preparation

45 minutes preparation + 10 minutes cooking

The word ”scapece” comes from the Latin “Esca Apicie”: sauce from Apicio. For the preparation, clean the fish well and cut it into regular pieces, flour lightly, and brown in a pan in boiling oil. Lay the pieces of cooked fish on straw paper to absorb the excess oil and salt them. Heat the vinegar in a pot - preferably earthenware - and then pour in the saffron when it has become very hot, well away from the heat, however. Arrange the pieces of fried fish in layers in an earthenware vase or pot and pour on top the mixture of vinegar and saffron, so as to completely cover them. This fish is excellent after a day of marinating: it is served drained, as a starter. With the use of a good strong vinegar, the “scapece” keeps for twenty-thirty days.