Sometimes grilled swordfish needs a shot of excitement. My friend Vito Aluia, a fantastic cook steeped in the Sicilian traditions his parents brought when they emigrated decades ago, offered an appealing approach: marinating, grilling, and then saucing the fish with lemony, garlicky, oregano-infused salmoriglio.
Behind the Recipes
Salmoriglio is Sicily’s Vibrant Grill Sauce
Salmoriglio, the island’s lemony, garlicky herb dressing, makes grilled seafood and meats shine.
By and
Published June 4, 2024.
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This vibrant mixture is a workaday Sicilian staple, stirred together from basic ingredients (lemon juice or vinegar, salt, garlic, dried oregano, olive oil) and always on hand to season alla brace (“over coals”) preparations that are ubiquitous at street food stalls and homes around the island.
“This sauce is omnipresent in Sicily,” said Katie Parla, author of Food of the Italian Islands (2023). “Any time you encounter meat or especially swordfish in a grill setting, you’ll get a side of this.”
This sauce is omnipresent in Sicily.
In addition to the sauce’s sparkling flavors, I was drawn to the multifaceted way cooks use salmoriglio to maximize its impact.
You dip or marinate the fish in it before grilling, baste it with the sauce during cooking (using a bundle of aromatic dried oregano as your basting brush, if you’re in Sicily) or pour some of it over the cooked fish, and then pass more at the table.
Parla stressed that salmoriglio should be bracing, so I went heavy on the lemon juice (an almost 1:1 ratio with the oil) and boosted its aroma by including some grated zest. I whisked it with minced garlic, dried oregano, and enough salt (and pepper) to season it thoroughly since early versions of the sauce supposedly included seawater. (“Salmoriglio” stems from “salimuria,” the Latin word for brine.) Then I whisked in the oil and poured half the sauce over the swordfish to marinate while I built a hot fire.
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It pays to cook swordfish hot and fast, lest enzymes in its flesh have time to break down muscle fibers and turn the fish mushy.
So after pulling the steaks from the marinade, sprinkling them with a bit more salt, and setting them over the fire, I flipped them every 2 minutes until they hit 130 degrees or so. That way, heat continuously hit both sides of the flesh and made its way to the center faster than if the fish were flipped only once or twice. Then I briefly rested them in the reserved sauce.
This step was key: First, residual heat gently brought the fish up to its serving temperature (140 degrees), so there was no risk of overcooking. Second, the fish exuded some grill-tinged juices as it sat, adding a hint of smoke to the salmoriglio that balanced its brightness. A little parsley over the top finished the fish with pops of fresh flavor and color.
“I love an herby acid,” said Parla, raving about bright flavors with grilled food. “It’s a pleasing thing on the palate.”
