The feast of Santo Antonio is a religious festival, but you could be forgiven for thinking of it as a sardine festival. (Saint Anthony was a 13th century Catholic missionary in Italy, who, saddened when no-one would stop to hear his sermon, stood at the water’s edge to deliver it, only for an audience of fish to rise from the sea and listen to him.)
For a few summer nights each year, the lanes and alleyways of Lisbon’s oldest neighbourhoods fill with the smoky scent of grilling sardines, as locals and tourists alike gorge on fresh fish served on crusty bread, cold beers and plastic cups of sweet sangria. Makeshift grills are built from oil drums, paper sardines and streamers flutter from house to house, and anyone with a set of speakers pushes them into their upstairs windows and turns the volume up. At another turn, you might find a band playing, singing bawdy songs to a laughing, dancing crowd.
If you want to dress this recipe up, add a pinch of smoked paprika to the oil before tossing the fish, and finish with a little chopped parsley.