Pan-fried salmon cools beneath soft, sweet-and-sour onion with raisins and toasted pine nuts. Serve this dish at room temperature as an antipasto, with bread to mop up the moist onion-and-vinegar mixture.
Saor is a Venetian preparation in which fried sardines are covered with slowly cooked onion and vinegar. The sour, sweet and soft elements meld as the fish cools. Raisins and pine nuts appear in well-known versions of the dish, though recipes differ in the details. Here we use salmon instead of sardines: a clear adaptation, with a firmer, fattier fish and larger pieces that sit well on a platter.
The onion should soften without browning. Cooked over low to medium-low heat, it becomes sweet and tender; browned edges would make the vinegar taste less bright. White wine vinegar brings a pronounced acidity that balances the richness of the salmon. Raisins soften that acidity with a concentrated fruity note. Soak them in warm water first so they stay plump and don’t absorb all the moisture from the onion.
Toast the pine nuts separately in a dry frying pan. Keep them moving and take them off the heat as soon as they turn light golden brown: small nuts color quickly and can taste bitter if they go too far. They add a gentle crunch alongside the tender fish and onion. Pine nuts are a classic addition in many saor recipes, but that’s no reason to give the onion and vinegar less attention; they’re the heart of this preparation.
Salmon isn’t the traditional fish for sarde in saor, but it works well in this contemporary version. Briefly fry the pieces on both sides, then let them finish cooking gently; this keeps them juicy as they cool. You can use salmon fillet with or without the skin. Sardines are closer to the Venetian original, but require different portion sizes and cooking times. No pine nuts on hand? Rather than use a large amount of another kind of nut, leave them out or use a small amount of toasted almonds.
Make the dish well ahead and let it cool, covered, in the refrigerator so the flavors can meld. Take it out shortly before serving; don’t leave fish at room temperature for an extended period. Serve as an antipasto with crusty bread and, if you like, a few simple olives. The onion and vinegar liquid are just as important as the salmon, so spoon plenty onto every plate.
Put the raisins in a small bowl and cover with warm water. Soak for 10 minutes, then drain.
Heat a dry frying pan over medium heat. Toast the pine nuts, shaking the pan, for 2–3 minutes until light golden brown. Transfer to a plate.
Pat the salmon dry and season all over with ½ teaspoon salt and the pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Cook the salmon for 3–4 minutes per side, depending on thickness, until just cooked through and easy to flake. Transfer to a platter.
Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in the same pan over low to medium-low heat. Add the onion and remaining salt and cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring regularly, until the onion is soft and translucent but not browned.
Add the vinegar, bay leaf and drained raisins. Simmer gently for 2 minutes, then spoon the onion mixture over the salmon.
Let the platter cool, cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Take it out shortly before serving, remove the bay leaf and scatter the pine nuts over the top. Serve at room temperature.
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