The Vogalonga and Butterflied Sardines

This morning I am a little bit grumpy! In front of me, is a backed up sink, it is full of sardine heads, guts, and scales. In the other room I can hear Dino, singing and whistling and getting all his gear together to set out for the 38th edition of the annual Vogalonga!!! He is all chirpy, as he gets to row in the annual event with 7 other fellows, a 32 km regatta, through the picturesque Venetian lagoon.

the rowing marathon route - image taken from www.vogalonga.it

Naturally, he and his crew members will be making lots of pit stops along way, eating and drinking, and becoming merrier as the day progresses. I, on the other hand, have been assigned the duties of cook, photographer and baggage carrier. NOT FAIR, RIGHT????

Enough whinging, the Vogalonga is a famous regatta that began in Venice in 1974, and takes place each year on a Sunday in May when, for a few hours, the suffocating traffic of motorized boats ceases, and the water is left alone to the oars. 

rush hour in Venice

Loads of foreigners arrive and bring all kinds of vessels which ONLY move by means of sheer human strength. The foreigners seem to always have the event summed up quite appropriately, they are happy, smiley and sincerely want to save Venice from the wrath of motor boats. Most Venetians on the other hand, tend to moan and groan about how, on this one day, the public transport service is disrupted!

there's my little Dino

Nevertheless, our fabulous Venetian friends, who simply adore Venice, take to this event each year and really make it super special. This year we are back at our Rowing Club at the Giudecca, and each family has the task of bringing along something to devour after the 3 – 4, and  sometimes, 12 hour event. There will pasta,  fish, sauteed vegetables, and desserts. I am bringing along Sarde Impanate (Crumbed Butterflied Sardines), they are really light and crunchy and as we all know, oily fish are just so flavoursome.

ginger, our neighbourhood cat, also loves succulent sardines

Thus, as this day comes to a close, I sip on a very cold Prosecco, whilst still trying to remove the last few sardine scales from my hair... they just seem to fly everywhere. 

Go to Crumbed Butterflied Sardines recipe