Equipment

Frying pan

Clean the fish.
Drain them well in a colander and be sure to blot away as much liquid as possible from the belly and the surface with paper towels.
Season with salt and dredge in the flour.
Shake off the excess so as little flour as possible remains on them.
In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.
Fry them in batches.
Adding just a few at a time to the pan gives them a better crust and keeps the oil temperature from dropping. If you put them all into a large pan at once, instead of frying and turning golden they will start to boil and soak up oil, and the dish will turn out heavy.
Once they turn golden, they need about another 2 minutes on each side.
Lift them onto absorbent paper towels to drain.
Continue frying until all the fish are fried.

Add the garlic and rosemary to the hot oil and saute for 1.5 minutes, until the garlic becomes fragrant without browning.
Deglaze with the vinegar, carefully, as it spatters.
Let it evaporate for 1 minute.
Lower the heat and add the petimezi.
Season the sauce with salt and pepper and simmer for a few minutes until it thickens and turns syrupy.
Place the fried fish in a glass dish and pour the sauce over them.
Kept covered in the refrigerator, they will last a good while.
On Paros this was a weekly habit, since fish were plentiful. They would fry them for the family, and whatever was left over they turned into savoro so it would keep and nothing would go to waste. It was, in other words, the method of preservation. In fact, the locals preferred it a few days old, because the aromas of the dish soaked through and made it utterly delicious.