A couple of years ago at my annual wellness checkup, they told me I need to increase my “good cholesterol”. So, I bought a can of sardines to see what they were like, since I had never tried them before.
I’ve never been a huge fan of canned tuna, so I assumed I wouldn’t like them.
I was wrong! I found them very enjoyable, and sardines on a cracker has been a part of my regular lunch rotation for a while now.
I typically get the BeachCliff or Pampa brand in Louisiana hot sauce. I’ve also found herring in a chili-tomato sauce that I enjoy.
The other day, I noticed my local Walmart had the much more expensive King Oscar brand sardines clearance priced at $1.00/can, so I bought a couple just for s&gs.
My clupeidaen world has now grown much larger. I had no idea sardines could be so delectable!
I went back to Walmart and bought out the rest of the King Oscar brand that they had on clearance.
My worry now is that I’m spoiled. I don’t know if I can go back to the cheaper brands once my premium stash runs out, and I don’t know if I can justify buying King Oscar at regular price.
Mmmm, sardines, them delectable little fishes! I like the ones in mustard on Triscuit crackers. Makes me think that I haven’t had any since I moved and no longer have a Grocery Outlet nearby. But there’s a new Big Lots a quick bus ride away, so I should go check them out. Somehow, I associate sardines with discount stores.
It would be lovely if they had King Oscars for a buck (not likely, I’m sure) but I’d be happy with Beach Cliff.
We have a moderately-sized Portuguese community in this town, and there are a few Portuguese grocery stores around to serve them.
Portuguese have a knack for canning sardines, and whenever I visit one of these stores, I stock up on a few cans. They’re always quite reasonable, and excellent. I always go for the simple canned-in-olive-oil variety.
I think Spain also excels in canned fish, if my memory of Tony Bourdain’s shows is correct.
I think I’ve asked this before, but I’ve forgotten the answer.
Do canned sardines still have the guts in them? I’m always more interested in eating them than dissecting them, so I never check. On one hand I think, ‘Of course they’re cleaned! Their heads are off, aren’t they?’ On the other hand, they’re pretty small; so it seems a lot of work to gut them, and who’s going to notice a few cooked internal organs anyway?
That’s amazing. Yum, I’d probably OD on sardines if I went to Portugal.
Johnny L.A., I think the larger sardines are gutted, and the itty bitty ones are still intact. I sometimes buy the “Tiny Tots” brand, and the little fishies still have all their bones and guts.
I like the little ones, especially the really teeny ones that are cross-packed. I really don’t care for the bigger ones that are only like 4 in a can. I like to dump out the oil, refill the can with Crystal hot sauce and eat them with a little cocktail fork.
Nope. Nope. Nope. Fish guts, gross! I think I have a memory of my nasty Uncle Leroy eating them when he was shit-faced. Maybe that’s why I don’t like them.
I was in Lisbon last summer and we went to the Time Out Market for lunch one day. I practically freaked out when I saw the sardine booth. The people I was with thought I was nuts for eating canned sardines for lunch, but they were awesome.
One of my favorite recipes for the littles fishies (From Alton Brown, I think):
Sherried Sardine Toast
• 2 (3.75-ounce 2-layer) tins brisling sardines in olive oil
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley leaves, divided
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest, reserve the lemon and cut into 4 wedges
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 4 (1/2-inch) thick slices crusty bread, such as sourdough, country loaf or rye
• 1 ripe Hass avocado
• Coarse sea salt
Directions
Drain the oil from 1 tin of sardines into a small bowl and set aside. Drain the oil from the other tin into another small bowl and whisk in 1 tablespoon of parsley, vinegar, lemon zest, and black pepper, to taste. Add the sardines, stir to combine and set aside for up to 1 hour.
After 45 minutes, put a rack 3-inches from the broiler and heat the oven to the broiler setting on high. Brush each slice of bread on 1 side with the reserved oil. Put the bread, oil side up, onto a cooling rack set inside a half sheet pan and broil 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.
Halve the avocado and remove the pit. Smash the flesh in each half with a fork.
Spread the avocado evenly onto the toasted bread. Top evenly with the sardines. Pour any remaining dressing on top and garnish with the remaining parsley.
Season lightly with sea salt and serve with lemon wedges.
OP, if you’re in an expansive mood WRT your diet, and you like sardines, I suspect you will like the Queen of canned seafood…the smoked oyster.
Seriously: one of my favorite snacks of all time is to open and drain a can of smoked oysters (in oil), grab a decent cracker (water crackers, etc), put a smoked oyster on it, top it with a sliver of gruyere cheese and then finish with a dollop of dijon mustard. It’s excellent.
By the way, sprats are also awesome, AND any of these things (sardines, sprats, smoked oysters) make AMAZING substitutions for anchovies in salad dressing preparations. If you have a food processor, you are now the king of vinaigrettes.
There’s only one way to properly eat a sardine: you spread a layer of Philadelphia Cream Cheese on a Ritz cracker. Then you put a sardine on top of that. Then you put a caper into the sardine’s eye socket. Then you sprinkle a few drops of Texas Pete hot sauce on top of that and you eat it in one bite. Then you eat a dozen more—two dozen if you haven’t eaten for a couple hours.
This should be common sense. Do I have to change your diapers, too? Fer cryin’ out loud …
Seriously…are there guts and bones in sardines? Cause while people here are raving over their taste, I just can’t bring myself to try them if there’s either of those still included with the fish.
