inside of these guys there's some bones

December 16, 2023 1:58 PM

Are you afraid of sardines? Do you have a can of them stored in your cupboard waiting for you to get the courage to try them out? Don't worry, Matthew Carlson has a video for you explaining how to eat canned sardines. Watched that and you have some questions? He tries to answer them. Convinced and now you're hungry? He has reviewed and eaten 100+ different cans of sardines (and other fish) in the Canned Fish Files for you to choose from.
posted by simmering octagon (51 comments total)

I had a bit of a bad news buddy for a while who one night while we were hanging out drinking we decided to go to a store and buy a bunch of tinned fish. Like, all different kinds in different preparations. And you know what? A lot of those are really truly good! I'd have to stand in front of a display and look at the labels to remember any of them but I remember sardines and kippers and maybe halibut? That seems a bit large, might not that.

Anyway, tinned fish are worth exploring. If you've ever had tuna salad you've already had tinned fish.
posted by hippybear at 2:08 PM on December 16, 2023 [5 favorites]

Mackerel. It might have been mackerel. It was really good, whatever it was!
posted by hippybear at 2:09 PM on December 16, 2023

The best way to eat sardines is with plain crackers.

Don't complicate it. The simple contrast works so well.
posted by Pouteria at 2:10 PM on December 16, 2023 [9 favorites]

the time I posted to Ask about eating whole smelt because I had done that the night before and my partner at the time was a little horrified and I wound up calling poison control close to midnight because what if I did a terrible mistake

I love sardines, anchovies, and smelt. Gimme those li'l oily fishies whole!
posted by curious nu at 2:15 PM on December 16, 2023 [8 favorites]

I regularly eat tinned mackerel, but I prefer fresh. I developed an aversion to tinned sardines as a kid and never think about buying them. I never seem to see fresh sardines at home, even though I live in a town with a small fishing fleet. The only time I have had them is in Portugal where a few traditional fishing boats rowed out some days and hauled in nets full of them late in the afternoon. Tractors would meet them to drag them up the beach, leaving behind a scattering of glittering fish. The cafe at the top of the beach would take some to barbecue and they were delicious.
posted by biffa at 2:18 PM on December 16, 2023 [2 favorites]

bock beer battered smelt in butcher paper with salt and malt vinegar

rules.
posted by clavdivs at 2:23 PM on December 16, 2023 [8 favorites]

I don't like the crunchy little spines. I like most other canned and/or pickled fish, preferably in some kind of spicy sauce. I love herring, as long as it has at some point been in an acid long enough for the bones to dissolve (otherwise it's like eating a toothbrush).
posted by confluency at 2:52 PM on December 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

I likes to eat all the fishes!

-eponythingy
posted by The otter lady at 2:56 PM on December 16, 2023 [32 favorites]

I mostly picture The otter lady floating on her back trying to crack open a shellfish with a rock, but I'm glad the diet is more diverse.
posted by hippybear at 3:06 PM on December 16, 2023 [9 favorites]

I'll stick with anchovies. Fresh roasted over charcoal on some Greek island.
posted by Czjewel at 3:09 PM on December 16, 2023 [5 favorites]

I love sardines and love going down the rabbit hole of sardine review websites. A can of sardines, some cappers, chili flake, garlic, lemon zest and breadcrumbs sautéed and tossed with pasta is an amazing quick meal.
posted by misterpatrick at 3:15 PM on December 16, 2023 [7 favorites]

this is too damn wholesome for words

best of the web, best of American culture
posted by Kattullus at 3:41 PM on December 16, 2023 [3 favorites]

Bah! Sardines aren't any good unless they come in an oval can with a key.

Pull tabs definitely affected the flavor.
posted by BlueHorse at 3:48 PM on December 16, 2023 [11 favorites]

This is timely, because I've recently discovered my love of tinned and jarred fish, and I'm branching out from my childhood standby of sardines in tomato sauce. My favorite of all, which you can probably find in the refrigerated kosher section of your local supermarket if you live in an area with lots of Baltic and similarly Ashkenazi Jews, is pickled herring with onion in white wine sauce. It's delicious, but infuriatingly expensive these days. :(
posted by Faint of Butt at 4:24 PM on December 16, 2023 [7 favorites]

Matthew is great. Love his channel while I'm not even a fan of sardines. :-)
posted by Kosmob0t at 4:26 PM on December 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

Riga sprats are where it's at. Tiny little smoked sardines, great on a salad.

Now I'm thinking what about putting them on a pizza with tomato sauce, like an anchovy pizza. I have pizza dough, I have sprats, this will be dinner soon.
posted by ssg at 4:59 PM on December 16, 2023 [9 favorites]

Pretty sure I've never eaten tinned fish, (other than tuna), Eyes and bones and scales and everything? Just a gross concept for me to try and deal with.
posted by Windopaene at 5:15 PM on December 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

Your local dollar store likely has a selection that you could try on the cheap and not feel too bad about throwing away if they're really unappealing.

FWIW, many of them are fillets, so they aren't entire tiny fish. The mackerel I remember having was just little slabs of meat. You can often tell from the packaging what you're going to encounter inside the can.
posted by hippybear at 5:20 PM on December 16, 2023 [4 favorites]

Dollar Store Tinned Fish might be my sockpuppet name
posted by Windopaene at 5:23 PM on December 16, 2023 [13 favorites]

We once went to a fancy NYC Basque restaurant and ordered what turned out to be bread and a plate with a can of sardines on it, with a $40 bottle of Txakoli. We always look on that meal as having paid the Stupid Tax, because since then, we buy a $8 can of sardines and the same wine for $11.99 and recreate that lovely dinner.
posted by acrasis at 5:28 PM on December 16, 2023 [6 favorites]

Why would anyone eat sardines when right next to them in the store are the vastly superior and way less gross tins of herring?
posted by ixipkcams at 6:07 PM on December 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

In Lisbon, Portugal they have stores that ONLY sell tins of sardines. I was so excited when I discovered this, but my reason for living poo-pooed the entire concept. The male half of the couple we were traveling with snuck out one afternoon and bought 8 cans, came back to our lodging with capers and crackers and some mustard and spread 'em out and we tried them all. Heavenly. So good that the poo-pooer went to the store and bought some cans to take home...which were seized by security on our way out of the country. I've never seen her argue so hard! Sardines and kippers are now in regular rotation at our house.
posted by Floydd at 7:06 PM on December 16, 2023 [10 favorites]

I recently impulse shopped a can of mackerel and was surprised at how mild it was. "Mackerel" sounds like it would be intense, maybe gamey, definitely a challenging fish. But no! Dump that on some pasta, throw in some chopped red pepper and some parm and you're good!
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:09 PM on December 16, 2023 [6 favorites]

OMG HERRING!

That is what it was! I was so surprised that I liked it because, like The corpse in the library, I had a cartoonish preconception of what it must taste like.

I wonder how much of these reactions to tinned fish being "oh this will be strong" or "this won't be pleasant" or whatever might be related to immigrant food preferences and stuff like that? Because I feel like my own avoidance of it is because my parents avoided all tinned fish except for tuna and peculiarly salmon, and nobody I knew growing up ate such things not even anchovies on pizza. And we were all pretty white bread middle america families. I don't know what the attitudes toward tinned fish amongst the hispanic or indigenous peoples who also lived in the area might have been.

They keep making all these tins of fish so who is eating them???
posted by hippybear at 7:20 PM on December 16, 2023 [2 favorites]

This is delightful. I hope there's someone doing this (simple 10 minute video gently reassuring you that this food is food and it's ok to eat it and it's tasty and here are some other ways you might enjoy it and that sort of thing) for lots of foods.
posted by aniola at 7:21 PM on December 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

I am here for this whole post! I turned my Instagram into nothing but sporadic sardine reviews a few years ago, and it's a healthier way for me to do social media. What with the omega 3's and all!

I love them. I've had some bad tins, but even the cheap ones are usually fine. I'm a little peeved that they're now turning into a luxury item in a lot of ways (high end brands used to be like $5-8, are now $10-20) but otherwise I am just happy to see them becoming more popular and accepted. I think it's good more people are eating little fish, better for the food chains, although like everything in the ocean, even the sardines are stressed. I think I heard that Portugal has limited the catch at various times in recent years.

I have a few $1-3 tins that are my everyday go-tos, but springing for a $5 tin does usually put a different bracket of quality in your mouth.

For cheap, Chicken of the Sea and Titus are solid, and Trader Joe's punch far above their weight! I've found random little labels that were quite good as well, as there are only so many factories and lots of the brands are just different packaging of a different oil/spice mix on the same fish.

I usually do plain with saltines and some additional salt, but sometimes a little coarse mustard like Maille is nice.
posted by jellywerker at 8:01 PM on December 16, 2023 [5 favorites]

Mod note: Several comments deleted. Please don't derail an entire conversation to make it about whether the topic / length / format of a link is the ideal for you personally. If you actually think it's a bad post that shouldn't appear on the site, just flag the post and we'll have a look. And other folks, please just flag or contact us rather than make the thread about that one comment instead of the post itself, thank you. Also one deleted for spamming. Don't include unrelated / spammy links in your comment, or you will be banned.
posted by taz (staff) at 10:12 PM on December 16, 2023 [2 favorites]

The only rule I have about tinned fish is if country of origin is China I won’t buy it.
Rīga sardines are The Best sardines. I could live on those things! Anchovies also.
I love pickled herring and sour cream too.

It’s us people with ancestry in the former East Bloc countries who go crazy for tinned fish.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 12:01 AM on December 17, 2023 [3 favorites]

The only rule I have about tinned fish is if country of origin is China I won’t buy it.

Fried dace with black beans is good with white rice!
they only have a tiny bit of malachite green
posted by juv3nal at 12:23 AM on December 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

Now I'm thinking what about putting them on a pizza with tomato sauce, like an anchovy pizza.

Don’t forget the pineapple. I love anchovy and pineapple pizza.
posted by waving at 2:36 AM on December 17, 2023

Don’t forget the pineapple. I love anchovy and pineapple pizza

Oh my goodness I thought I was the only one. People think I am making a joke when I mention this and I have to clarify.

Anyway. I’m a tinned fish fan and somewhat of an evangelist. One of my favorite things about a good tinned fish is how it can be used to turn a disparate selection of seasonal produce into a meal. Got some funky radishes, some brassicas, your random leafy green of the moment, maybe a citrus fruit or some kind of berry? Clean them all up and arrange in a colorful pile, blanching whatever is necessary, and stage your tinned fish on top. Sprinkle with a dressing made of your favorite mustard and vinegar and the oil from the tin, a little shallot or chives, maybe some juice from your fruit. Serve with toast and bingo bango fancy fish salad like in a farm to table bistro la de dah! Got some pasta and something green? Shallow steam the green thing and then pour over the oil from the tin and some minced garlic, sauté the fish in there, mix in your pasta, maybe add some cheese or an herb or a little wine or butter, fabulous fish and veggie pasta. Yes I do this with leftover vegetable sides.

People make a lot of fuss about the bones or the tails or the whatevers. First of all, the bones have a lot of the nutrition, but second of all I think the filleted sardines and similar are not good. The lack of texture makes them so I almost have to cook them in some way before I can eat them. If they’re whole, they are better straight out of the tin. And the spines have a flavor because they have been absorbing the fishy oil for so long. I’m also the person who eats fried shrimp shells and chomps down on chicken feet so I realize I’m an outlier when it comes to tasty food textures, but really tinned fish are so simple and approachable I have trouble understanding why someone who otherwise would not consider themselves picky would have a problem.

My favorite simple way to eat a sardine is with whole grain mustard on rye toast. I can keep all of the ingredients in my freezer or pantry indefinitely and have this ready to go in five minutes, less if the cat doesn’t need to be shooed from the kitchen upon the sound of a can opening. Great for late nights, quick lunches, tea times, cold weather with some roasted potatoes and a cup of hot strong tea and hot weather with a crispy cold dill pickle and a glass of cream soda if I’m being nostalgic.
posted by Mizu at 3:50 AM on December 17, 2023 [5 favorites]

They keep making all these tins of fish so who is eating them???

I do, I eat all of the tinned fishes.

Joke aside, I wasn't aware of any people who don't eat tinned fish, so now I'm curious. Our PM made a FB post about eating mackerel from a tin, to appear more folksy. Everyone eats tinned fish where I come from, except the vegetarians but including people who claim to not eat fish.

Tinned sardines, tinned mackerel, tinned anchovies, tinned cods liver, tinned herring, tinned squid, tinned octopus, tinned mussels, tinned crab, tinned salmon, tinned sprats. I probably forgot some.

I like the channel, but I don't think I'll subscribe. I do my own research.
posted by mumimor at 5:27 AM on December 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

He reviews my favorite tin fish, and one that triggers endless core memories and nostalgia of a simpler time on the farm - but the third act twist still blew my mind, even though I’ve been eating them for fuck, almost 4 decades
posted by thedaniel at 7:01 AM on December 17, 2023

The thing is, sardines are basically the superfood of superfoods. And they are cheap and tasty.

Rice cake, mashed avocado, thinly sliced sweet baby tomatoes, sardines, garnish of pickled red onions & lots of black pepper. Nom nom nom :-)

Oh and would it be off topic to talk about roll mops here?
posted by EllaEm at 7:44 AM on December 17, 2023 [4 favorites]

My friend from Madrid used to buy tinned squid in ink and eat them when we would sit around drinking beers. Not always, but he did it fairly often. I tried it and didn't care for it. When I was a kid, my dad (who is a first gen American with parents from Sweden) used to buy canned sardines and I would eat those with "hard tack" (which is how he refers to rye crisp crackers). I really liked those, but somehow he stopped buying them and the tradition never caught on with me.

Maybe I'll go buy some fancy tinned sardines!

And there was a store in Chicago (long gone) called Meyer's Delicatessen which was owned and operated by German immigrants. They always had a tray of "Our Imported Rollmops" in their refrigerated case. Us kids thought it was hilarious. This place was a wild time capsule. It was spotlessly clean, and all the ladies behind the counter were taciturn and spoke German. In winter they spread sawdust on the floor! They had an awesome ticket stamper machine with a really stiff lever that rand a bell you could hear from outside on the sidewalk! Always was a wonderful place around Xmastime. My family would buy all our sandwich meats there, we'd go every week!

It's called Gene's now. It's owned by a longtime Polish deli family and they kept the old real-neon Meyer's sign as a decoration in the store. It's still great, but not as cool as it used to be.
posted by SoberHighland at 8:59 AM on December 17, 2023 [5 favorites]

Tinned sardines on crackers was one of my favorite snacks as a child. I could eat a whole can by myself. I got out of the habit later but have picked it back up occasionally and it is still just as satisfying.
posted by agatha_magatha at 9:01 AM on December 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

Not sure if links like this are allowed here, but there's a shot of the old sign in Gene's website right at the top front page. I recommend the place highly if you want genuine Polish deli food and you're in Chicago, but it'll never beat my childhood memories of Meyer's Delicatessen. Fun fact: Gene's is grandfathered-in as the last place allowed to house-smoke their own sausage within the city. They had to install huge, expensive air cleaners on the roof of the building, but it's all made in-house. All their pierogis and tons of other Polish foods are handmade right there, too. Cool neighborhood to boot. Web-search "Gene's sausage Chicago" if you want to see!

Delete this if it's spammy. I have no financial interest in the place, but I sorta know one of the owner's adult kids who told me about the in-house smoking thing. He told me they also still have the amazingly cool, legendary ticket-stamping bell-ringing thing, but they are still unsure how to display it. There's an entire swath of Chicagoans who remember that device! (Keeping this thread-relevant: Gene's sells various types of tinned fish at this store1)
posted by SoberHighland at 9:13 AM on December 17, 2023 [4 favorites]

Just this week I went on a sardine factory tour in Porto, Portugal. It was way more interesting than I expected. The tour concluded with a tasting in their cafe, and it was definitely better than the tinned sardines from my childhood. The factory, Pinhais, has been family owned since the 1920s. Everything is done by hand and each worker can do all of the jobs on the floor. Definitely worth a visit if you ever find yourself in Portugal.
posted by MLW15 at 9:49 AM on December 17, 2023 [3 favorites]

One of my favourite things to eat for lunch is a can of sardines in tomato sauce spread on fresh (buttered, of course) white bread, cut into large triangles. No other combination is acceptable and a tin of sardines will sit in the pantry until all required conditions exist.
posted by dg at 3:07 PM on December 17, 2023 [2 favorites]

Oh dear, this is so disappointing. You're going to make canned fish popular then I won't be able to afford it. Hush, please! Don't do for sardines what was done for oxtail.
posted by anadem at 7:54 PM on December 17, 2023 [4 favorites]

Now I've got a craving for herring in sour cream on either Triscuits or regular saltines. Hot damn ziggety zam.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:17 PM on December 17, 2023 [2 favorites]

Tasty previous AskMe about tinned fish recommendations
posted by dlugoczaj at 6:48 AM on December 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

Awesome, that was my AskMe! I do love me some good tinned fish. There's usually a stack of cans in my pantry!
posted by slogger at 10:12 AM on December 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

I like the encouragement to just eat the fish right out of the can instead of agonizing over the "best" way to use it in a recipe or whatever. I snacked on a delicious Fishwife tin today in that spirit!
posted by rivenwanderer at 3:07 PM on December 18, 2023

I've been dipping my toes in the tinned fish world this past year. I think in 2024 I'm going to dive in headfirst. This video (and r/CannedSardines, linked in the description) is the sign I needed.

In fact, maybe I'll go get a head start tonight with that tin of Baltic sprats that's been in my cabinet a couple months...
posted by egregious theorem at 5:37 PM on December 18, 2023

Tinned sardines on crackers was one of my favorite snacks as a child. I could eat a whole can by myself. I got out of the habit later but have picked it back up occasionally and it is still just as satisfying.

My dad didn't like fish when I was a kid (he eats it now), so this is sometimes what my mom and I would have for dinner when he was out of town: mayonnaise and sardines on saltines with a few drops of Tabasco on top. These days I prefer them on toast with a thin scrape of sour cream and even more hot sauce.
posted by oneirodynia at 5:50 PM on December 18, 2023

I'm so resentful that I can't eat fish at all, the canned fish options all seem so delicious and convenient I don't see how you all eat anything else. The non-fish canned protein options pale in comparison... tinned chicken is disgusting to me, spam has a place but isn't a delicious crunchy mouthful marinated in salsa or wine or whatever. My best option right now is black beans, charred corn and capsicum in salsa & oil, which is a pretty poor competitor to some of the beautiful tins of fish I see around.
posted by Audreynachrome at 3:22 AM on December 19, 2023

Inspired by this post I picked up some Riga Gold Sardines on my latest grocery store run. I'm already excited to try them.
posted by Kattullus at 5:25 AM on December 19, 2023

I buy fairly significant amounts of tinned fish, and mussels and oysters and squid and yum! Herrings are also nice, especially if you can get the real swedish kind.
posted by aspersioncast at 3:23 PM on December 19, 2023

It's gone midnight and I was about to go to bed, but now I'm going to have to go and open one of those tins of mackerel in the cupboard and stand there eating it with a fork right out of the can in the kitchen, damn you all!
posted by penguin pie at 4:07 PM on December 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

And now I'm beginning to suspect that "penguin pie" is a recipe NOT made out of penguin as I had previously suspected, but is instead a pie made for penguins to enjoy.
posted by hippybear at 8:26 PM on December 19, 2023 [2 favorites]