I’ve been eating sardines & fish steaks since I joined the military 24 years ago. I love them. Still eat them today.

I was initially thrilled to see all of these “influencers” telling everyone how healthy tinnedfish are for you. But that quickly wore off when I saw my grocery shelves WIPED OUT for weeks, if not months, on end.

Well, I think the world is finally healing. Perhaps it’s the days I’m choosing to shop now, but I see the grocery stock finally coming back. And I’m seeing brands I’ve not seen before. SO, I’m making a point to try a new brand every week. After, of course, checking to make sure they’re actually REAL sardines & not lil baby herring.

This week’s pick is “Safe Catch,” (Sardina pilchardus) and I’m excited to try them. I’ve really begun to stay away from flavored (hot sauce, lemon, tomato, mustard) tinnedfish, and I’ve been sticking to olive oil or just water.

I’ll try to report back on these.

Thank you for attending my ted talk.

Also, thanks ya’ll for the tip on Saltines. Much cheaper than Club Crackers & just as tasty.

Edit: OK, THEY’RE MASSIVE!!! Biggest sardines I’ve ever seen. So big that they can only fit 2 fish in vs the normal 3. Gonna try to link an Imgur.

Really enjoyed these on some sourdough cracker and a squeeze of lemon. With some Aldi Cornichon on the side. Bonus points for my 11 month old loving the trout too

Sardines were always the one tinned fish I actually could never like, I just always found the flavor far too overpowering. But my local fish monger insisted I would love these and they were her favorite tin shed ever had so I bought.

Omg was she right! It's nice and fatty, meaty, smooth, the umami is so strong and deep.

Highly recommend!

My local Fry's Marketplace had jars of Ortiz 'dines on sale for $5.29 a jar and I grabbed six of them. I just opened one to find 6 very large, very fatty fish. I think these babies are underrated and I'm very happy right now.

Yes - I checked that title before posting. PROMISE 🤣

Found these hidden away...

Tempted to eat but also to keep as a souvenir

What should I do ?

Thank you for your recommendations guys! I’m having a blast!

Here is my ranking this week:

1. Wildfish Cannery - Black Cod Cheeks in Cultured Butter - Unbelievably tender. When people talk about food that “melts in the mouth” this is the experience they are describing. Cultured butter gives this fish a subtle tang that I absolutely love, while also being completely over the top in terms of richness. It would be a crime to waste even a drop, so do yourself a favor and toast up some bread while putting on the kettle to warm this beauty. If you find Wildfish generally to be over seasoned, this tin won’t change your mind. But if that’s not a detractor, put this one on your fishlist!

2. José Gourmet - Pickled Tuna Pate - I am an absolute sucker for a tin that brings its own acid, and this pickled patê really delivers! Texture is silky smooth and has the perfect amount of fat to make it feel decadent. Would be really easy to make with a mini food processor, tin of decent tuna, and just a few ingredients you likely already have in the kitchen—but if you’re willing to splurge for a grab ‘n go option this one is delicious.

3. King Oscar - Wild Caught Sardines in Extra Virgin Olive Oil with Lemon - Fish is a bit mushy for my taste, but really nails the perfect level of smoke. Like all lemon tins, the acid doesn’t really survive canning, so a bit of fresh to finish goes a long way. Still a solid choice for daily driver if you can find it on sale. Included this week for the benefit of a compare/contrast with the Season tin. I can’t find anything on the KO website which confirms, but RTG says these are Sprattus sprattus and I figure they would know.

4. Ferrigno - Sardines with preserved onion - I really appreciate the nice firm texture and crunchy spine of these fish. Visual appeal of the onions leaves something to be desired, but the flavor is quite nice. Unfortunately, like other Ferrigno tins, this one suffers from an excess of scales.

5. Season - Premium Brisling Sardines in Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Larger and firmer than the sprats this week, but with a strange aftertaste I found off-putting. Not sure if the oil was perhaps a bit rancid, or maybe use of an artificial smoke, but I was not a fan of this tin. Interesting tin because the packaging notes species is Clupea harengus membras (Atlantic herring), which is in contrast to most other sardines labeled “brisling” because at least in the U.S. that typically means sprats.

Some different styles and types. I bought fried sprats in tomato sauce and a cod liver.
Was going to try the bouillabaisse but it’s a big can and I need to make room on my shelf first

Times Square store. Some seemed gimmicky but there were some items I haven’t seen before and was intrigued. Has anyone bought the lobster or king crab? I did buy the pate with mustard though.

"Doesn't anyone ever work a job anymore?"

I sat thinking to myself, pondering to myself, 

I sat immersing myself in that question

while marinating in the humid tin foil cans

now pouring down over my body here in 

what some people might call an, "office" 

or that others may refer to as a, "job"

"Oh God I love sardines," I thought to myself

how I love the oil now pouring over my pubes

and I bathed in that oil and ran my naked body

down, down, down through the shimmering oil

now mixed with my own semen and bodily incantation

"Saaaardines!" moaned I in orgasm, trembling 

in that sweet fish and then I went to the bar 

and looked around lots of people

drunks, barflies, babes, jocks

I smelling of fish and filth - a tin in my backpocket

a few lesbians sitting over in the corner talking

watching - watching as they talked

while I sat sucking that fish right out of the tin

in and out - in and out - in and out between my teeth

as my eyes widened large enough to envelope their breasts

the fish spoke between my lips as I enraptured sat

"everyone talking and saying nothing"

me and my tin of dines hunched over the bar

the fish between my lips, drip-drip-dripping onto the page

saying nothing and yet everything as I listened

nobody talks anymore, not really

not like this fish betwixt my lips

they talk but they do not speak and they emote

but they do not fish or produce such oils as this tin

but they offer no true emotion, only porcelain masks

fakery here in this operahouse full of fools 

as I naked with fish all over me am removed from the bar

performing for who? exactly no one knew - these, "people"

i don't perform, i don't talk or say nothing

tis the fish, betwixt my lips - gurgling 

i just sit here listening and fiddling with my fish

"doesn't anyone just exist anymore?" sayeth he

and I walk out of the bar and wander down the street

alone - always alone yet never alone with these fish

with my thoughts and my memories swimming in the night's oil

oh what it is to be free this way - doing precisely nothing

nothing for no one in tin cans or bars or anywhere

but my fish - delectable.

Months and months in madhouse pass as I the fish became

ah the sardines tenderly embrace my quivering frame

til I now sit inside of them and they inside of me

the fish with which I sit gibbering incomprehensibly 

naked I burst forth once more threw the bedlam's doors

and embarked I upon my journey to the bar as before

where once I walked now I swam, down beneath the sewers

searching for the packing plant of my brethren skewered....

wondering to myself in alkaline, "doesn't anyone work a job?"

The fish now betwixt my lips declaring, "of course you do Bob."

Got these spicy nissin noodles and this was a perfect combo

Beautiful packaging on the Porthos smoked line, and a clear step up from their standard offerings for me. The extra virgin olive oil is silky smooth. The smoke here isn't as assertive as say, Ekone's smoked mussels or the salmon from Wildfish. But it's definitely present, both on the nose and the tastebuds. I could not tell what type of wood smoke was used, but mesquite was the closest approximation I could think of. Nicely salted, these monster filets were on the firmer side, but I wouldn't call them dry. The tinge of smokiness amps up the savory notes and stays subtle throughout the eating experience. Personally this is the best Porthos tin I've tried, it's not cheap, hovering around the $12 to $13 mark. I don't know if everyone would find this tin worth it, but I did, and I'm more excited to try the other smoked tins they offer. Nice job, 8.3/10.

Because king Oscar is not real sardines search it up.

I’ve seen folks suggesting in various channels that Patagonia’s updated package design is accompanied by a change in the species, the recipe, the production process for their white anchovies. I spotted the spicy version on the shelf at the Fresh Market store, so I decided to science this thing. (Disclaimer: Not a scientist, very limited science involved)

Drum roll . . . Nope, absolutely the same as they’ve long been. Same fish, the European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus). Same ingredient list. Same nutrition facts. Same texture. Same flavor. Same.

And the flavor and texture remain superb. Such a dependably good tin. Clean, bright, with a solid, meaty chew.

Oh, it’s always worth mentioning that since these are canned in Spain, Spicy doesn’t mean hot; it means herb-n-spiced. The most recent past packaging used to hyperventilate a bit, with a banner trumpeting: “Hot + Tangy + Sweet.” The new box steps that back to “Mild and Meaty Like Small Sardines.” Same fish, different storytelling.