The 3 simplest ways to enjoy 4 styles of sardines.

Sardines - arguably the queen of all tinned fish.

Also arguably the tin that most people have had a bad version of in their childhood and swore off tinned fish forever…. let’s fix that shall we?

Sardines are FULL of omega-3’s, protein and vitamins, and when purchased from great Portuguese producers like these are processed the day they are caught, and packaged by hand.

I specifically selected these 4 tins to open together to introduce 4 different ways you can find sardines.

~ Classic: head and insides removed but still has skin & bones (which are all totally edible)

~ Skinless & boneless: for those who don’t like the idea of eating the bones and/or don’t want the mess of picking the spine out

~ Smoked

~ In tomato sauce

There are many other ways you’ll see sardines (spiced/with lemon/ in escabeche) but these are a common starting point.

3 of these were gifted to me for my bday through my @thetinnedfishmarket box and @nuri_sardine, and the Minerva was purchased through @portugalia_marketplace. Pricing is around $6.99 each.

Also the can art!

Okay let’s go. Here’s very simple ways to enjoy each of the preparations.

I paired @conservas.cantara Sardines in Olive Oil and @minerva_conservas Skinless & Boneless Sardines in Olive Oil with the absolute classic ~ saltines, great butter and lemon wedges. This is the fail safe pairing for any tin of any fish IMHO.

@conservasramirez Cocagne smoked sardines I went with a chive sour cream instead of the butter to add some creamy acidity to balance the smoke (which was actually quite light).

@nuri_sardine in tomato sauce was paired with our @5098bread lemon focaccia, which was perfect to sop up the leftover tomato purée in the tin.

Truly these were all great tins and made a fun lunch for 3 of us to argue over who the winner was.

I think it was us 3.

I will say that I expected the tomato “sauce” to have a cooked flavor and it was simply puréed tomatoes that tasted fresh from the garden, which was a beautiful surprise.

Happy eating and let me know how you like your sardines best!
🐟💙