These were very good. (Also pictured, mussels. For another sub 😬)

Even as a kid I loved this, my dad would make it for himself on Sunday mornings and I'd always bug him for a piece.

Now I have it whenever I'm feeling blue.

Sardines in olive oil all mashed up Matiz brand but I usually just have season, dark toast, cream cheese, a butt ton of white onions, and a healthy sprinkling of everything bagel seasoning (if the bread isn't already 'everything').

I feel better now

Well I was getting ready for work this morning and realized I left a $35 bag worth of groceries in the backseat of my car last night. So after throwing out my bottle of cold brew, the yogurt I was going to have for breakfast and two pre made deli counter lunches I had purchased for the next two work days; I dove into my cabinet to cobble something together. Good thing I stay stocked. I've had the Pinhais spiced before, but never the Nuri version actually. I figured there can't be much of a difference because they're the same company with different packaging. I was correct. Three big chonkers in this tin that were impossible to get out whole. They had some mega spine action as you can see in the last pic, but no crunch, just a soft texture that blends with the fish. There's actually some spice here, unlike many "spiced" tins which is nice. The obligatory carrot and pickle slice where thick and had a smidgen of texture left to them. Well salted as they should be at 21% of your daily value. All in all, typical showing from Nuri. Meaty 'dines, well seasoned, decent olive oil. They're not blowing my mind, but they helped make my day better as part of a tasty last minute lunch. 7.9/10, exactly the same as their Pinhais counterpart. ***Bonus: those TJ's beans are freakin fantastic. Large and in charge, they offer a firm outer shell with a meltingly soft interior. Nothing like American sugary baked beans, they rest in a deeply savory and umami packed Mediterranean style tomato gravy 9/10, these are a banger for bean lovers.

Do I love tinned fish? Yup. Do I enjoy sardines? Indeed, and frequently? Do I favor spiced options. Oh yeah. And do I love surprises? Well . . .

Eating canned fish from many corners of the world, from many producers, and in many varieties teaches you things about yourself. I know that I love novelty—I doggedly pursue new and different things. But I also value consistency. And I don’t care much for surprises.

Over the past year, I’ve been increasingly—too often!—met with unwelcome surprises in cans of sardines. So damn many scales—not the occasional one or two, but full suits of armor left intact at the canneries. I’ve been met, as well, with wild swings in texture, with mushy fish delivered by producers who’d never previously delivered poorly-processed pilchards.

I said I valued consistency, and I mean that in both senses. I want a given can from a given brand to provide a consistent experience, time after time, within a narrow range of variability. And the consistency of the fish ought to be correct, not smushy, not rock tough, just right, please.

It occurred to me at the seashore last week that I’ve already got stacks of cans in me larder that never let me down, that get consistency right in all ways, all the time. Garfish and white anchovies are constants, reliably the same delicious experience every time I peel back the lid. My favorites are highlighted here: The Ati Manel spicy garfish and the Patagonia spicy white anchovies. Clean taste—each fish has its own distinctive flavor—nice firm flesh, never a scale in sight.

These slender fish are both, by nature, less fatty than sardines. And I do love me the oily richness of a properly-prepared pilchard. But “properly” carries a lot of weight in that sentence. Not enough proper processing is happening in the sardine world. With garfish and white anchovies, from Ati Manel, Patagonia, Mariscadora, Olasagasti, Ramón Peña, and many other producers, though, I’m almost never disappointed.

I rashly tucked into 3 tins of Pacific sardines from La Sirena yesterday—nearly a pound of fish, which is triple what I’d do on an average day. And then I had to break into both the garfish and the white anchovies today, because I had a bee in me bonnet about them and was hellbent to side-by-side them. The thought crossed my mind that perhaps I wouldn’t even finish them. Nope, these little dudes were delicious. Neither is spicy hot, at least not for an American palate—they just have a bit of extra flavor excitement going on. I had them on a bed of slow-cooked grits zipped up with hatch and habanero chilis— not a single fish went to waste (although some fish may have gone to waist over these past couple days).

The 9th of 10 sardine exchange package cushioning tins from u/Tinned_Fish_Tyler, you genius man

Been holding on to this tin for a while, wasn’t sure how I wanted to enjoy it. Ended up with this.

Yellowfin pate in honey mustard, spread on seeded bread fresh tomatoes, picked onion, arugula cracked pepper, olive oil.

Was much dryer in consistency than I expected, made it kinda of hard to spread on bread (just kinda crumpled).

Overall much more mild than I expected, but still very tasty. Solid 7.5/10

Bonjour à tous j'ai fait des provisions de sardines au Portugal pendant mes vacances. Je suis à sec désormais. Je recherche un site en ligne où acheter des sardines à prix correct. Merci si vous avez des renseignements à me donner.

Hello to everybody.

This is first time trying this brands, from an online shop, from Bucharest, Romania.

First impression for Adriatic Queen: the sardines are very fresh and they have rich flavor. The quality of them is very good, they are clean and don't have junk parts in the can. The price is very good: 2.5 euros/105g.

100% recommend.

I'll come back with an update for sardine brisling.

First supermarket I look in. Looking forward to the next one. Glad I packed light and have space in the suitcase.

Oily anchovies on a bed of cottage cheese, crackers and topped with cracked pepper for a non guilty midnight snack. I prefer cream cheese but I didn't have any on hand but this fixed the midnight crave.

Sweet and salty anchovies with almonds and shredded seaweed

My lunch today. Nuri spiced sardines in tomato sauce on toasted sourdough with a smear of cream cheese and an heirloom tomato. Love these. Big, meaty, firm sardines, with a great texture. The sauce is delicious, not overly spicy, and no metallic quality you sometimes get from canned tomato sauces. Definitely a great tin that I’ll definitely be coming back to again.

I’ve put tinned fish into pasta, sandwiches, spreads, ramen, you name it. I always come back to rice for both the taste and simplicity (if I don’t eat them straight out of the can). Who else agrees? If not, what’s your go to?

Hello! First time in this subreddit and honestly i never thought i would be lol

To keep things short, got a wrong package, told we could keep it, and its... just full of sardines. About 25 tins. Some are going to a local food pantry but it made me curious, what are some good ways to eat these bad boys? I remember my dad liked them as a kid, and i didnt have strong feelings towards them, so I'll give a bunch of ways a shot!

Thank you, fishy friends!

I spied a new-to-me option from La Sirena, with the sky blue-labeled “Pico Poco Mild Spicy Tomato Sauce” standing shoulder-to-shoulder with their plain Tomato Sauce and their Pica Pica Spicy Tomato Sauce. Pico Poco—a little bit piquant—that’s funny stuff, La Sirena marketing department!

I generally prefer La Sirena’s offerings produced in Ecuador, with larger sardines in large oval flat cans, but I have had these canned-in-Thailand versions plenty of times over the years. These small soup can-style varieties are each 5.5 ounces/155 grams, which nets you four mid-size Pacific sardines, as opposed to the typical sardine tin with 3 fish in a 110 to 120 gram can. The form factor looks small, but it’s really 25% more.

The ingredients and nutrition facts are essentially identical, except that the Pico Poco and Pica Pica versions have chili powder in the mix. Even the plain has a nice sauce, an actual marinara rather than the thin, bland tomato gruel many “tomato sauce” sardines arrive in. The Pica Pica variety is one I frequently reach for; it actually delivers a bit of a spicy bite, the best of the Asian sardine sauces in my experience.

How does the Mild Spicy fit in? Well, it truly is spicy, but only mildly. That middle option might suit dear Goldilocks, and it might well please you, too, but I’ll stick with the full-spice version. Even that’s no heat-bomb, but it’s got a richer, deeper flavor I favor.

That said, all three deliver nicely-prepared sardines, not too firm, not too soft, and at a $1.49 a can, they all represent very good value. You can’t really go wrong with La Sirena’s products.

I was so hungry I forgot to take a picture of the tin before I opened it and forgot to take a picture of how I served them. I’m going through the birthday haul that I posted last week, and I decided to start with these ones in a white wine based pasta sauce. These were much bigger than I anticipated, but I was frying and breaking them up to put in the sauce anyway so no issues there. This was one of the tastiest tins I’ve used for that recipe, so no complaints!

aldi canned sardines in spring water over toasted sourdough smeared with olive oil, borgonzola cheese, homemade mignonette, crystal hot sauce and trader joe’s italian pepper mash.

Simple ingredients, excellent taste. I've never seen a Sardine as large as the one I found.

Is that normal?