February 2026 - Sardeenz!

Sea Tales Sardines in Spicy Tomato Sauce

These Sea Tales Sardines in Spicy Tomato Sauce were on sale at Whole Foods. I had to go twice, as they often don't have sale items stocked ahead of time in support of the ad. My recent interest in sardines in tomato sauce, in addition to the fact these are also spicy, made me eager to try them. Let's see how they were.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.9/5.

Some nice-looking pilchards. It appears to be a five count. There are the pepper and pickle right on top. So far, so good. The aroma is vegetal, tomato-y. A sip of the red-tinged olive oil is similar, with a moderate hit of heat at the back of the throat. I see no fins or scales.

Time To Eat

I was ready this time. I knew from previous tins packed in tomato sauce that there is a tendency for the oil to separate. After I placed the fish and spicy bits over rice, I used a plastic fork to whisk the remaining liquid in the tin back together before pouring it over everything.

The fish are meaty and tender, with no impression of dryness. The tomato sauce as reconstituted is milder than anticipated. There is a sweetness to it, plus a little tang from cider vinegar. There is still enough flavor to it that I wouldn't characterize it as over-cooked.

I tasted the pickle (a real pickle), and the pepper, which still had some heat to it. There was also a fragment of bay leaf, but it didn't stand out in the flavor profile. I didn't find things overly salty, the sodium was a relatively low 290mg.

All in all, I liked these and am glad I bought two cans. I'll get them again, hopefully on sale. Regularly $5.49, the sale and Amazon Prime member benefit brought them down to $4.25.

Main Takeaways

Tender, meaty pilchards
Well-balanced seasonings
Could have been a little spicier

Brand: Sea Tales
Description: Sardines in spicy tomato sauce
Species: Sardina pilchardus
Country of Origin: Portugal
Source: FAO27, Northeast Atlantic
Skin/Bones: Yes/Yes
Net Wt: 4.2 oz.
Price Range: $5-6

Patagonia Provisions Smoked Wild Pink Salmon With Pastrami Spice

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I went to Whole Foods looking for some sale items, and was pleased to find this new, unadvertised Patagonia Provisions Smoked Wild Pink Salmon With Pastrami Spice in stock. So new, in fact, it's not even listed on the Whole Foods website yet. And it was on sale!

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.8/5.

The pastrami spice aroma hits you immediately, along with a distinct smokiness. There is a modest amount of liquid in the can, typical of smoked salmon in this format. At an even 3 oz. it's a fraction of an ounce lighter than similar entries from competitors Fishwife and Wildfish Cannery. I could see some room in the can for a little more fish.

Let's Try It

My bad. I should have checked the photo before I ate. It's a little fuzzy.

Anyway, there's some nice bronze skin, and I detected no bones. The meat is firm, but flakes readily.

The flavor of the pastrami spice is just right, It could have been overwrought and overpowered the flavor of the fish, but thankfully no.

The ingredients list: Wild pink salmon, organic brown sugar, salt, organic pastrami spice blend (black pepper, coriander, caraway, garlic, onion, mustard), natural wood smoke. As I ate, there was an impression of tanginess I thought might be from vinegar, but as you can see it's not included.

I was pleased the salt level was not as high as might be anticipated, clocking in at a reasonable 530mg.

Main Takeaways

Well-seasoned slow smoked salmon
Pastrami spice well-balanced
Not overly salty

The Whole Foods list price was a competitive $9.99, but the sale brought it down to $7.64 for Amazon Prime members. There was also a "slow smoked with brown sugar" version. I bought a can of it, too, and will review it shortly. By comparison, the only difference between the two ingredient-wise is the pastrami spice.

More On Marketing

I had to check out the Patagonia Provisions website to see if this was truly new or something I had just overlooked. It appears to be new, as of this writing. I found it odd the cartons didn't match, the website showing packaging more in keeping with the rest of the current line. You can see the carton I purchased above is leaning in to the whole eye-catching graphics trend for tinned fish cartons. They've forgone the unnecessary printing of the inside of the box, though. The whole package has a recycled content feel, for which they are to be commended.

Brand: Patagonia Provisions
Description: Smoked Wild Pink Salmon With Pastrami Spice
Species: Pink salmon
Country of Origin: WA, USA
Source: FAO67, Northeast Pacific
Skin/Bones: Yes/No
Net Wt: 3 oz.
Price Range: $10

Espinaler Galician Mussels in Pickled Sauce 13/18

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These Espinaler Galician Mussels in Pickled Sauce 13/18 came with my first order from Caputo's, about a year ago. I often look at the box and think, "I should really open those", but something else always seems to get in the way. Well, today's the day.

This carton says "mussels in pickled sauce". You may also encounter the same labeled in Spanish as "mejillones en escabeche" or in French as "moules", both of which will likely have a label applied with the particulars in English.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 5/5.

It's one of those cans where you pull up the ring and the packing liquid erupts all over the top of the lid and the rim before you can even get it fully opened. Pardon me while I go get some more paper towels.

Some beautiful, appetizing-looking mussels. The pickled sauce is tinged red with unnamed spices. The aroma is sweetly vinegary. A sip of it gives the impression of apple cider vinegar, but it's listed as wine vinegar. The oil is sunflower.

I had these straight from the tin, appetizer-style. The flavor and texture are of a sweet, meaty shellfish. I suggest using a spoon with a rounded bowl to get some of the sauce included with each mussel. It's like slurping a spicy morsel off the half shell, and doesn't let all that tasty sauce go to waste.

The 13/18 means to expect 13 to 18 pieces per tin, and this one had 14. The price on these rises exponentially when the mussels are larger, with the 7/10 count currently costing almost triple what these did a year ago.

Main Takeaways

Tasty, sweet mussels
Mildly tangy spiced sauce
Good QPR at this size

Unfortunately, these have increased in price since I bought them about a year ago. Now they're $8, up from $6.50. Although another place I (still) don't order from wants almost $11, so blame inflation (or tariffs).

Brand: Espinaler
Description: Mussels in pickled sauce
Species: Mytilus galloprovincialis
Country of Origin: Spain
Source: FAO?
Skin/Bones: No/No
Net Wt: 4 oz.
Price Range: $6-7

Bulldog Sardines in Hot Sauce

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I got these Bulldog Sardines in Hot Sauce from a local international market. The paper label on the otherwise-unmarked can leads me to assume these are just imported from some unknown cannery and distributed generically through similar market channels. Because nothing says yummy sardines like naming them after a canine, right? Wish me luck.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.5/5.

There appear to be five fish total. These are from Thailand, so I'm assuming one of the Western Pacific species of sardine (Sardinella gibbosa?). There are some scales, but no tails or fins. The hot sauce is watery, with a pale, bland color.

The aroma is subtle, maybe a hint of vinegary pepper. A taste of the "hot sauce" is disappointing. The liquid is thin and tastes more like tomato, even though none is listed in the ingredients. The label says soybean oil, but it's way down the list, so I would characterize these as being packed in water with flavoring.

Here We Go

After digging them out and transferring them to the rice bowl, there were about four tablespoons of the "hot sauce" left in the can. I poured about half over everything.

The thing that hit me first about the fish themselves was the dryness. They appear to glisten in the photo, but that's just the watery "hot sauce". And by dry, I mean like sawdust. I added the remaining liquid from the can, but it didn't help.

About halfway through, honestly, I just lost interest and didn't care if I finished them or not.

I bought another can in just soybean oil at the same time. I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt, and see if they are any better. After all, these were essentially just packed in flavored water, and sardines packed in water are last on my list.

Main Takeaways

Visually unappealing
Hot sauce not so hot
Desert-in-your-mouth dryness

Oh, well, they were only $1.69, so I'm not out that much. I wasn't expecting to be impressed.

For reasons unknown, I attempted to get a little more info on these. I had seen that older cans referenced a company called Bulldog Seafood, but the web URL for it is a dead link. The Web Archive crawl of the site shows it active from 2010 to 2016. The latest image still had "coming soon" verbiage.

Brand: Prefer Products / Bulldog
Description: Sardines in hot sauce
Species: Sardinella gibbosa?
Country of Origin: Thailand
Source: FAO71, Western Central Pacific
Skin/Bones: Yes/Yes
Net Wt: 3.75 oz.
Price Range: $2

Berthe Sardines in Olive Oil

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These Berthe Sardines in Olive Oil are from a brand I've been interested in trying for a long time. Buying from a source I don't typically deal with would likely have involved paying more in the way of shipping. I found them on a 10% price reduction at Amazon. Let's see if they were worth the wait.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.9/5.

Nice looking pilchards, packed silvery bellies up. I see a few scales and some pectoral fins. The aroma is just of fresh sardine. A sip of the light golden-colored olive oil is neutral, and hasn't picked up any flavor of the fish.

There are four sizeable fish, and in picking them out of the can with a fork, I note each one has a "give" to it. They are soft, and barely make it to the rice bowl intact without breaking in two.

Time To Eat

Digging in, they are impossibly tender. I know I recently said I never encountered a sardine I could characterize as truly juicy, but these just might be it. You can see the moisture glistening from the cut flesh.

There were a couple tablespoons-worth of oil left in the tin, and I poured just half over the fish and rice.

Continuing on, I note they are just as tender in the mouth as the physical feel of them implied while getting them out of the tin. They are not mushy, maybe borderline "fall-apart-y" as some like to call it, but definitely melt-in-your-mouth tender.

If anything was lacking, it might be a little salt, although the listed 370 mg. sodium was by no means low. I'll note this for the next can, and make arrangements to deal with it, if need be. Because I will be getting these again.

Main Takeaways

Nice looking pilchards
Impossibly tender
Dare I say juicy?

See it at Amazon.

Brand: Ramirez & Ca. / Berthe
Description: Sardines in olive oil
Species: Sardina pilchardus
Country of Origin: Portugal
Source: FAO27, Northeast Atlantic
Skin/Bones: Yes/Yes
Net Wt: 4.2 oz.
Price Range: $9-10

Luças Sardines in Olive Oil

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These Luças Sardines in Olive Oil came from Amazon. They're usually not well-priced there, but a temporary price reduction made a two-pack quite reasonable. I'm looking forward to trying them.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 5/5.

I know I always say I like my pilchards smaller, but these big boys are nice looking. No scales, no tails. The oil is golden-hued but clear enough to see all the way to the bottom of the tin. The aroma from the can is of fresh sardine. A sip of the olive oil is also fresh, neutral but very clean-tasting.

Let's Eat

They are firm, and lift out onto the bowl of rice intact. The appearance is very clean, with no off-putting bits. Luças is to be commended for their attention to this detail.

There were 3 to 4 tablespoons of the oil remaining in the tin, and I poured about half of it over everything.

Digging in, they are resistant to being divided into bites with a fork. Not tough, but a longer way to go through than smaller fish.

The flavor is slightly tuna-like, but like good, fresh tuna. I guess that's due to the larger fish. But it's not in any way a bad thing. Even though listed as a low 170 mg, the salt level is just right. No complaints there at all.

Main Takeaways

Big pilchards, but really good quality
Good flavor
Cleanly processed

I really liked these, and hope I can find a good source or a deal to get some more in this and other flavor varieties.

I didn't think these required any condiments, they stood that well on their own. But I had a good bit of rice left after the fish was gone, so I decided to try some Crunchy Chili/Onion Sprinkle Seasoning Blend I had just picked up from Trader Joe's. It has flavor elements similar to their Crunchy Chili/Onion condiment, but with the addition of a little dried Szechuan pepper. I cautiously added a light dusting to begin with, but ended up applying more. I'll keep it on hand for the next time a sardine or other tinned fish is a little bland or doesn't deliver on the spiciness.

Brand: Luças & Co.
Description: Sardines in olive oil
Species: Sardina pilchardus walbaum
Country of Origin: Portugal
Source: FAO27, Northeast Atlantic
Skin/Bones: Yes/Yes
Net Wt: 4.2 oz.
Price Range: $7-8

Ferrigno Sardines with Butter, Garlic and Parsley

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These Ferrigno Sardines with Butter, Garlic and Parsley came from World Market about three months ago. I don't know why it took so long to open them. This would be my first experience with sardines packed in butter; it's not all that common.

Ferrigno is known for whimsical artwork on its tins. Here, two chefs joust with pugil sticks and shields on platforms over water. The line at the bottom translates as, "Ready to be pan-fried!"

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.9/5.

From what I can see, these are some nice, hefty pilchards. There appear to be four in total.

Ideally, before opening, the tin should be held under hot running water or placed in a bath of hot water to melt the butter. Unfortunately, that wasn't convenient, so I'm relying on the heat from a bowl of rice to do the work instead. The butter is congealed at room temperature, and it made prying the fish out of the tin intact somewhat difficult.

The aroma is of butter and garlic, no surprise, but they mask any scent of the fish.

Butter Up

It took a moment for the butter to start melting. It appears to be clarified, which is a plus. Plain melted butter and seafood don't really go together.

Fortunately, the heat of the rice has allowed the aromas of butter and garlic to bloom even more.

Digging in, the fish are firm and meaty. The garlicky butter complements the fish well, adding an enhanced richness. The salt level is just right, and I'm certain the US English card insert listing just 20mg. sodium for the entire can is a typo.

I don't detect any scales, and the fish as a whole seem cleanly processed.

Main Takeaways

Meaty, flavorful pilchards
Well-balanced garlic butter seasoning

These were a bit pricey, but I think worth it. I'd buy them again.

Brand: Ferrigno
Description: Sardines with butter garlic and parsley
Species: Sardina pilchardus
Country of Origin: France
Source: FAO34, Eastern Central Atlantic
Skin/Bones: Yes/Yes
Net Wt: 4.05 oz.
Price Range: $7-8