Deen, Author at Sardeenz!

BELA Sardines in EVOO with Piri-Piri

Officially described as BELA Sardines in EVOO with Piri-Piri and Smoke Flavor. All things considered, this brand is pretty consistent in terms of both quality and value. BELA is also good for fully disclosing all its bona fides right there on the can. Species of fish, ingredients by percentage of weight, country of origin, cannery code, etc.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.8/5.

The skin is a little roughed up in spots. A tightly packed can, with 4 medium to large pilchards. No scales to be found. Fresh sardine aroma. I'm not seeing any seasoning, but that's usually under the fish. Tasting the oil, I didn't find much in the way of heat. Good quality oil, though.

Dumped out over some rice for lunch, and there's the piri-piri. One little pepper. It didn't do much to spice or heat things up, but then it was barely an inch long. I tasted it by itself. Not much to report.

Tasting as many cans as I have recently, the more I tend to think the addition of flavoring elements is more about marketing and consumer psychology than anything else. Unless it's really spiced up, such as those sardines or mackerel with clove, peppercorn, bay leaf and so forth, you often don't get much from one little pepper or a sliver of lemon. Fortunately, they don't seem to affect the price much, if at all.

Otherwise, these were top notch. Firm, meaty pilchards, not dry, with a clean, fresh sardine taste. Recommended.

Main Takeaways

Generous portion
Spice and smoke largely MIA
Great fish otherwise

See it at Amazon.

Brand: BELA Brand Seafood
Description: Sardines in EVOO with Piri-Piri and Smoke Flavor
Species: Pilchards
Country of Origin: Portugal
Source: FAO27, Northeast Atlantic
Skin/Bones: Yes/Yes
Net Wt: 4.23 oz.
Price Range: $4-5

Patagonia Provisions Spicy Mussels

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Caught them on a sale at Whole Foods, where they go for normally about $8 a can. Mussels are always a nice break from sardines, mackerel, etc. And they're typically a cut above the usually pedestrian smoked oysters, as these Patagonia Provisions Spicy Mussels in Extra-Virgin Olive Oil definitely are.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.9/5.

These look nice, and the can is full. I counted 20 or 21 whole mussels. The banner on the box says "Hot, Tangy, Sweet", and that's about right. Not too hot, though. Tangy as well, and I guess the sweet really comes from the mussels themselves. Really tasty.

The box urges you to "flip can onto a plate so seasonings flow evenly over mussels." I dumped them over some rice for a quick lunch. The image on the Patagonia website oversells the red bell pepper content a bit. Maybe chalk that up to food-styling photography. If these were plain, I'd put a few dashes of Salsa Espinaler on them, but that's not necessary. I think the same sensibility was used when concocting this flavor profile, though.

This is the first can of mussels I've noticed that honestly lists mussel broth as the primary liquid, with the EVOO being sixth on the list of ingredients.

Main Takeaways

Visually appealing
Seasoned as advertised
Plenty of mussels

Recommended. I'd buy these again. Hopefully on sale.

See it at Amazon.

Brand: Patagonia Provisions
Description: Patagonia Provisions Spicy Mussels in EVOO
Species: N/S
Country of Origin: Spain, Chile
Source: FAO27, Northeast Atlantic; FAO87, Southeast Pacific
Skin/Bones: No/No
Net Wt: 4.2 oz.
Price Range: $7-8

Chicken of the Sea Sardines in Lemon Sauce

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I purchased these Chicken of the Sea Sardines in Lemon Sauce in a group with the Louisiana hot sauce and Mediterranean versions. As with both of those, they are labeled as being either sprats or herring. They turned out to be sprats. The can had a bit of slosh, indicating a less than full packing of fish.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 3.5/5.

The haphazard packing was not a surprise. Clean aroma. Attempting to extract a whole intact sprat from the can was difficult. They were "fall apart-y", to quote another sardine taster. The label says "smoke flavor", but I wasn't getting any of it. Nonetheless, the meat was tender and the tails weren't prickly.

The lemon "sauce " is apparently achieved by a combo of sugar, citric acid, lemon juice concentrate and xanthan gum. Even though consisting of more-or-less natural ingredients, it tasted a bit artificial. I wouldn't say it warranted being called a "sauce", either. There was no viscosity to it. Odd that the label shows a "serving suggestion" that includes a lemon wedge.

Main Takeaways

Messy presentation
Borderline mushy
Promised flavoring underdelivered

These aren't terrible for the price, under $2 per can. But I doubt I'll be buying them again.

See it at Amazon.

Brand: Chicken of the Sea
Description: Brisling Sardines in lemon sauce
Species: Sprattus sprattus
Country of Origin: Poland
Source: FAO27, Northeast Atlantic
Skin/Bones: Yes/Yes
Net Wt: 3.75 oz.
Price Range: $2

Wild Planet Wild Smoked Pink Salmon

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Officially described as Wild Planet Wild Smoked Pink Salmon in Extra Virgin Olive Oil. First foray into tinned salmon. I remember the tall round cans years ago from which my mother made salmon salad. It had the little cylindrical vertebrae bones in it that would just pulverize on contact, the only fish bones I wasn't afraid of getting stuck in my throat as a child. While boneless, this salmon is quite different from that in all other respects.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4/5.

I guess I was expecting more than I should have. I've seen those cans of really premium smoked salmon reviewed, and that stuff is amazing-looking. Of course, it also costs twice to three times as much.

This is boneless, but not skinless. It ended up being mostly skinless because most of the skin stuck to the bottom of the can when I pried it out.

The flavor is very smoke forward, almost to the point of overpowering the fish flavor. The package doesn't say if the fish is naturally wood smoked or artificially flavored. Ads claim it is wood-fire smoked.

We eat fresh, broiled salmon regularly, so the tougher texture of this was also comparatively surprising. I think I'll chalk this one up to experience, and maybe check into that more spendy one I've seen that I thought looked so appealing.

Main Takeaways

Smoke stronger than necessary
Superior to most supermarket varieties
Better versions far more costly

See it at Amazon.

Brand: Wild Planet
Description: Wild Smoked Pink Salmon in EVOO
Species: Oncorhynchus gorbuscha
Country of Origin: Latvia
Source: FAO27, Northeast Atlantic
Skin/Bones: Yes/No
Net Wt: 3.9 oz.
Price Range: $5

MW Polar Brisling Sardines in Olive Oil

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Bought these MW Polar Brisling Sardines in Olive Oil after failing to note that what I had bought before was packed in canola oil. Those were in a regular metal pull-top can, and, even though packed in canola, I thought were quite good. Finding these seemed to be a happy coincidence, as they were in olive oil, had a higher net weight and were by far cheaper. Be careful what you wish for.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.8/5.

They had that same bronze color from real smoke, and were packed nicely, with 10 fish visible on the top layer, fewer and larger than in the stock photo. Then-- you guessed it-- only 3 fish under that. Not really much different than the metal pull-top can.

While these tasted fine, there was a good bit of tail prickliness, to the point that I bit off the tails and didn't eat them. I do wonder if a higher visible fish count through the clear cover, i.e. smaller fish, would translate to more tender, non-prickly tails. But I have also seen it asserted that prickly tails are not uncommon in brisling sourced from Latvia.

I'm ambivalent about buying them in this format again, as I really think there were more and better fish in the 3.52 oz. can than in this 4.23 oz. one. At around $2.50, they were way cheaper, but not as satisfying, overall.

Main Takeaways

Authentically smoked
Prickly tails
Version in traditional can might be better value

Brand: MW Polar
Description: Smoked Brisling in Olive Oil
Species: Sprattus sprattus
Country of Origin: Latvia
Source: FAO 27, Northeast Atlantic
Skin/Bones: Yes/Yes
Net Wt: 4.23 oz.
Price Range: $2-3

Wild Planet Smoked Mackerel in EVOO

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I found this Wild Planet Smoked Mackerel in Extra Virgin Olive Oil intriguing because it emphasized the "smoked" aspect. Not so many other tinned mackerels do, even though they might list smoke flavor on the container. Unsmoked, mackerel can be a buttery, rich, tender bite of fish. I wondered what a truly smoked iteration might taste like.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4/5.

What it lacks in visual appeal, however, it more than makes up for in taste. The contents are two fillets stacked, skin side down. A bit firmer than other mackerel tasted to date, but it's still acceptably tender.

The smoke flavor, naturally achieved, is forward, but not overpowering. I tried a couple of bites with just a few drops of Valentina hot sauce, and it made for an interesting flavor combination.

Recommended. I paid $5 at WF, but I see it's currently under $4 on sale for Amazon Prime members there.

The packaging lacks source information, other than to say "product of Latvia".

Main Takeaways

Good balance on the smoke
Firm but still tender enough
Good value, especially if on sale

Brand: Wild Planet
Description: Wild Smoked Mackerel in EVOO
Species: Scomber japonicus or Scomber colias
Country of Origin: Latvia
Source: FAO27, Northeast Atlantic
Skin/Bones: Yes/No
Net Wt: 3.9 oz.
Price Range: $5

La Narval Southern Mackerel

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I remember, when I bought this mackerel at World Market, thinking, "What brand is this?" The WM website says something like "Don Gastronom", but that's nowhere on the box. The box says Southern Mackerel in Olive Oil (in Spanish and English). And "distributed by Conservas Artesanas Gallegas S.L.", with a web address that leads to a site identifying itself as "La Narval". Only then do I notice that name in some tiny print. So, who's "Don"?

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.75/5.

A minor deduction for that free space you see at 6 o'clock that could'a had some more fish in it. Otherwise, very nice. I always like seeing distinct pieces of fish, as opposed to just chunks stuffed into a can. Clean aroma, really nice olive oil.

Mild and meaty fillets of chub mackerel, 4 pieces in total. No skin, but I thought I detected a couple of fine bones. Salt is on the ingredients list, and I thought it might have benefited by a just a pinch more.

I thought this, from the website, was interesting: "After being cooked in seawater, we dry it a little bit so that when it gets in contact with the sauce, it gets re-hydrated again increasing its taste and texture." Sauce?

I tried it plain first, then with a few drops of Espinaler. It was better without, actually. Good quality fish can be that way, standing just fine on its own. If you like canned mackerel, worth a try.

But again, who the heck is "Don"? I looked it up and, rather than a who, it appears to be an association representing a family of brands of Spanish foods, of which La Narval is one.

Main Takeaways

Meaty and mild flavor
Needed salt
Good value

Brand: Don Gastronom / La Narval
Description: Southern Mackerel in Olive Oil
Species: North Atlantic chub mackerel
Country of Origin: Spain
Source: FAO27, Northeast Atlantic
Skin/Bones: No/No
Net Wt: 4.2 oz.
Price Range: $5-6