I got these Chicken of the Sea Sardines Mediterranean Style at a supermarket a good while ago, and had largely forgotten about them. Probably because I had too many better cans to try. Anyway, it's good to keep trying tins from all price ranges because, for better or worse, you never know what you might find.
Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.7/5.
Visually, not bad, not bad at all. A little roughed up skin, but not a totally haphazard packing. They are sprats, and I wonder if I'll ever come across a can packed with herring instead, as the label indicates I might.
Not really any distinctive aroma coming through. A sip of the oil, listed primarily as soybean, has only the most subtle hint of the seasonings. There do appear, however, to be a reasonable amount of olive slices and a lesser amount of finely chopped seasonings. EVOO is further down the ingredient list, and I wondered if it was only there courtesy of the olives.
Digging In
"Digging in" is apropos, as they are quite tender. I couldn't get a single fish out of the can without it totally falling apart. I wouldn't characterize them as mushy (or maybe I would), but I would have preferred a good deal more firmness.
Far down the ingredient list is smoke flavor, but I didn't detect it. The salt level was just about right, but I wondered if the olives had more to do with it than the intentional addition of salt. I looked for sodium content on the label, but only just now realized they don't list any nutritional info. You are given a phone number to call to get it from there. As if... Their website says 400mg.
There were about 8 decent size sprats total. By the time I reached the last 10% of the contents, all I had left were a few olive slices and a small pile of sardine debris equal to about one sprat's worth of meat.
Main Takeaways
- The presentation was a little better than the other Chicken of the Sea sardines I've tried to date
- Too "fall apart-y"
- The overall flavor was OK, but missing any hint of smokiness promised
Parting Thoughts
This was the last of three cans purchased to assess Chicken of the Sea flavored varieties, including those in lemon sauce and in Louisiana hot sauce. Looking back, my experience with and opinion of the Mediterranean style and the lemon sauce version was virtually the same. The hot sauce version, I thought, was the best of the three.
Brand: Chicken of the Sea
Description: Brisling Sardines Mediterranean Style
Species: Sprattus sprattus
Country of Origin: Poland
Source: FAO27, Northeast Atlantic
Skin/Bones: Yes/Yes
Net Wt: 3.75 oz.
Price Range: $2