chili pepper Archives

Angelo Parodi Sardines in Olive Oil with Chili Peppers

I've been wanting to try these Angelo Parodi Sardines in Olive Oil with Chili Peppers ever since my first experience with the brand, their boneless skinless sardines. Those didn't really impress me, but I hoped these Portugese pilchards would.

As with several brands these days, you may encounter several versions of packages containing the same thing. Depending upon where and when you buy them, they may appear as below or labeled in Italian as "Sardine Piccanti". The carton is impressive, with embossed, metallic highlights more in keeping with brands of much higher price (although those seen dated later lack the embossing) .

Initial impression upon opening the can: 5/5.

Some gorgeous sardines. Carefully packed silvery belly side-up. Only a couple pectoral fins and no tails. No discernable scales. The aroma from the can is not revealing anything. A sip of the reddish tinged oil tastes neutral until it reaches the back of the throat, but the heat is not at all harsh.

There are three husky fish in total. Trying to extract them from the can intact is difficult. To their credit, they are tender enough to want to split in two if not supported evenly. Underneath, there is one long piri-piri pepper that has been cut in half. Other cans I have seen contained multiple small peppers. These are not sold as "spiced" sardines or "in spiced oil", so no bay leaf or cloves. They are simply packed with just olive oil, chili peppers and salt.

Let's Eat

Here you can see the one large, bisected pepper. I tasted it, and any heat it may have had was already given up to the olive oil.

There were a good couple of tablespoons of oil left in the can, and I poured about two thirds of it over everything.

Turning to the fish, they are incredibly tender and rich. Not dry at all. The heat from the pepper is moderate and steady, not interfering with the flavor of the fish, which is fresh and mild. The salt level, listed as 420 mg, is also just right, enough to enhance the flavor without being intrusive.

Overall, there's a lot to like with these. And hard to beat for the price. A daily driver candidate, for sure.

Main Takeaways

Beautifully packed
Moist, tender, meaty fish
Steady, moderate heat from the pepper doesn't compete with the sardine flavor

Brand: Angel Parodi
Description: Sardines in Olive Oil with Chili Peppers
Species: Sardina pilchardus
Country of Origin: Portugal
Source: FAO27, Northeast Atlantic
Skin/Bones: Yes/Yes
Net Wt: 4.23 oz.
Price Range: $4

Les Mouettes d’Arvor Sardines with Lemon and Chili Pepper

DeenLeave a comment

These Les Mouettes d'Arvor Sardines with Lemon and Chili Pepper were among the baker's dozen cans I just received. Although my count may be off by one, I'm making them my 100th tin tasted. I'm choosing them because they represent (to me) several unusual characteristics: they're from France, they're unusually spiced, and they're by a brand with which I'm heretofore not familiar.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.8/5.

These look nice, albeit the skin is a little torn up. It's one of those shallow cans, so I'm surprised to see six fish. There's no overt aroma. A sip of the oil is neutral and doesn't represent the flavors of the seasonings. The can says extra virgin olive oil, but I wouldn't have guessed it was otherwise. I'm not getting any of the back-of-throat heat I expect from chili pepper. Usually, lemon and chili pepper are mutually exclusive sardine flavorings. Once again, a can of French sardines lists "lemon confit", but this time there is nothing I would consider a confit.

There are some scales, some tails, and some pelvic fins. Perhaps that's common to French pilchard packing processes, or just this cannery, I don't know. The fish lift from the can intact. The meat is a little on the firm side, and with a somewhat dry mouth feel. Working my way through the can, the lemon and pepper are subtle, becoming more evident as I go. The heat is courtesy of one tiny piri-piri. The lemon seems confined to a long, thin strip of lemon skin, giving a more zest-like than a citrus note.

A paper label affixed to the lid side of the can lists all the particulars, even the name of the fishing vessel making the catch. I had to photograph it, since opening the can required tearing it back to access the ring.

The Gonidec family cannery, in business since 1959, is the last one remaining in Concarneau, a major French fishing port.

These weren't bad, overall. But I don't know that I'd buy them again.

Main Takeaways

More fish than expected
Lemon confit just some lemon skin
Not impressive enough to buy again

Available at Amazon. A little pricey there.

Brand: Les Mouettes d'Arvor
Description: Sardines with Lemon and Chili Pepper
Species: Pilchards
Country of Origin: France
Source: FAO27, Northeastern Atlantic
Skin/Bones: Yes/Yes
Net Wt: 4.06 oz.
Price Range: $10

Titus Sardines in Soybean Oil and Chili Pepper

DeenLeave a comment

I had seen this brand, Titus Sardines, on Amazon, but didn't know what to expect, so I largely forgot about them. On a recent trip to a local international market, I just discovered they stocked tinned fish in three separate locations in the store, and there they were.

There were literally dozens of cans stacked high on the shelf, so I thought, "These must be popular." Three different types were available, but most all of the cans of one type had rusty rims. Many of another style had something leaked on (or from?) them. All of them were packed in soybean oil, which was disappointing. These with chili pepper seemed the most appealing, and since they lacked the physical flaws of the other two, I bought one can to try.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 3/5.

They were just some big pilchards, not very pretty ones at that. The upside, if there was one, was that what initially looked to be two turned out to be three. There was no fishy aroma. But overall they were kind of tasteless, no real heat, just blah.

Working through the can, there turned out to be four peppers of some type under the fish, greenish, and without much heat to them. Tasting the oil provided a little more heat, but nothing remarkable. Mostly meh... Oh, well.

They were only $2.19, but I thought the shelf price said $1.69. I won't be buying them again so, no matter. Kind of relieved I didn't overpay elsewhere. Live, learn.

Main Takeaways

Visually unappealing
Most of the heat was in the oil, didn't translate to the fish
At least they were cheap

Update: I visited the store again about 3 months later, and took a harder look at the stock. At that time the shelf price did say $2.19. The mountain of cans were still there, but I noticed the "best by" dates on all of them were less than a year away. Apparently, they had just bought a lot of them, and no, they're not that popular.

Brand: UNIMER/Titus
Description: Sardines in Olive Oil and Chili Pepper
Species: Pilchards
Country of Origin: Morocco
Source: FAO34, Eastern Central Atlantic
Skin/Bones: Yes/Yes
Net Wt: 4.37 oz.
Price Range: $2-3

Northern Catch Smoked Oysters with Red Chili Pepper

DeenLeave a comment

Picked up these Northern Catch Smoked Oysters with Red Chili Pepper at Aldi on a whim. You don't really see any variation in smoked oysters beyond some brands-- Roland comes to mind-- that grade and sell them according to size. The Aldi exclusive brand, has two versions of smoked oysters, a regular smoked and this one "with red chili pepper". Both retail for under a buck and a half.

Initial impression upon opening the can: 4/5.

As with most canned smoked oysters, the aroma is about the same. There was the red pepper, right there on top. I counted 12 oysters in this particular can, whole as per the package, and about medium size as canned smoked oysters go. Texturally, about average for smoked oysters. Some were "meatier" than others.

Like the regular version, these are packed in cottonseed oil. The pepper imparted only the slightest heat to the contents. I might not have realized it was there had I not known beforehand. Tasting the pepper, I was surprised it didn't infuse the oil or oysters more, as it was rather piquant. All things considered, however, hard to beat at the price.

Brand: Aldi/Northern Catch
Description: Smoked Oysters with red chili pepper
Species: Crassostrea Gigas
Country of Origin: China
Source: Farmed
Skin/Bones: N/A
Net Wt: 3.0 oz.
Price Range: $1-2