West London, the early 1960s. A boy who will grow up to write a book about sardines has a first encounter with the small oily fish:
For a six–year-old, tinned sardines in oil squashed onto two slices of toasted white bread were a complete meal. In contrast to any other canned food we ate, they were savoury, not sweet. By the time they arrived on the plate they had been crushed almost beyond recognition. Nevertheless, I was still curious enough to conduct a post-mortem, teasing out the grey flesh and seeking to discover with the patches of varying colour and texture might be in the living fish. The piece I usually extracted was the backbone. The other bones would melt away to the bite, but the backbone would stubbornly maintain its gritty texture. I'd heft it to the side of the plate — a blue-grey bracelet of jetsam on the plate’s shoreline.“A blue-grey bracelet of jetsam on the plate’s shoreline”: in its elegance and strangeness, that metaphor is downright Proustian.
Trevor Day, Sardine (London: Reaktion, 2018).
Related reading
All OCA sardine posts (Pinboard) : “Sardines are opportunistic” (Also from this book)
comments: 3
Hmmm, sardines. I grew up with the occasional sardines on Zesta saltines. This was my dad's way of eating them.
I think my parents were always looking for alternative lunch sources.
Have you seen this recipe: https://www.weareageist.com/wellness/food/brain-healthy-sardine-salad-in-avocados/
I haven't tried it yet but have learned sardines packed in spring water have no taste!!
Kirsten
That looks like a tasty dish. We have cilantro on the windowsill, so I’m now thinking about making some sardine salad for lunch, even without an avocado. But I don’t think the flavor of sardines needs masking. :)
Yes, sardines in spring water are a disappointment. They do have flavor, but they lack the richness of sardines in olive oil (or what passes for olive oil). Skinless and boneless (my favorite) are quite different from those with bones in, though I’m learning to appreciate those too.
I forgot to add: the mayo, cilantro, and lime remove all the sardine-ness. The flavor is more or less like tuna salad, which is good or bad, depending on how you feel about sardines.
Post a Comment