John Mulaney, sardinista

John Mulaney travels with three cans of King Oscar sardines. Says Mulaney, “You don’t know what you’re gonna encounter out there.”

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Fishwife sardines

Fresca alerted me to the existence of Fishwife sardines. Such beautiful packaging. I have never seen these sardines in stores, but I will be on the lookout.

Thanks, Fresca.

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Jacques Pépin’s sardine salad

Like it says.

Thanks to Kevin Hart for the link.

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[Any thoughts about those enormous sardines?]

José Andrés on sardines

“Oh my God, they are so good that you wish you were inside the can with them”: chef José Andrés is speaking of sardines.

Thanks, Elaine.

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[But I do think this is another case in which out here is better than in there.]

Sardines × 7

A Reader’s Digest investigative report: “I Ate Sardines Every Day for a Week — Here’s What Happened.”

Spoiler alert: there is no ick factor.

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Sardines in the news

From Christie’s, a Picasso ceramic, now sold: Trois sardines.

In The New York Times, “How TikTok Fueled the Tinned Fish Trend.” With a dazzling photograph of the Times Square store The Fantastic World of the Portuguese Sardine.

Thanks to Chris at Dreamers Rise and Stephen at pencil talk for catching these items.

Sardines, paste, pasta

Here’s a recipe for sardine paste. Paste? As Steven points out, pâté would sound far more appetizing. Thanks, Steven.

And here’s a description of Nigella Lawson’s sardines and spaghetti, heralded as “the dish of summer.”

I know that when it comes to cooking, there is very little that’s new under the sun. In 2015 The Crow wrote about a then-forty-year-old memory of sardines and cavatini. And shortly thereafter, Chris at Dreamers Rise left a comment on this blog about making sardines with linguine. Which in turn inspired me to try sardines with capellini. Mangia.

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[The article about the Lawson recipe describes a “tomatoey” dish, but there are no tomatoes in the recipe.]

Sardines on the screen

A beautiful short film: Inside Portugal’s tinned-fish industry. I can vouch for the Nuri brand — they’re wonderful sardines.

Thanks to Stephen at Pencil Talk for sending news of this film my way.

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A despedida, Marie Elisabeth

[137 Franklin Street, Finn Square, Manhattan, c. 1939–1941. From the NYC Municipal Archives Collections. Click for a much larger view.]

Are Marie Elisabeth sardines the best? They’re still around, but I’ve never seen them, much less tasted them. The Portuguese Canning Industry Digital Museum has fifty-six package designs for the company’s sardines and anchovies, which suggests, if not “best,” then certainly “ubiquitous.”

The single-story building on the corner was torn down sometime before April 2009. A Google Maps photograph shows slight traces of letters still visible. Since 2011, a “boutique building” (six stories, three apartments) has stood on the corner. A 2012 New York Times article has more about the history of Finn Square.

A despedida, Marie Elisabeth.

Thanks, Brian.

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Sill bitar after all these years

[Click for a larger view.]

Fresca sent this photograph. Thanks, Fresca. The jar is holding buttons.

Sill bitar is Swedish for “herring pieces.” And yes, sill bitar after all these years: Noon Hour Food Products has been at it since 1876.

[Herring today, sardines Sunday, in the form of an NYC tax photograph.]

Sardine dreams

In The Harvard Crimson, Una R. Roven, college student, writes about sardines:

There’s nothing like the smooth metallic pop of an opening tin. The fireworks of healthy fats in the very first bite. These oily fish fill my dreams.

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Sardine bookmarks

“Little card ‘sardines.’” Notice the quotation marks. They are not actual fish.

Thanks, Diane.

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Canned sardines (still, yes, still) having a moment

In The New York Times, a visit to Portugal’s Conservas Pinhais:

Canned sardines are having a moment in the food world. With exquisitely decorated tins, perceived if questionable sustainability and the decadence of being drenched in oil, they’ve earned a devoted following among youngish people who love them with their whole heart. At Conservas Pinhais e Cia in Matosinhos, a fish-canning factory just a few miles from the center of Porto, visitors are invited to see that their new favorite treat is, in fact, a very old operation.

“Youngish people who love them with their whole heart”: that’s me!

Insider paid Conservas Pinhais a visit in 2019 and brought back a short film. And yes, Nuri sardines are delicious.

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SMASH

The latest episode of the BBC podcast Just One Thing encourages the listener to “Enjoy Oily Fish.” I learned an acronym from this episode: SMASH, for salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, and herring.

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Sardines on PBS tonight

Tonight on Nature, “The Ocean’s Greatest Feast,” about sardine migration on the South African coast.

Thanks, Chris.

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Sardines forever

Owen Burke likes sardines:

So long as I have a roof over my head and a kitchen cabinet, I will forever have a case of sardines in there through my very dying breath.

He makes the case for a case of Wild Planet sardines, $27 for twelve cans.

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Sardine art

Behold: images from a facsimile edition of Glynn Boyd-Harte’s Les Sardines à l’huille, described by the publisher as “one of the outstanding auto-lithographed books of the 20th century.”

Thanks, Fresca.

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[Autolithography : “lithography in which an artist draws directly on the printing surface.”]

Barbie mit Fisch

[My first Barbie.]

My friend Fresca sent this image my way. Thanks, Fresca. The source is a museum exhibition, Busy Girl — Barbie macht Karriere, opening tomorrow at the Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum Emden, in Emden, Germany. The museum website describes a 1960 Barbie “im mustergültigen Designeroutfit und mit Skizzenmappe unter dem Arm” [in an exemplary designer outfit and with a sketchbook under her arm]. The museum has substituted a fish for the sketchbook. And thus Barbie has made eine berufliche Veränderung [a career change].

Why a fish? Emden is a port city, this year’s host for German Fisheries Day. I want to believe that’s a sardine under Barbie’s arm, but it could be a herring. Sardines are smaller members of the herring family.

There’s a book that must have some connection to this exhibition. I will ask Paul Drake to have his operative in Emden look into it.

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Sardines on a bus

In The New York Times Metropolitan Diary, sardines on a bus.

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[Even when there’s big news, there is room enough for sardines.]

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Sardines, a game Now with a little help from the OED.