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05 July 2007
I ate sardines for the first time today. They weren't that bad. Maybe even good.
I don't mind a little sardine in my puttansca; they're an essential part of the dish. But just eating them straight? No thanks. (Although Science Girl loves them on crackers. Eesh.)
Though I eat an almost entirely vegetarian diet, sardines are one of the foods I periodically crave. Every year or two, I buy a tin and ate them on bread or crackers.
I like their oily smackiness, though sometimes I have to pick bits out of and off of them. Bits I won't discuss.
Sardines are delicious, especially in sandwiches. Fresh (fresher the better) white bread, butter, one tin of sardines crushed in the tin with a fork and spread thickly enough that there is just enough for two sandwiches - awesome. None of that namby-pamby stuff with spring water, though - they have to be the ones in either oil or tomato sauce.
When I was a kid, I used to LOVE sardines in tomato sauce. I'd pop open a can and eat them with white rice. I thought it was such a treat! :) It's been YEARS though and now you've made me all nostalgic for a taste of them...
sardines... sardines... sardines... I love sardines. I want to kiss sardines, hug sardines, make love to sardines.
The greek recipe (you thought you'd escape, huh?):
Buy dried sardines from a store near you. Greek or otherwise middle eastern store. Rinse off excessive salt, unless you want a heart attack. Swish around in a lot of flour (swish the sardines but yourself too if you like) while blowing off the excess to those around you. Dance in a flour cloud. Be dramatic. It does not help the cooking but it distracts the others. Then fry in hot olive oil. Turn off the heat. Pour vinegar. Your special occasions vinegar. Eat.
That's awesome! Thanks for sharing, carmina. I will now be seeking out sardines in tomato sauce and dried sardines. Maybe I'll get them in time to take pictures for photo friday.
OMG, I've just recently discovered sardines for myself. All the little grocery stores around here carry tins of sardines-in-tomato-sauce, from Mexico, for 99 cents each. They are SO GOOD. Even though the sight of these industrially-sliced fish bodies is so disgusting, and even though I have to remove the spine & internal organ things (though they are edible -- I just can't deal with them), and even though I'm mostly a vegetarian, sardines are YUMMY.
We go out on the back patio, and I open the two tins. He'll start whining in anticipation. I flip him one of his, and eat one of mine. He'll go nuts if I make him wait very long for the second and subsequent sardines. He wolfs his down a lot faster than I eat mine on my crackers though, so he's always done before I am. He plans that, I'm convinced, so that he can stare up at me with mournful brown eyes, while I eat my last 3 or 4 sardines.
Sometimes, he looks so pitiful, I give him the last one of mine. And he always remembers, too late, that he hates the mustard sauce.
A traditional English recipe using sardines is Stargazey Pie, but it's a bit gruesome because the fish are put in the pie whole (wrapped in bacon) with their heads sticking out around the crust.
Eewww no! Just no! Sardines are like Salmon: vile, vile, vile and should not be eaten by anyone with tastebuds. You know who like Sardines? Hitler. Himmler loved a nice plate of salmon.
I can understand someone not liking sardines -- I didn't go near them until a few months ago, and it's taken pretty much since then to get over certain aspects of them -- but salmon?!? I mean salmon might not be your thing, but "vile"? That's like calling clouds vile. Or oceans. Or forests. Or cute kittens and/or puppies.
photo by splunge
photo by TheophileEscargot
photo by Kronos_to_Earth
photo by ethylene
