Jakob's Bowl: The Post-Modern Sardine

IT IS NOW 2010; DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR SARDINES COME FROM?

I’ve just finished tasting nine different tins of sardines - many of them Post Modern in that they may be processed and canned thousands of miles from where they were caught - with a bit of Massa 2007 Timorasso to cleanse my palate, and it will take me a bit of time to put my thoughts down in a post and process my meager attempts at photographs, and put it all in context of the current state of the canned sardine market. I can summarize my findings though.

Of the nine tins, two - Wild Planet and Cannery Row Sardine Company - contained the California sardines (aka, Pacific sardine, aka, Peruvian Sardine, aka, Blue Pilchard), Sardinops sagax, caught off the coast of California; one – King Oscar - contained Brisling Sardines, Sprattus sprattus, caught either in the North Atlantic or the Baltic, and the remaining six - Coles, Matiz, Parodi, As do Mar, Connétable, and Pollastrini di Anzio - contained European Sardines (aka European Pilchards), Sardina pilchardus. Of the six tins of the European Sardines, Connétable appears to have been caught off the coast of Brittany, France, Matiz off the coast of Galacia, Spain, and Coles off the coast of Portugal; the Parodi and the As do Mar appear to have been caught somewhere in the Atlantic coastal area from Spain to Morocco, most likely the latter, and the Pollastrini appears to have been caught in the Mediterranean. (At least that's what their respective labels or websites indicate!) The Connétable, Wild Planet, and King Oscar were packed in extra virgin olive oil and all of the others were packed in ‘olive oil.’ The Wild Planet sardines were ‘smoked’; the Cannery Row sardines were boneless and skinless, and the Connétable sardines were boneless fillets.

The Connétable sardine fillets came out on top as the best combination of flavor and texture. However, this really isn’t fair since as fillets more of the flesh comes in contact with the extra-virgin olive oil, which cures it in a way. Of the whole sardines, the Coles just beats out the Matiz. It is significant that the top three, Connétable, Coles, and Matiz all appear to be ‘day boat’ caught and processed fresh, whereas many of the others were frozen, shipped, and then processed. The California Sardine brands both have their own issues, mainly due to their processing, but I will have more to say about that tomorrow when I layout the details.My ranking is as follows: