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what you should know
Alan Bennett once
said that "life is rather like opening a tin of sardines. We are all of us looking for the key."
At the time, he was impersonating a vicar with a high-pitched
Yorkshire accent, so don't take it too much to heart.
Still, there is something to that
comparison. Like a box of chocolates (only funnier), you
never know what you're going to get with "sardines," because that name is used to label any number of small fish belonging the herring family.
crushed tin box Though
sardines are available fresh, we mostly find them canned, tightly packed in oil. Speaking of vicars, before the advent of the pull tab top, you
needed
a church key to get at sardines.
anchovy vs. sardine
Though anchovies and sardines are closely related, they're not the
same thing. Anchovies have bigger mouths than sardines. And they smell more like
the underside of the docks.
brain food While
the clean, ocean-metal
flavor of sardines is an acquired taste, it's one worth
developing. Sardines serve up a massive dose of vitamins and minerals, not to mention heart-healthy Omega-3 fatty acids.
(There's even a Sardine Diet.)
cannery canned Though
relegated to second-class status these days, there was a point when sardines were among the most popular fish in North America. They were at the
heart
of the once booming economy of Cannery Row.
what you
need
-
As a children's book, Chris Raschka's Arlene Sardine is a little unsettling.
(The titular brisling
dies halfway in.) It is, however, a fascinating account of how a sardine ends up in the tin.
-
To clean fresh sardines (and any other small fish), we like this 3-inch bird's beak paring knife by Calphalon.
- Planning on frying your sardines? Grab a stainless steel skimmer to whisk them out of the oil.
- Sardines were named after the Mediterranean island of
Sardinia, which has its own unique culinary traditions. Efisio Farris beautifully explores Sardinian cuisine in his new Sweet Myrtle & Bitter Honey.
what
you
do
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