Tinned seafood isn’t new. In fact, canning to preserve seafood has been around for about 200 years. But tinned seafood has recently become a social media darling with its eye-catching packaging and the opportunity it presents to sample tastes from many cultures.
These days, options include tinned sardines from Spain, mackerel from France, trout from Portugal, sanma from Japan, dace from China, tuna from Costa Rica or salmon from the U.S. It can come packed in oil, spicy tomato or curry sauce, seasoned with lemon pepper or yuzu, or flavored with wood smoke.
Spanish restaurants specializing in tinned seafood, called “conservas,” serve them straight from the can or use them as an ingredient in tapas. Top Chef competitor and James Beard Award-nominated chef Hector Santiago recently opened La Metro at Ponce City Market. It’s a tapas restaurant inspired by Santiago’s love for Spanish cuisine, wine and culture. A feature of the restaurant that’s both decorative and tempting is the set of circular shelves displaying dozens of varieties of tinned seafood.
Santiago and his staff sell that tinned seafood to go, but for those looking for immediate gratification, they also offer it “Acompañado,” serving the tin of choice with accompaniments, or “Preparado,” used as an ingredient in a dish prepared in the kitchen.
In a conversation preparing for this story, I told Santiago that my earliest memory of tinned seafood was as a child in Los Angeles and watching my parents eat sardines with saltine crackers, thinly sliced onion and a dollop of yellow ballpark mustard. Santiago laughed and said he’d had the same experience growing up in Puerto Rico.
Saltines and ballpark mustard are not on the menu at La Metro. When diners order their seafood Acompañado or Prepardo, the contents of each tin are carefully considered. Do the baby clams need to be warmed with a little garlic and olive oil? Should the oil from the mackerel tin be replaced with butter and herbs?
“Everything we do is in the service of the flavor,” Santiago said. They often use the oil from the tin to make aioli and grill baguettes for crostini to provide a crunchy contrast to the soft seafood.
Because tinned seafood can be expensive and fragile, Santiago says it’s important to treat the seafood gently when seasoning, plating and garnishing. “You don’t want to turn it into a plate of mush.”
If he’s not choosing from the restaurant’s shelves, Santiago enjoys shopping at the Buford Highway Farmers Market where he looks for cans in the Hispanic, Eastern European and Asian aisles.
“Mussels in escabeche, razor clams in their own juices, sardines packed in mustard — all are delicious and all give you a clue for ways to serve them, such as using the packing liquid from those Portuguese sardines packed in mustard to make the dressing for a Caesar salad and then topping the salad with the sardines themselves,” he said.
Santiago’s favorite small sardines, or sardinillas, are made by Real Conservera 1902. “They toast their sardinillas on a grill before hand-packing in olive oil. They are so tender, fatty and mild — just heavenly! I like to warm them up on a plancha to temper the flesh. That softens the oil and juices so we can drain them to make an aioli.”
RECIPES
Chef Hector Santiago of La Metro shares ideas for two ways to serve sardines. These are guidelines that can be adapted for any tinned seafood. Consider the size of the tins listed in the recipe as a recommendation. Your purchase may come in a smaller or larger size; a few ounces or fractions of an ounce will not make a difference in the finished dish.
Those interested in exploring tinned seafood may enjoy cookbooks devoted to the subject. Two books from our personal collection offer the following recipes for versatile Mackerel and Potato Frittata and lighter Avocado Tuna Salad. The Lemon Confit easily brightens any seafood presentation; use the oil to zest up the mackerel frittata.
Credit: Aaliyah Man
Credit: Aaliyah Man
Hector Santiago’s Sardines Acompañado
Santiago elevates the humble tin of sardines with next-level accompaniments. “These are not your daddy’s sardines,” he said.
Santiago shops at Your Dekalb Farmers Market for small sardines labeled “sardinillas.” While at the market he purchases pecans, spicy pickled okra, Ybarra Manzanilla olives stuffed with anchovies or garlic, a jar of chow chow, fresh red peppers, a baguette and a few heads of endive if he is serving those eating gluten-free.
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- 1/2 cup whole pecans
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 thinly sliced garlic cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon flaky salt
- 6 1/2-inch slices baguette
- 1 (4.6-ounce) tin small sardines, drained
- Pickled okra, Manzanilla olives, chow chow and Sweety Drop peppers for serving, as desired
- Blister skin of red pepper either on a baking sheet under a broiler or by placing pepper on a gas burner on high heat. With either method, watch carefully and turn pepper with tongs to blister all sides. Depending on heat, this can take up to 5 minutes. Remove pepper from heat and put in a metal bowl. Sprinkle with table salt and cover bowl with foil. Let rest until cool enough to handle, then peel pepper and remove stem and seeds. Discard peel, stem and seeds. Cut pepper into 1/2-inch strips. Return strips to bowl with any accumulated juices and allow to cool.
- Heat oven to 300 degrees.
- On a small baking sheet, toss pecans with 1 tablespoon olive oil, garlic and flaky salt. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until pecans and garlic are lightly toasted. Remove from oven and cool. Do not turn off oven. Pecans may be made ahead and stored at room temperature in a covered container for up to 1 week.
- Arrange baguette slices on a baking sheet and drizzle with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Bake 10 minutes or until lightly golden.
- Serve as you would a charcuterie board. Put sardines in the center of a platter or wooden board. Arrange with baguette slices, pecans, pickled okra, red peppers, olives and chow chow, as desired.
Serves 2.
Per serving: 639 calories (percent of calories from fat, 56), 28 grams protein, 43 grams carbohydrates, 6 grams total sugars, 5 grams fiber, 41 grams total fat (5 grams saturated), 101 milligrams cholesterol, 1,207 milligrams sodium.
Credit: Aaliyah Man
Credit: Aaliyah Man
Hector Santiago’s Sardines Preparado
Santiago makes this aioli with apple cider vinegar because the flavor reminds him of sidra, the hard apple cider produced in the northwest and Basque regions of Spain. And to give the dish what he calls “yo no sé que” (the Spanish equivalent to the French term je ne sais quoi), he may garnish the dish with garlic, chili crunch, furikake, snips of dill or fresh fennel fronds. “I always taste the jus and sardines before making up my mind. Where does that taste take you? What was in those waters? Or do we need to add a flavor from childhood or travels? We let the fish tell us.”
We found the easiest way to measure out 1 teaspoon of egg yolk was to break an egg into a small bowl and use a sharp-edged teaspoon to scoop out a teaspoon of yolk. Reserve the remaining egg for making scrambled eggs.
- 1 (4.2-ounce) tin small sardines
- 1 small garlic clove, finely minced
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt, plus more if needed
- 1 teaspoon egg yolk (see note)
- 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons pure olive oil (optional)
- Fennel fronds, thinly sliced pickled okra, chili crisp, parsley sprigs for garnish, as desired
- Heat oven to 250 degrees.
- Open tin, remove the lid and place the tin on a small baking sheet. Put into oven and warm sardines until oil and juices completely liquefy, approximately 5 minutes. Carefully lift tin and strain liquid into a 1-cup glass measuring cup. You should have about 2 tablespoons liquid. Turn off oven and return tin on the baking sheet to oven to keep warm.
- Make aioli: On a cutting board, mash minced garlic with salt until it forms a paste. Transfer garlic paste into measuring cup with liquid from sardines and add egg yolk and vinegar. Whisk with a fork until mixture emulsifies. If desired, add olive oil to make a thicker emulsion. Taste and add salt if needed.
- Spread aioli on serving plate. Carefully arrange sardines on top and garnish as desired.
Serves 2.
Per serving, without optional olive oil: 143 calories (percent of calories from fat, 52), 16 grams protein, 1 gram carbohydrates, trace total sugars, trace fiber, 8 grams total fat (1 gram saturated), 118 milligrams cholesterol, 487 milligrams sodium.
Per serving, with olive oil: 263 calories (percent of calories from fat, 74), 16 grams protein, 1 gram carbohydrates, trace total sugars, trace fiber, 21 grams total fat (3 grams saturated), 118 milligrams cholesterol, 487 milligrams sodium.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Mackerel And Potato Frittata
This hearty dish from “The Tinned Fish Cookbook” works for breakfast, lunch or dinner and calls for mackerel, but you can use any tinned seafood. We tested the recipe with tuna and sardines, and found both versions as delicious as the original.
- 1/2 pound small Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled
- 2 teaspoons table salt, divided
- 6 eggs
- 1⁄4 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons oil from Lemon Confit (see recipe) or extra-virgin olive oil
- Two (4.4-ounce) tins of mackerel in sunflower oil, drained
- 1 handful fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
- 3⁄4 cup grated fontina cheese
- Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add potatoes and 1 teaspoon salt and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and cool slightly, then cut into slices.
- Heat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, pepper and remaining teaspoon salt. Add potato slices and stir to coat potatoes with egg mixture.
- Pour oil into an ovenproof 1-quart au gratin dish or other baking dish that will hold 4 cups. Add potato-egg mixture and top with mackerel, pressing the fish down so it is partially buried in the potato-egg mixture. Cover with foil and bake 7 to 8 minutes or until egg begins to set. Uncover baking dish and sprinkle with spinach, then fontina. Return uncovered baking dish to oven and bake 5 to 7 minutes more or until spinach has wilted and fontina has melted. Serve immediately.
Serves 2.
Per serving, using 2 tablespoons olive oil: 801 calories (percent of calories from fat, 58), 58 grams protein, 24 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams total sugars, 3 grams fiber, 51 grams total fat (18 grams saturated), 667 milligrams cholesterol, 1,834 milligrams sodium.
Adapted from “The Tinned Fish Cookbook: Easy-to-Make Meals from Ocean to Plate” by Bart van Olphen. (The Experiment, 2020). Reprinted by permission of The Experiment.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Lemon Confit
A short, low simmer in olive oil turns a few slices of lemon into a luscious, jewel-like condiment in this recipe from “Tin to Table.” The confit treatment softens the bite of the citrus and brings out some of its sweeter, more floral attributes. Serve this with any tinned seafood or toss the lemon and olive oil into spaghetti with a tin of anchovy fillets. The bay leaf and peppercorns are for seasoning the confit but not intended for consumption.
- 1 lemon
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 10 peppercorns
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- Cut the lemon in half, lengthwise. Remove seeds. Cut each half lengthwise into thin slices.
- In a small saucepan over the lowest heat possible, combine lemon, olive oil, bay leaf, sugar, peppercorns and salt. Cook 20 minutes or until the lemon is slightly translucent and soft enough to eat, but not mushy or falling apart. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Serve immediately or transfer lemons plus cooking liquid, bay leaf and peppercorns into a covered container and refrigerate for up to 1 week.
Makes 1 cup.
Per tablespoon: 67 calories (percent of calories from fat, 94), trace protein, 1 gram carbohydrates, trace total sugars, trace fiber, 7 grams total fat (1 gram saturated), no cholesterol, 36 milligrams sodium.
Adapted from “Tin to Table” by Anna Hezel (Chronicle, 2023). Used with permission from Chronicle Books.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Avocado Tuna Salad
Tuna is one of the most widely appreciated forms of tinned seafood and many of us have a go-to tuna salad recipe. This version from “The Tinned Fish Cookbook” replaces the fish-tin oil with olive oil for a lighter flavor that may become a new favorite.
- 4 limes
- 1/2 small red onion, sliced into thin rings
- 1/2 avocado, cut into small cubes
- 2 tablespoons corn kernels
- 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to drizzle
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
- One (7-ounce) tin albacore tuna in olive oil, drained
- Cilantro leaves, for garnish
- Zest one lime and set zest aside.
- In a small bowl, combine onion with juice of 3 limes. Let sit 20 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine avocado and corn with lime zest, 1 teaspoon olive oil and juice of remaining lime. Season with salt and pepper. Add red onion, discarding lime juice.
- Divide avocado mixture between two plates. Divide tuna between plates and drizzle with olive oil. Garnish with cilantro and serve immediately.
Serves 2.
Per serving: 332 calories (percent of calories from fat, 47), 29 grams protein, 16 grams carbohydrates, 6 grams total sugars, 5 grams fiber, 18 grams total fat (3 grams saturated), 31 milligrams cholesterol, 418 milligrams sodium.
Reprinted from “The Tinned Fish Cookbook: Easy-to-Make Meals from Ocean to Plate” by Bart van Olphen. (The Experiment, 2020). Reprinted by permission of The Experiment.
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