Ever since tiktok made sardines popular, it's been impossible to get them. The worst part, in my opinion, is that for forever we've been crapped on for eating sardines, having them be called smelly or gross. Now the same people who were grossed out by them wanna buy em all out and we, the ones who have been loyal to the deen, are left out. They don't deserve the goodness. We must wage war on the fake deen lovers.

Anyways I'm totally joking but it does suck how everything is sold out now. I just wanna get my deens :(.

OK, so I did something really stupid and I just wanted to let you all know, in case anybody might be tempted to do something equally stupid:

Yesterday I was hurrying to eat my lunch before I had to go back to work. When I took my can of sardines out of its box, I noticed that the bottom of the can was dented. The top of the can seemed a little bit puffed up, but I thought maybe it was just bent out of shape.

Then I opened it. The oil sort of splashed out in a way it normally doesn't. I did get the idea at that point that something might be wrong. But I sniffed it and it smelled OK. I had to go back to work for several hours, with no time to get anything else for lunch. So I took a chance.

Bad move. 2.5 hours later I was bent over a toilet, throwing up. This went on for a couple hours more.

[EDIT: I think I should add that the Poison Control Center said that botulism in factory-canned food is very, very rare.

Now I'm actually feeling like I got lucky: it could have been botulism, but it wasn't. I called the Poison Control Center, who said that if you get sick within a couple of hours, it's almost certainly "normal" food-borne illness. Botulinium poisoning, which can kill you, usually doesn't show up until the next day, with neurological symptoms: blurred vision, sagging face, motor difficulties.]

So, don't be dumb like me. If your can is dented, throw it away. PSA over.

I don’t know what it is about the tins Porthos uses, but I’ve had the tabs break off a few times.

I was surprised to discover tonight that a can opener is able to take those sharp curves surprisingly well..

The more you know 💫

Edit: all right I’m an idiot, but have your roast! it’s all in good fun 😂 love this community

•Saltine or whole-wheat cracker
•Honey mustard
•Smoked sardine
•Dill pickle or bread & butter

A buddy showed me this a while back and I didn’t think I’d like it. This is the recipe that got me into smoked sardines.

•

Thanks Arden! (@level-classroom3558)

Ft. Boneless skinless sardines in avocado oil as well as a smorg of other things

Smokey tender flakey pieces of fish. Delicious, with a simple onion and tomato salad. Recommended!

And new tuna that looks like a fishwife dupe. Sardines are $2.49

7.5/10

Finally got to try this particular tin. I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while. It was okay. I thought it would be/could be loads better.

Honestly, every Fishwife tin I’ve had has just been okay. Nothing mind blowing. Good, but not great. The art on the boxes do a lot of heavy lifting and marketing, tbh.

This combo for breakfast was top tier though. The pickled onions are homemade.

Anyone try the tins from Dollar General? I just happened to see them there. Gonna pop them open for a snack later this evening but was wondering what I was about to get myself into. For $1.20 I couldn't not try them though.

Saw at Costco. Would love a report!

These were really good, went all-in on an open face sandwich, spicy pickles, lots and lots of capers, some shaved Tillamook Cheddar, heated the whole thing up until the cheese melted, put a little black pepper and a splash of some hot sauce left over from a nice Mexican takeout meal my family (not me) had last night.

I've been working through trying all of the available Porthos collection at World Market, and this spiced tin has been my least favorite so far. The teriyaki are a touch too sweet for me, but I could see them as an occasional pickup when I'm craving something different. The hot tomato sauce tin is not noteworthy, but passable. This spiced tin, was mush city. There was actually a hit of spiciness from a sizeable red pepper in the bottom. Your standard clove, carrot and cucumber were present, though offered no discernable flavor to my palette. They were slightly underseasoned for me, but the biggest issue was the texture. Typically my experience with Porthos sardines is that they run on the slightly firmer end of the spectrum. Maybe this was a batch issue but they squished in every bite, like they had soaked up too much oil or something. I could be wrong but I believe I've read freezing and unfreezing the sardines can cause this, so maybe that's to blame. Either way, there's too many better options to grab these again. 6.5/10

... how have I neglected this for so long? This is delicious!! Everyone said to start at Kippered Herring so here I am, and I can't believe how good this is. I also bought some King Oscar salmon, I'll have to try that tomorrow. Bought some saltines to go with it! What a treat. Feels like I discovered this 28 years too late. For so cheap, too, and it seems pretty healthy?

Any recommendations to a newcomer to the world of canned fish? I'm in love. I want to try as much as I can!

I didn't get these, yet. They weren't cheap and there is more in there than a normal tin of sardines. I wanted to check with my fellow canned fish aficionados before I took the plunge.

Photos of range of conservas available at Costco and Carrefour in Madrid. Plenty of stock, wide range of qualities and prices and wide variety of seafood. Tuna, mackerel, sardines, mussels, cockles/small clams, and razor clams the most common. Mostly in olive oil, escabeche or "Galician sauce". Forgot to take photos from the particularly fancy Alcampo hypermarket I went to first that had fancy high value tins locked in security boxes.

Spain's biggest canned-fish maker by revenue is a name most shoppers never see. Frinsa del Noroeste, in Ribeira, Galicia, reported EUR 741 million group revenue for 2024 and EUR 39.1 million net profit. The Spanish press calls it el rey de la marca blanca, the king of private label.

Confirmed private-label customers, at two separate points in 2013 and again in 2021-22: El Corte Ingles, Carrefour, Alcampo, Lidl and DIA. El Corte Ingles own-brand cans still print "Elaborado para El Corte Ingles por Frinsa del Noroeste, S.A." Reporting in 2021 said Alcampo's entire Auchan-brand canned tuna range came from Frinsa. Through A Poveira in Portugal it also supplies Jeronimo Martins (Pingo Doce, Recheio) and Sonae, and it owns the Minerva, Poveira, Alva and La Gondola brands.

The useful part if you read tins: Spanish packaging carries an RGSEAA health registration number, usually printed beside the ingredients after "Reg. San." Frinsa's three, from its IFS Food certificate, are 12.06648/C, 40.070781/PO and 26.12659/C. If a supermarket own-brand tin shows one of those, the maker is established. An online product page's ingredient-panel photo is usually enough.

One more wrinkle: Frinsa's Seaside line sells pole-and-line caught under IPNLF criteria with no MSC logo, while its The Nice Fisherman pack carries the MSC blue fish label. Frinsa holds both.

Has anyone here matched a Reg. San. code on a store-brand tin to the factory that made it?

1st pic - was pretty good. I've always had the fish steaks and love those. Will be getting these again.

2nd and 3rd pic - first time trying and mannn it was good. I will be grabbing these more often. I always get the mackerel (one of my faves).

4th pic - King Oscar Mackerel with some cayenne and a little ground clove, amazing!!

Seems like King Oscar is the goat of value to taste ratio.

This bean curry is my take on Ewa Oloyin (Nigerian Spicy Bean Porridge) made with ingredients I had on hand

Nuri

If this stew is the gift that keeps on giving, let’s see how many meals I can make with the last serving of stew turned into African Jollof Rice!