Not everyone is a fan of sardines. Perhaps you have tried them and enjoyed them, or didn’t enjoy them, or perhaps you are thinking, “Why would I want to eat sardines?” 

Sardines are among the healthiest, most sustainable and least expensive fish available. And that’s before we get to how delicious they are. So bear with me here.

Now you may think of sardines (part of the pilchard family that includes herring and anchovies) as peasant food and, at some time in their history, they were. And not only as peasant food but as some of the earliest processed food. The first time this humble fish became accessible to the masses was in the early 1800s after the French government offered a reward of 12,000 francs to anyone that could come up with a way to preserve this abundant fish to feed Napoleon’s army of hundreds of thousands of men. 

The prize went to Nicolas Appert, who preserved cooked sardines in canning jars much as we do today with our jams and jellies. The process continued to evolve, from sardines in jars to sardines in tin-plated iron cans that could be preserved for more than two years. In addition to providing food for Napoleon’s army, sardines traveled all over the world feeding the crews on large freight ships. Today sardines are packed in coated aluminum cans, and their easy-pull tabs have replaced the earlier key contraption. 

In many circles, select canned sardines have become gourmet fare. Some folks collect sardines like others collect fine wines. If stored in a cool, dry place with a controlled temperature, the unopened cans will be good for more than two years. 

Just last week, the Wirecutter product review section of the New York Times ranked the top sardines. More than a dozen restaurants here and around the world feature tinned sardines on their menus. Many years ago, we shared a delicious lunch with our son and daughter-in-law at the Saltie Girl Seafood Bar in Boston, which features a wide variety of tinned sardines from Spain, Portugal and France.

Sardines are saltwater fish with fins and scales. As such, they are kosher, though anyone who is observant will want to check the cans for kosher certification. Sardines run in schools that number more than 10 million, though South Africa has been known to have runs in the billions. 

The sardine industry has been a boon to many coastal economies, particularly in Portugal, France, Spain, South Africa and Morocco. Cannery Row in Monterey, Calif., was once one of the largest sardine canneries in the world. Though it still produces canned sardines, state restrictions placed on the industry limit the amount of Pacific sardines that can harvested. As a result, the U.S. can no longer compete with other countries around the world when it comes to sardine production.

My first experience of eating a sardine is far from Marcel Proust’s cinematic memory of first eating a madeleine (traditional French cookie) with a cup of lime flower tea with his aunt in “Remembrance of Things Past.” 

My sister, Bobbie Lenga Gutman, had to remind me that as kids, we tolerated our sardine eating experience with our parents, who took great joy in beginning each Sabbath meal with a salad my mother made of chopped sardines, hard boiled eggs and chopped raw onions. We would eat the salad on top of slices of rye bread or challah. 

My father got great joy from that weekly forshpeis (appetizer), and I was certain that some of that joy came from the memories he had of eating a similar sardine salad in his shtetl of Kozhnitz in Poland. I wish he was around for me to ask him. I do know that his dear friend Oskar Jakob, who grew up in Hungary and is also a Holocaust survivor, recalls eating canned sardines before the war. He and his wife Margo still enjoy tinned sardines. 

“Why not?” she exclaimed. “They are delicious and so healthy.” 

To say I enjoyed sardines as a kid might be a stretch. However, as an adult, sardines have become a favorite for me and my husband, Mike. We began eating them as graduate students on a limited budget, always accompanying them with a baguette, hard boiled eggs and some steamed vegetables.  

Many years later, as we began to travel, we would seek out local cans of sardines to bring home. In Lisbon, Portugal, where sardines are an important part of their culture and cuisine, we visited quite a few tinned fish shops with shelves filled from ceiling to floor with nothing but tinned fish. More recently, on a trip to the south of France, we brought back the best sardines we have ever had. They came from Brittany, which at one time was one of the world’s largest producers. 

Not all sardines taste the same. Some have more assertive flavors than others, and those packed in olive oil are superior to the ones packed in water. You also can find sardines flavored with a variety of sauces, such as spiced tomato or mustard. 

One serving provides nearly 100% of the daily recommended intake of omega 3 oils, the oils that keep our brains healthy. Additionally, they are rich in protein, vitamin B12, vitamin D and calcium (providing more than 20% of your daily value), and provide more than 10% of our daily recommended supply of iron. 

You could take all those nutrients in vitamin supplements, but why would you when the food source is so tasty?

If you are a newbie, I recommend starting with a good can of sardines packed in extra virgin olive oil. And whatever you do, don’t drain the oil from the can. It is packed with flavor and so many nutrients. You can dip a torn baguette into the oil or even use it to sauté some onions or vegetables to enjoy with your fish. 

If you would like to create a special dish with your sardines, I have included two recipes below. The pasta, Spaghetti Con Le Sarde, is a Sicilian classic. The pine nuts, golden raisins and fresh fennel soften the flavor of the sardines and, topped with toasted olive oil breadcrumbs, this becomes a delicious main course.

The second recipe requires a good loaf of bread for dipping into the delightful, piquant sauce. You also briefly fry the sardines in their own olive oil, which transforms them. Other ways to enjoy sardines:

• Drizzled with hot sauce

• On a piece of toast lightly smeared with hot pepper jam

• As part of a sandwich — think Banh Mi — with lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes and some pickled jalapeños

• As an addition to your favorite shakshuka (Israeli tomato and egg stew)

• My mother’s classic, chopped with hard boiled eggs and red onions on rye bread or challah

Much of the information in this column regarding sardines came from a lovely, comprehensive book that I recommend reading: “Sardine” by Trevor Day. 

Pan Fried Sardines with Salsa Verde

Click here for printable version of this recipe.

(Recipe adapted from “Tin to Table” by Anna Hezel)

The recipe makes plenty of salsa verde. If you’re a surf ’n’ turf kind of person, grill a nice steak to enjoy with your sardines and this sauce. Also, the recipe calls for one can of sardines. There would be plenty of sauce for two cans, increasing the number of servings to four from two. 

Ingredients

1 small bunch fresh parsley, leaves only (about ¾ oz./20 g)

1 small bunch fresh cilantro, leaves and tender stems (about ½ oz./15 g)

2 tbsp. capers, drained and rinsed

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed

Juice of 1 lemon

¼ c. plus 1 tbsp. (75ml) extra virgin olive oil

Coarse kosher salt, to taste

1 3 oz. to 4 oz. can sardines packed in olive oil, undrained (use two cans for four people)

Directions

Combine all the ingredients through the olive oil in a blender (or a deep jar with an immersion blender). Pulse for one to two minutes until mixture resembles a pesto sauce. It will not be smooth. Pour the salsa into a shallow bowl or rimmed plate; set aside.

Add the olive oil from the can of sardines to a small skillet. Heat over medium heat until oil is hot. Gently lift each sardine from the can into the pan, leaving enough space between them so that you can easily turn them over. Let fry on one side for two minutes and then, using a small spatula, turn each sardine over and cook an additional two minutes.

Carefully lift sardines from pan and place them into bowl of salsa. Enjoy with some good bread or toast, for dipping.

Makes two to four servings.

Spaghetti Con Le Sarde

Click here for printable version of this recipe.

(Recipe adapted from “The Magic of Tinned Fish” by Chris McDade.)

Ingredients

3 tbsp. golden raisins

¼ c. panko breadcrumbs

3 tbsp. olive oil, divided

1½ tbsp. diced onions

2 tbsp. pine nuts

½ c. diced fresh fennel (optional)

1 tbsp. drained capers (optional)

1 tsp. salt, plus more as needed before serving

6 oz. dried spaghetti (I used whole wheat)

1 tin sardines, approximately 4.2 oz.

Fresh juice of half a lemon, plus more to finish, if needed

Salt and pepper, to taste

1½ tbsp. fresh chopped parsley or fennel fronds, for garnishing

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place raisins in a small dish and add just enough hot water to cover. Let plump for 10 minutes, then reserve the raisins and 1 tbsp. soaking water.

In a small pan, add panko and olive oil. Over medium heat, toss crumbs until evenly moistened and toasted; set aside.

Heat remaining 2 tbsp. olive oil (and/or oil from sardine can) in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions (and fennel, if using) and pine nuts and sauté until onions (and fennel) are limp and pine nuts are toasted. Add capers and mix. Remove pan from heat.

Add 1 tsp. salt to boiling water and add pasta, stirring to separate strands and cooking according to manufacturer’s directions. Just before pasta is ready, remove ⅓ c. of water from the pot; reserve. Drain pasta and immediately add it to the large skillet. 

Turn heat to low under skillet and add sardines, fresh lemon juice and reserved ⅓ c. pasta water. Use a tong to gently mix the pasta continuously until sauce has thickened and pasta becomes creamy, about two to three minutes. Taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper, and additional lemon juice, as desired.

Use tongs to divide the pasta among two to four bowls and sprinkle each one with some of the chopped parsley or fennel fronds. 

Makes two large dinner servings or four side dish servings.