Guest Review: Connétable Huile d'Olive vierge extra

After two consecutive days of food pilgrimage to San Jose's Grand Century Mall (for amazing Bahn Xeo crepes, Sugar cane juice, and other assorted awesomeness), I discovered that one of the deli shops carries a selection of yea olde tinny fish. Since Connétable tins have consistently scored high marks, I settled on investigating the Huile d'Olive vierge extra, a gorgeous red tin from Douarnenez, Bretagne.

The tin contains six medium sized fish, skin and bones on, as opposed to the Connétable fillets previously reviewed. They're préparées à l'ancienne which I took to mean prepared Old School. The fish are perfect - fresh smelling, mild tasting, firm. Exactly the type of tin one brings on a proselytizing mission to convert the Sardine-averse, those who got turned off to sardines thanks to mushy, nasty smelling Brunswicks from their childhood. Comrades and fellow travelers, this is the five tin deal.

A few notes on scoring any tin. Skin is where the flavor and best nutrients are, so lack thereof is a negative attribute. It's like the difference between a Salmon steak and a fillet. If you're not eating the cut with the skin, not only are you skipping on a lot of the Omega-3, but your texture preference is that of a baby. It's like eating skinless chicken - WTF is wrong with people? Bones are an essential part of the lovely texture of sardines, as well. Mushy sardines are the same as overcooking your steak, it's just wrong. And if the tin smells fishy when you open it, holy shit. No.

Finally, at $3.25 versus the $1.39 I pay for my stockpile of bon appétit this is a bit of a splurge, but it was definitely a treat with some Kalamata olive sourdough and blue cheese.

Arrr

Irish Tins of Fish and Stout

Well, the Wife's off to Austin, TX to help celebrate the passing of time and I've got a furlough. Do I go to the Barrel Aged Beerfest? Do I go to the Cross Races under the lights? No, I'm safely tucked away in The Hidden Fortress with a pantry full of tins and a fridge full of beer. Staying home, watching what the General Public views as B Movies, to bring you useless information on tins of sardines you probably can't or won't try to find.

Normally I would be following a recipe when the Wife's gone, creating some fantastic tinned sardine entree, but tonight I'm going to clean some tins out of storage.

I have four of the six tins brought back from Dublin, Ireland by Mr. Jonnie Carpo and I'm going to pop em all.

I picked up two four packs, a brick of Kerrygold Pure Irish, and a loaf of Straun Harvest Bread from Brother Juniper's bakery. Toast it up, add some greens and it's on. I was going to bake a loaf of Amazingly Easy Irish Soda Bread but I overcooked a TJ pizza I was going to have for lunch and decided I was glad I bought the Straun Micheil as a backup. I think there's some Jamie around here as well.

Two tins are in sunflower oil, and two tins are in tomato sauce. I've not enjoyed a tomato sauce tin yet and I'm thinking side by side will be interesting.

Let's start at the top. The Yellow edged tin at 10:30.

John West (JW) is a fish tinning company popular in Ireland and the UK. Sardines, Tuna, Salmon, Mackerel, and Anchovies. The Sardines are tinned for JW (Liverpool, England) in Portugal.

Hilarious or Interesting, I'm not sure, but they are revolutionizing the tinned fish market with such products as No Drain Tuna AND Sardine Tempters, which I think are sardines in a more traditional tuna tin style layout. This style of packaging is bound to appeal to tuna people and will make it obvious to use these tins just as you would in any tinned tuna recipe. Like an Onion and Tomato Sardine with Cucumber Sandwich. This is how I see or imagine the CRSC is packaged. I still haven't ordered a tin, mainly due to the pantry overflowing.

Sorry. On to the tin.

JW In sunflower oil. Three big fish, bone in, skin on. A light schmeer of butter on a toast point, a pinch of greens and a chunk or two of love.

Look at that!

The sardine fork cuts the big fish right into bitesize.

Clean, Killer, Nice to Have the Skin and Bones.
Four Tins.

Next, the John West in tomato sauce. Red edged tin at 1:30. After that last JW tin I'm not afraid. Going to stick with the light schmeer of sweet butter. Wish I had some bacon.

Again, three big fish, skin and bones. It's a tasty sauce, bit o herbs, no butter needed, put it right on the toast point. I'm enjoying this, but let's cross the platter to the Nixe, at 7:30, before rating this.

Nixe, while being purchased in Dublin, are a brand for a discount chain known as Lidl. Expiration date: 31.12.2009. Reaching maturity, the label is in four languages, and I can't decipher where these where tinned. Again. Three big fish, skin and bones. These fish are a bit soft. Not exciting but not bad.

The JW has a tastier sauce, prettier fish, and seem proper.

John West in tomato sauce: Four Tins

Nixe in tomato sauce: Three Tins

And the Picnic.

These are Peruvian "Pacific Sardines" (Engravlis Ringens) in a package that screams of pallets and pallets of tins bought by grocery wholesaler Beck, Smith and Associates and shipped over, and then shrink wrapped accordingly.

Seven medium fish, meh at best. Skin on, no bones. I'm done with that tin and going back to finish off the others.
Two Tins for the Picnic.

Well, I've cleaned out the pantry of more Smuggled Tins, and, I've developed a taste for sardines in tomato sauce. I have a few more Unobtainiums, France and Italy, but I also have some Scandinavians and Japanese sourced locally, and a very scary tin I got at a Murder Mart in Unincorporated Hayward.

What the hell are you eating? Didja go out to that weird store and see what tins they have?

Sando Calrissian

Before my wife and kids left for Paris seven weeks ago and before I began living out of my industrial workspace I sat down on what were my front porch steps. I sat there with my five year old daughter and enjoyed one of the finest sandwiches of my life. My wife had read a recipe for this creation that included a parsley chive mayo and bacon. Though it also called for fresh whole sardines we made due with the old faves, King Oscar brisling sardines. Two effing Layer!
Now I apologize about the poor photo quality and that perhaps the photo of the said sandwich may not appear too appetizing but believe you me. It was absolutely delicious. Yes!

Hawesta piri-piri

I must apologize for continuing to bring you tins of Unobtainium, but here is another Smuggled Tin. The Other tin brought back form Germany. Code Name: Gordy.

I understand. Unobtainable. I can't stop. I know I will never see another of these tins. I just happen to have access to people who travel the world, and will drop a euro or pound or two to see a Juvi-Adult smile. It's not my fault.

That being said.

SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!!

Hawesta zarte Sardinen piri-piri.

This tin has an amazing spice to it. Piri-Piri. You've seen it here before. I first found it as a hot sauce at The Spanish Table. This tin, Filets ohne Haut in feinem Olivenöl, has heat. Four fish, super clean and pretty, and Oh, What Heat!! There was a small whole pepper in the tin!

Plated with toasted dark rye, a bit of sour cream, and some roasted up olives. Good firm texture, if only there were some bones, a bit of crunch, I've been missing that in my recent attacks, don't need the skin here. Four out of Five tins. Big, Beautiful, Spicy, but Unobtainable.

It's not my fault.

On a side note: I recently received a call from a young lady wanting to hook her father up with some tasty tins available at her local. I immediately thought of the Pollastrini. These are getting wide North American distribution and are killer. Her dad has sardine experience. If your out there trying to convert, well, maybe they aren't a gateway tin, but that's a damn good tin.

Something Special to Get That Certain Someone

Here are some french books about sardines that the Society members can be interested in, if not already done.

Sardines à la clé is a nice picture book about the history of sardine cans illustrations and use by artists. A bible ! Not without humor as Nicolas is a real freaky sardine fan…


Miss Sardine mixes history of Parmentier brand and original recipes out of cans. I'll come back about Parmentier's sardine soon.




Enjoy !
Philippe ANGINOT

Cannery Row Sardine Company

Cannery Row Sardine Company
Monterey County Weekly Article.

CRSC’s sardines are wild-caught in the Pacific Ocean from Big Sur to Washington, filleted, de-boned, skinned and hand-packed in olive oil. At $7.95 per can ($6.95 online), they’re spendy next to the $2 tins in stores. Warnick says it’s worth it. “This is the only canned sardine that’s a product of the U.S.A. you can find on the grocery store shelves.”

We ALL have to get some of these. Get them on the Web. Ask for them at your Local. Know they will be talked about here and soon.
Read that article.
Believe:

Aquacalypse Now

The New Republic quotes the journal Science:

"by 2048, all commercial fish stocks will have “collapsed,” meaning that they will be generating 10 percent or less of their peak catches."

Read it HERE.

Let's remember to drink local, and eat low on the food chain.

Pop a tin, and tell us about it.

Appel MADELEINE ROT

My friend Gordana just returned from Germany. And it's October!!!

She smuggled out two tins and I rounded up the beers. Octoberfest officially ended yesterday, so I'm going to try and catch up real quick. I'm starting with a Spaten Oktoberfest Ur-Marzen (labeled a malt liquor!), while I roast beets.

We are having pork chops, Hengstenberg sauerkraut, Maggi spaetzle, and roasted beets and carrots with butter lettuce. I have a selection of German beers, including a Celebrator Double Bock. Also grabbed a Clean Slate Riesling from Mosel, Germany for the Wife to dent.

Tonght's tin is Appel zarte Sardinen MADELEINE ROT Filets ohne Haut in feinem Olivenöl. According to the website, Appel has seven different tins available. One is Piri-Piri. The other six include, Provence, Toscana, Cicero, Rosalinde, Madeleine grün, and tonight's tin: Madeleine rot. Those sound pretty good, Provence (in feinem Olivenöl mit aromatischen Kräutern der Provence und Knoblauch verfeinert), Tuscany (mit Olivenscheiben, Basilikum und Oregano)(these sound like the French tins we've experienced)(these sound like what should be made available at $6 a tin using fish caught politically correctly off the Coast of California, tinned locally using small bits of artichoke from the Salinas Valley, and a bit of goat cheese from Humboldt), I can't read the website, and am too "busy" to translate but this tin is zarte Sardinenfilets ohne Haut, in feinem Olivenöl, führende Fischqualität - fangfrisch verarbeitet, and Sardinen von Appel - "Klassiker" seit über 100 Jahren. Guess I'll learn more when I pop that zinn.

While I cook up a spicy smoked beer sausage for the platter, I'm moving on to the Klosterbrauerei Reutberg Brothers of Dunkel (5.2) and Hell (5.1). Start with Hell I guess.

The Tin, sausage (Berkeley Bowl), Mestemacher rye bread, Hengstenberg cornichons, Hengstenberg sweet mustard, and a ramakin of horseradish cream make up tonight's platter.

Five or six beers, I mean fish. A very light pleasant oil. Very mild, letting the fish come through. A bit on the tuna side all in all, firm, mild, really nice with the rye and sour cream. A bit hearty and enjoyable. Better than average but not killer Killer. The mustard only worked with the sausage. Four out of Five Tins.

With the platter I had the Mahr's Weisse (4.9). Saved the Celebrator (6.7) for the chop.

The Chicken and The King

I'd already had a delicious meal and we'd settled in to watch part two of Ken Burns' The National Parks. We'd caught part one yestereve and it is some wonderful stuff. Tonight he is tweaking the Wife's nerve by talking about bird poaching, flower hats, and the unique landscapes.

Then, I got the munchies.

I stopped stocking Oreo's and Ben and Jerry's Willie Nelson's Peach Cobbler Ice Cream, but some how had ended up in Spaceway the other day and had to check what they were peddling in the tinned fish aisle. I picked up two tins for just such an occasion. A quick nosh while listening to Peter Coyote tell me about Theodore Roosevelt's taxidermy habits and meetings with John Muir.

I grabbed one: Chicken of the Sea. $1.00/can. It claims to be lightly smoked in oil, and from Thailand. (Sidenote: as the Wife put away groceries the other day, she thought, What the Hell? Has He lost his mind? Do we really need all these Tins?)

I gripped it and ripped it and was not all that fond of what I found inside.
(They just told of Roosevelt snacking on sardines out in the wilderness of Yellowstone, I kid you not.)

Uhm, Sorry Charlie. These weren't working for me. Too big, not pretty, didn't smell bad but didn't smell good, I don't know, I threw those fish back. Maybe some other time, maybe not.

So the other tin I picked up was King Oscar's Med Style. One layer Brisling.

These were much more appealing.

Dominant Smoke. The fish are a bit mushy and falling apart. The olives and spice are quite qood. I would love to make a sandwich with a splash of mayo and this tin. All in all just OK. A "C". Average. Sometimes they're just fish. Three out of Five Tins.

Having come to this conclusion I must ammend an Earlier Review. The Sunnmøre Sardiner i olje are some fine fish.

This Just In

The Wife just grabbed some Kettle Baked Hickory Honey BBQ chips, a ramakin of sour cream and some King O's.

Now That's Some Munchies Food!!!

Aquaculture 2010