Editor’s note – This article focuses on Portuguese sardines, but here in California, our sardines are also available in season. And they are on the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s “Super Green List.”
If your experience with sardines is limited to what you get from a can, then you are in for a special treat with Portuguese sardines.
Good, grilled sardines are a shock for most people who have only had them canned. Even Oprah includes sardines as one of the 25 superfoods to include in your diet. According to her, “Wild-caught sardines are low in mercury and high in vitamin D; a 3-ounce serving has as much calcium as a cup of milk. Even better, they’re one of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s top picks for sustainability.”
Executive Chef Billy Brandolini of Ceia Kitchen & Bar in Newburyport shows us his way of brining and grilling sardines a la Portuguese style. Grilled sardines are also eaten all over Southern Europe along the Mediterranean coast. In Portugal, sardines are very popular, especially in the summer at outdoor celebrations and festivals, when the sardines are fattest. To the Portuguese, the little fish are like hot dogs and hamburgers, available from outdoor vendors and served at private food gatherings.
Check out the various black foods at Sacramento’s Whole Foods Market. New studies reveal that foods containing black squid ink fight cancer and tumor cells by preventing the growth of new blood vessels which causes tumor and cancer cells to grow.
Sacramento’s new food trend is to eat black foods, especially squid ink pasta with black beans one day and black rice with blueberries the next. If you look at Sacramento’s various natural food markets, stores are carrying more black foods such as black rice (also known as ‘forbidden’ rice) and squid ink pasta. See, Squid Ink Pasta: Cooking Terms: RecipeTips.com.
Black garlic, one of chef Hoss Zaré’s favorite new ingredients, is fermented so it has a sweet, molasses-like flavor and it’s rich with antioxidants. He blends the black garlic with mayonnaise for this dish but using roasted garlic puree blended with balsamic vinegar is equally tasty. If fresh sardines aren’t available or if you’re in a hurry, make this dish with good-quality canned sardines; they’re already cooked so there’s no need to grill them.
The world of fast food fish is often murky. Exactly which species lurks beneath the breading and between those sesame-seeded buns? How was it caught? Where did it come from?
These questions don’t typically arise when it comes to conversations about other fast food products. Beef is pretty much just beef. Chicken is just chicken. We don’t ask if our hens are bantams, leghorns, or Rhode Island Reds. Or whether the cow was raised in Oklahoma or Brazil. (Perhaps we should, but that’s an issue for another day and another columnist to investigate.) And while we might look for “free range” or “organic” labels at the grocery store, if we’re eating under the Golden Arches, we’ve pretty much decided to skip that particular green step.
In this week’s column we look into the fishy offerings from the top fast food chains—four breaded and fried, one popped out of a can and mixed with mayo—to find out what’s in your sandwich. We present them below with just a soupçon of sustainability criteria so that even when you’re making the decision to fund fast food nation you can at least be fully informed about how to minimize your environmental impact.
Navigating the waters of sustainable seafood seems daunting at first glance. But several organizations have worked to overcome that with easy-to-use resources for businesses and consumers. The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program has convenient pocket guides and a downloadable app for your mobile device. And if you don’t have an iPhone you can send Blue Ocean institute a text message containing the species of fish you’re considering and they’ll send you a quick sustainability profile.
Many corporations look to the Marine Stewardship Council, an organization that certifies fisheries around the world that meet certain sustainability standards. Where chains use MSC-certified products we’ll note that here.
So without further ado let’s peel back the breading and find out what you’re biting into when you unwrap that Filet o’… well, of what, exactly?
eHow contributer Chelsea Hoffman recently posted steps to make sardines in olive oil.
1) Add the sardines to the canning jar. A full cup of sardines is close to 1/4 of a lb. Purchase your sardines fresh from a reliable source, making sure they’ve been properly cleaned before canning them.
2) Pour the olive oil into you canning jar. Add the carrots, onion, garlic and optional crushed red pepper to the jar. The crushed red pepper will give the sardines a spicy bite.
3) Secure the lid on the canning jar and shake the solution for a few seconds to mix the ingredients together.
4) Put the stockpot, half full of water, on the stove and bring it to a rolling boil. Place the jar into the pot. Let the water boil over the jar for 30 minutes. Not only does this cook the ingredients, but the hot water will seal the jar, making it airtight. This is known as a “hot water bath,” when canning foods.
5) Turn off the stove and remove the hot jar from the water, using the canning tongs. Sit the can on your counter and allow it to cool to room temperature. This takes up to eight hours, or sometimes more, depending on the temperature of the environment.
Read more at eHow.com.
Recently James Stuart, a contributor to eHow, posted five steps to picking out sardines. Here are the highlights:
1) Consider where the sardines were caught. Check the label and see if the country is listed. If not, check the company’s website. Knowing where the fish was caught can tell you about the practices that were used to capture it. Check fishing laws to see if that country uses methods you’re comfortable with. It can also help you identify what kind of sardine you like, as regional differences affect the taste of the fish.
2) Check the brand. Different brands may use different fishing methods, and will likely have a reputation. You can check websites such as EcoFirms.org that will tell you which brands are sustainable.
3) Look at the price. If your main concern is money, go for the cheapest brand. Ensure that the cheapest brand uses fishing methods and packaging that you’re comfortable buying.
4) Look at the packaging. Check to see if there is excess or unnecessary packaging that could hurt the environment. Ensure everything is recyclable.
5) Check the nutritional label and compare. If nutrition is your primary concern, comparing labels will help you select the healthiest brand of sardine.
FOR years, the only kind of sardines available to the average American were packed in oil, water or tomato sauce, sold in little rectangular cans, first with keys and later with pop-tops.
But because they’re plentiful and not endangered as a species (and full of healthful omega-3 fatty acids), fresh sardines are enjoying something of a renaissance. It helps that they’re delicious and inexpensive.
You’re likely to see them on the menus of fancy restaurants, usually as appetizers and usually “grilled.” I use quotation marks because what restaurants advertise as grilled sardines are usually broiled, for two reasons. One is that few restaurants are equipped to do real grilling. The other is that it’s extremely difficult to grill a sardine. Their flesh is so fragile they fall apart. (Wrapping them in grape leaves or paper-thin prosciutto slices is an option, but that process is a pain and decidedly unnecessary.)
