You could do as I do and eat it standing up at the sink right out of the tin, but there are plenty of more glamorous, or at least dignified, ways to eat tinned seafood, too.
If you’re a tinned seafood newbie, Dan Waber of Rainbow Tomatoes Garden recommends starting out with sprats, also known as brisling sardines. These sardines are smaller than the average sardines and have a milder, more delicate flavor. “Eat them on your favorite cracker,” Waber says. “To go really wild, add a dash of a favorite vinegar-based hot sauce or mustard, and/or any pickled vegetable you have.”
Jonathan Larrad, co-founder of the online tinned fish shop Tinmonger, says Cantabrian anchovies are a good choice for the tinned fish skeptic. Most people have grown up around the salty anchovies you find on pizza, but according to Larrad, Cantabrian anchovies are next-level, so to speak. Rub some tomato on toasted bread, then drizzle a bit of olive oil before laying a few anchovies across the surface. Cut vertically so that you have strips of toast for the perfect canapé. “You can tell the difference immediately that it’s not any old anchovy that you’re eating,” he says. “That one surprises a lot of newbies because it sounds very adventurous. It also converts them from thinking they didn’t like anchovies and then, suddenly, ‘Oh, I do actually like them. It’s just that I was having bad ones before.’”
If you want to branch out, consider the humble potato chip. Serving tinned mussels on potato chips makes the bivalve, which may be somewhat unattractive merely sitting in the can or on a plate, more palatable looking and fun to eat. “You get the crunch of the chip and the flavor of the vinegar, and it does really work,” Larrad says. “It’s obviously cheap and efficient, and you can feed quite a few people this way.” Get a better quality kettle chip rather than your average gas station bag, which won’t stand up in heft or flavor to a rich mussel.
Anna has been enjoying tinned fish since she was old enough to eat solids. “For me, high-quality tinned fish is one that can be enjoyed as is—lemon, salt, and various other accouterments are unnecessary because why mask the flavor of the fish?” she says. “Pair it with a delightfully crusty—yet soft on the inside—slice of bread (to dip in the oil afterward) and that, to me, is perfection.”
As you’re setting out on your own tinned fish adventure, consider Waber’s advice for what makes good tinned seafood. First and foremost, though, don’t forget: Does it taste good to you? “There’s very little in this world more subjective than what flavors and textures we each enjoy, and tinned seafood is subject to the same sorts of personal variation there,” Waber says. “If any food product appears discolored, moldy, or smells bad, it probably is bad. Bad is much simpler to detect.” Do not eat moldy, discolored, foul-smelling tinned fish should you come across it, please.
Anchovies: “This is a product that changes noticeably as cost changes,” Waber says. “For many uses, like incorporating into a sauce, lower-cost products are completely appropriate.” If you’re making Alison Roman’s famous caramelized shallot pasta—complete with a full 2-ounce can of anchovy fillets—you don’t need to use your $30 tin of Cantabrian ‘chovies and can probably rely on whatever you can find at your local grocery store. For example, he says, “You don’t need Stoli to make a screwdriver,” though you certainly can if you want.
High-end anchovies are often called “the ham of the sea,” Waber says, and should be reminiscent of a fine ham: “just the right amount of resistance and give to the bite, firm without being tough and then meltingly soft without being mushy.” Good midrange anchovies “should still be firm, clean smelling, even-colored, and hold together as they are handled. These are a salt-cured product, so they are going to be salty.”
Smoked salmon: “In general what you’re looking for are large, intact pieces that lift cleanly from the tin and are deliciously fragrant.”
Mussels: “These should be plump, unbroken meats that hold together without crumbling and are soft without being mealy.”
Sardines: “Intact pieces with attractive silver skin, clean-smelling, and consistently firm flesh that flakes easily.”
