what’s the deal with canned fish?
i don't hate it
Is it just me, or have conservas been having a moment? It seems like since Tim Ferriss, touted his canned sardine preworkout in 2016, the United States has found a space to welcome these tinned treasures into our pantries. Hell, even Mariano’s has a whole standalone section of their stores dedicated to the delicacies of squid, mackerel and more.
The brands range from Spanish incumbents like Ortiz and Matiz (conservas is the Spanish word for canned products – more on this shortly), startup hipster Fishwife, clothing-magnate-turned-sustainable-food-company Patagonia Provisions, and Chicago local Donostia Foods (Donostia is the Basque name for San Sebastián, my home for 2 years). Personally, it’s exciting to see such new attention to this market and having access to brands I love, while seeing new innovations in the space. I couldn’t also help but think how they’ve grown in popularity to the point that they have their own built-out island in American grocery chains. Hell, the homie on Canned Fish Files presumably makes a living trying tinned fish from all over the world, and the Surströmming Challenge is alive and well.
We’re going to look at how canned fish is made, my pet theory as to how it began to boom recently, whether it’s healthy and my favorite ways to use canned fish.
canning history in europe
Canning tech was first developed in France in 1809 by Nicolas Appert. The basic premise is putting food in a sealed jar and heating it until all the microbes in the food are killed, sterilizing the food inside and allowing it to be kept for an incredibly long time. Nowadays, you can pressure cook it to shorten the process, but the science remains the same. In the 1800’s this was an incredible technology that enabled armies to keep perishable food like produce and meat stable in battles abroad. Like all things from war, soldiers came back and had a taste for this food or war-time manufacturers needed to remarket their military rations for the general populace.
Anyway, this 19th century development moved to the United States, Asia, and crossed the border to Spain and Portugal. In 1816, the Catalan Massó family began a massive sweep through the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, canning any seafood they could: scallops, squid, razor clams, anchovies, and more. This changed the food culture of much of the interior of Spain since the coast was distant and the next best preservation method, salting, changes the texture of many of these proteins. Nowadays in Spain and Portugal, these canned seafood are served as appetizers with pieces of bread and a cold *vermut.*
my pet theory: study abroad brings conservas home
College students have often taken a semester off to study in a faraway land. One thing is for sure though: American students love going to Europe with the top destinations being Italy, Spain and the UK. In fact, they like it so much that 2/3 of students find themselves there and 40% end up in one of those three countries! I surmise that many students found these products more compelling when they were in Spain, since the best the US had for years were salty anchovies on pizza. It also didn’t help that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had the weirdest topping combo of all time.
Enter 2024, and everyone and their mother is telling you to get more protein, but you want to spice up your life. Millennials are now aware of getting older and began reading about the Blue Zones. I see this as a type of revival of their Gen X and Baby Boomer parents’ obsession with the Mediterranean diet. Focusing on a light meat diet, and seafood as more of their protein of choice.
Many times, Mediterranean was shorthand for Italian, but there has been a renewed interest in Spanish food, potentially driven by Millennials flocking to Spain. Now, most American cities have not only generic Spanish food, but regional Spanish foods, with Basque food growing in popularity (Ernesto’s and El Pingüino in NY and Porto in Chicago is 🤌). The confluence of protein, nostalgia for student life, and a general uptick in Spanish cuisine has made Millennials seek out these products with new fervor. Fishwife is now just a more hip way to consume tinned fish and show you’re in the know of the latest American craze.
is canned fish healthy?
Everything in moderation darling, but canned fish can certainly be a mainstay in your diet. That being said, depending on the type of canned seafood, you may want to watch how often you eat it. Canned albacore tuna on average has 0.271 parts per million mercury per 100g. Considering the FDA sets a maximum safe dose of mercury per day at 0.1 microgram per kg of bodyweight, you should consider eating a maximum of one serving per week. Tuna is higher up in the food chain, eating smaller fish as they swim along. Trace amounts of mercury in these sardines, anchovies and such add up over the lifespan of a tuna, then the tuna microbiome converts the mercury to methylmercury which stays stubbornly long in the fish. On the other end of the spectrum, small fish like kippers (smoked herring) and sardines have less than 20% the amount of mercury and are able to be consumed much more frequently. Check out the levels of some of my favorites below:
Canned SeafoodMercury Level (ppm/100g)Protein (g/100g)FDA RecommendationAlbacore Tuna 0.271 23.6Max. one serving weeklyMackerel 0.059 23.23 servings weeklyKippers 0.057 24.33 servings weeklyAnchovies 0.036 28.83 servings weeklyOysters 0.014 73+ servings weeklySardines 0.015 25.33+ servings weekly
polymorv tinned seafood recipes
Let’s get off this nutrition kick and talk about food. I love eating canned seafood for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I’m very happy that there is growing acceptance of both consumers to eat and grocery stores stocking these items. Honestly, I didn’t think there was a limit to how much I was willing to eat until finding the FDA recommendations above, but…
So let me hit you with some of my favorite ways to eat seafood with my friends.
sardine oatmeal congee
This is one of my favorite breakfasts when I don’t want to think too hard and want something savory in the morning (which is almost always). It’s ten minutes from start to finish:
1 cup of oatmeal
2.5 cup water or broth
2 tbsp dark miso
2 cloves of garlic
Juice of half a lemon
1 can of sardines
salt and black pepper to taste
Add oatmeal and water to a pot and heat. Once boiling, set to a simmer and add in garlic, miso, salt, pepper and any other spices you’re feeling. Let simmer for about 8 minutes. Cut the heat and add lemon juice and stir in the drained sardines. Eat too much of it.
tostada de boquerones
I know these aren’t always canned fish, but sometimes you’ll find white anchovies (or boquerones) at a specialty market. If I need a little afternoon pick me up, I’m reaching for this plate:
2 pieces of white bread
vinegar (like sherry vinegar or something astringent)
olive oil (preferably a finishing oil like Oro del Desierto)
salt and pepper
Keeping it simple again: toast the bread, drench with olive oil and sherry vinegar. Place enough of the boquerones so that they cover the toast and add salt and pepper. This will change your life.