Sardines!

I've never tried them before either. The only sardines I've ever seen are the tinned ones. Tinned fish, in general, is a huge turnoff for me. But I know people who eat (tinned) sardines and crackers with *blech* ketchup. Not sure what fresh sardines would do for me.

Fresh sardines from the grill are wonderful. Not "fishy" at all. The trick is to find them as sometimes the supermarkets will sell some that aren't so fresh. If you're in Manhattan, Citarella on the upper west side carries them sometimes.

I love all tinned sardines packed in olive oil. Not so keen on any fish in tomato sauce or mustard. The smaller the fish, the healthiest it is. Fresh ones are better, yet they're usually different genus... the term sardine often just implies it's a small fish.

If you want to try them, Costco has canned Season’s sardines. They are boneless, skinless and packed in oil. They’re good on pizza, or with Italian food, like on top of spaghetti. Good for you too.

R2 how do you eat them? Do you have to pick out any bones?

R4- That's the brand I buy. I get them at Costco-12 pack. I squeeze lemon juice on them and dip them in Italian Ketchup with truffles that I bought at Trader Joe's.

Mom made them in yellow rice, like you would do rice and beans or arroz con pollo. I hated them, but liked the little crunchy bones.

IMO, the Season brand sardines from Costco aren't that great (not bad, though). I, too, would like to find a good brand of canned sardines.

New York Magazine once recommended a brand of Sardines but it was MIGHTY expensive.

I like to melt down the canned ones in some olive oil in a skillet, and then mix in some cooked linguine or angel hair pasta with some more olive oil and spritz of lemon--great comfort food dish on a rainy or chilly night.

Also love smelts, frying them up coated with flour and serve with a big bunch of sauteed broccoli rabe, and lemon spritz also: Yum.

My mom craved sardines and pickled herring throughout my time in the womb. Now I'm gay and I hate seafood. Any correlation???

R10 -- fly to me!

I take the sardines...and I leave the receiver.

As a snack I love sardines in olive oil on a saltine cracker. Sometimes I add a Schmeer of mustard or butter on the cracker

In the Lisbon airport they have a whole shop devoted to canned seafood! In lovely packaging!!!

I grew up with sardines, mostly tinned or crated but sometimes fresh. Yes, the fresh ones usually look a little different, because mostly the fresh ones are a different species from the North Atlantic and the preserved ones are the "true" European sardines, mostly from Spanish or Portuguese sources now. Sardines are, indeed, just immature pilchards or even herring - hard to tell the difference. A lot come from SE Asian sources now.

Anyway, the story always is to avoid tomato or mustard varieties because they are the ones that can't stand on their own merits. Meaning they used to be the ones that were "over." I'm sure that's changed. Sardines were always in our house, on bread in sandwiches mainly. My mother would grill or fry the fresh ones. They were German and to them it was all the same - white fish or oily fish like they had from the North Sea or, rarely, the Mediterranean and Atlantic.

Same with anchovies.

Sardines are the national food of Portugal!

R17 they're up there, but codfish and rotisserie chicken are way more popular. sardines are heavily popular in the summer. and although codfish is more popular for christmas eve dinner, it's often eaten in many other dishes throughout the year. and chicken, especially rotisserie chicken is just the most accessible food ever. go to a big chain supermarket or a grill house restaurant and you can get a whole rotisserie chicken for pretty cheap. i'm not fond of sardines, because i don't care for the flavor of fish, but the smell of them being grilled is actually pretty good. they can be eaten just by themselves, if they're small enough, people will literally eat everything except the tail. but for a meal they're usually accompanied by red bean rice

Sardines on toast.

Sardines are quite tasty. King Oscar bristling sardines are the best. They leave the tail on, but they are delicious!

R18, i was scratching my head over the popularity of chicken here in Portugal until i got that you mean frango de churrasco.

R20- As per your recommendation last night I ordered a 12 pack of King Oscar Sardines in Olive oil on Amazon.

Love fresh sardines pan fried in butter. I've never tried the little tinned sardines but I have a friend who loves them on saltines with a little hot sauce.

I'm having Sardines for lunch today. Season Sardines packed in Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I squeeze lemon juice on them and dip them in Italian Ketchup with truffles.

here's how you do sardines Sicilian style

Had them in Portugal 🤮🤮🤮🤮 Never again!

I love them.

Sardines on toast for a quick and delicious lunch. Never with tomato sauce, though.

OP, I always wanted to incorporate sardines into my diet because they are such nutritional powerhouses. One day I came across this recipe, itis one of the best sandwich recipes I have ever tried. So delicious!

I like sardines, usually the Season brand in olive oil, but Trader Joe's own are pretty good too.

I mix it with Dijon mustard and just have it over a salad.