Tinned oily fish

[Pleasenomoreglitter]

Hi, I’m looking for ideas from people who eat tinned oily fish such as mackerel and sardines on what to do with them. I’ve bought some mackerel in spicy tomato sauce but realised I’m not actually sure how to serve it! I’ve seen people talk about having these / sardines on toast, but do you eat them cold from the tin spread on the toast or are you supposed to heat them up? Tuna I’d usually eat cold mixed with mayonnaise and sometimes use it in pasta sauce. So I feel a bit daft not knowing how to eat other tinned fish but it was never eaten in my house growing up so I have no reference point!

Not everyone here can afford to spend vast sums on food they and their household might not like.

I tend to eat mackerel in tomato sauce with just a slice or two of bread and butter.

On toast I would make the toast, add the fish and then heat under the grill.

Tuna can be used to make fish cakes, pasta bake or tacos. Also with mayo as a sandwich (with sweet corn if it was me) or in a baked potato.

You can use tinned fish to make pâté, blitz the fish with crème fraiche, teaspoon of mustard, salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon.

Put them in omelettes or on pizza.

Yes to this. Slow roasted lamb shoulder with anchovies and capers is fabulous but a rare treat for me. Lamb is so expensive I hardly have it outside of easter.

Its hugely patronising

I think most people, possibly that poster dont even understand what oily fish is, mentioning tuna was a giveaway (in its canned form)

A lot of tinned oily fish is the same fish and people dont realise.

Herrings, sprats, whitebait and kippers, all the same fish.

Pilchards, sardines - same fish

Salmon, different fish.

Trout, different fish (I cant stand it), still an oily fish but not really found easily or cheaply in the supermarket in a tin.

Anchovies, different fish

Mackerel, different fish

Eel, yuk, never seen it in tins but you can buy it in a pot, not often

So the vast array of 'foodstuffs' are pretty much samey and in any case, theres nothing wrong with that. Most of these have been mentioned in the recipes cited here.

@soupyspoon good post. Just to say that I love eel when it's cooked japanese style - grilled - with teriyaki sauce - it's absolutely delicious. Otherwise it's a hard no.

Also trout - I like it and my husband can't stand it. I really can't see why as it tastes just like oily fish to me....

It tastes like mud to me, no matter how much Ive tried it, I just cant like it. Beetroot is the same, a muddy flavour. I only eat beetroot when its smothered in vinegar!!!

Spicy mackerel with extra hot sauce mixed in, on an open toasted bagel smothered in cream cheese.

Or on top of a baked sweet potato, again with cream cheese. 2 of my favourite lazy lunches.

I like mackerel because of the lack of bones. I will eat bones in other fish but not really enjoy it.

Yes there's lots of other tinned fish options but if you just want to grab at the supermarket then you will be more limited.

Fancy brands do tend to taste much better but some of the basic ones are pretty decent.

Theres something about oily fish that goes really well with cream cheese, a great combination

Inspired by this thread I’m having sardines on rye toast with salad for lunch.

I'm having sardines on sourdough with lettuce and tomato. Lush.

I hadn't thought about it in pasta before - I'm not a big fan of pasta but fish would improve it.

Absolutely agree with this!

How interesting. I like smoked trout fillets (not from a tin) and I often have one with potato salad made with boiled or steamed baby potatoes, horseradish sauce, mayonnaise, salt, pepper, chopped chives and/or spring onions and a squeeze of lemon juice. The other obvious accompaniment for me is cooked beetroot in some form or a green salad with shreds of raw beetroot. All the earthy flavours together!

I also sometimes cook trout fillets very simply in a foil packet in the oven and serve with baby potatoes, cauliflower cheese and green beans. This is because we were once served this exact meal in a remote hotel in the Highlands on a very cold day in March after we'd visited some local brochs covered in snow. Very positive associations. Lots of my food preferences are tied up with memories of past meals.

’Still amazed’ that the vast majority of people eat the foods that are healthy, delicious, abundantly and conveniently available, and very affordable rather than ordering gourmet variants from expensive, niche, specialist online retailers? Your threshold for amazement is really very low, then, isn’t it?

The tinned oily fish on your preferred website starts at £4.95 per tin, and looking at the options beyond mackerel and sardines I can see that most of the other fish species they stock are more expensive than that. £8.95 for tinned trout, for example. Most people don’t have that sort of budget. If you’re ’amazed’ that most people are popping to Tesco Metro for a tin of pilchards rather than placing an order to a specialist delivery company for a tin of trout for £9, you are astonishingly naive.

Obsessing over tinned fish isn’t a personality, you know.

Oh god me too, sounds very simple but one of the best meals I ever had was poached salmon, hollandaise and new potatoes and green beans. In a pub, on a scorching day in the garden. I swear that meal was one of the best Ive ever had.

Oh and now you have reminded me about being in cold Scotland and various bowls of Cullen Skink, gorgeous.

I season slow cooker lamb stew with tinned anchovies and it’s lovely. The anchovies melt down and make it taste really rich and savoury 🤤

I love Cullen Skink. Currently staying with my 93yo Mum, who can't cook any more and also can't leave the house. I may knock up a bowl of CS for us as she used to love that when out for lunch.

I mash the mackerel fillets in tomato sauce up and spread it on toast

See also, kedgeree. Phwoar!

These dishes all sound wonderful. I know how good oily fish is for you but I have just never found a way to tolerate the taste and smell.

I love kedgeree. Rice, butter, onions, curry powder, some form of fish (smoked haddock for preference), lemon juice, parsley. I add mushrooms and peas. Another one to add to the list to have in the near future.

I found peppered mackerel fillets were my gateway drug into oily fish. They are just delicious and not 'too' fishy.

One thing I have found is that if I use tinned anchovies as a flavour enhancer rather than as an obvious part of a dish then the philistines who live with me have a better chance of being fooled into eating it.

Blitzed into tapenade is a go-to here, as is this dish: https://www.theguardian.com/food/article/2024/jun/03/anchovy-spiked-roast-chicken-moorish-chickpea-and-watercress-salad-recipe-jose-pizarro

I make a lot of sardine pâté too - sardines in tomato sauce, semi-drained, with red pepper paste (or roast red pepper) added before blitzing it. Mackerel pâté tends to work better with cream cheese but that gives me the shits.

I love anchovies but sadly nobody else in the house does. I agree they can be hidden. My husband is unaware that they are in tapenade (win) and I also mash them up and use them in a recipe for stuffed aubergines I have from a charity cookbook from the 1980s, supplied to them by Yehudi Menuhin no less. I don't have it to hand at the moment, but from memory you halve the aubergines, criss cross the flesh and carefully remove it without cutting the skin, dice it and fry it in olive oil with chopped onion and garlic and sliced mushrooms. Mix in breadcrumbs, chopped herbs, ground pepper, mashed anchovies, tomato puree, sliced or chopped pitted olives, grated Gruyere (Parmesan would work well too, so would lots of other cheese), capers and chopped tomatoes (skinned if fresh, but I would probably just drain some tinned chopped tomatoes). Pile mixture into aubergine skins and put some more cheese on top. Bake until skins are soft. Yummy.

I like corn crackers or some nice bread, spread with cream cheese, oily fish and some thin slices of cucumber on top. Really nice lunch. Dd2 likes spaghetti with sardines and a tiny bit of cream cheese or creme fraiche stired through.