Anchovies

I like canned fish. I don’t why, but I do. And this helps when trying to add more fish to my diet. Whenever I see something new—or some new brand—I haven’t tried, I usually do a quick evaluation then pick it up. As long as it’s not canned squid or octopus, I’m usually down to try it. Squid and octopus are better battered and fried. So yesterday I saw a new brand of canned anchovy on the shelves of my local store.

Yankee Clipper makes a decent canned sardine so I figured their canned anchovies can’t be too bad. I had no idea what “rolled fillets” meant as I’ve never seen it on canned fish before. Canned seafood always seems to have a country of origin printed somewhere on the packaging or the can. They also tell you whether they were wild or farm raised, and usually mention if color has been added of if the fish were ever frozen. I guess they’ve got a few more rules than everyone else to have to always list these sorts of things.

These anchovies came from Morocco and are wild caught. I guess I wasn’t paying attention to the “rolled” part or even looked at the ingredients, because when I opened the can I was a little surprised by what I saw.

I know you see those green dots. I did too. Those are capers, and they are only referenced in the fine print. I’ve never had anchovies rolled in capers, nor seen them. So I guess I should at least smell them first. They didn’t smell like any anchovy I’ve had before, and there’s no fishy smell. Hmm. So I picked one up and took a bite. They don’t taste like any anchovies I’ve ever had. Much mellower in flavor, but I can tell the salt level is much higher than other brands. Still it’s pretty good. I would buy these again, and even recommend them to people who like fish, but think anchovies are disgusting.

I found another can of fish on my journey yesterday, but those are canned sardines from Pakistan. And they are packed in a can that looks like a small tomato paste can. I may have to try those tomorrow. Anyway, get more fish in your diet, it’s supposedly good for you. That is, until a study comes along after this Gulf thing and shows us we should stop eating fish completely.