Canned Seafood

The most sustainable and one of the most delicious ways to eat fish

Two hundred years after Joseph Colin packed the first sardines into metal cans, in Nantes, France, in 1822, we still pack fish in cans in almost exactly the same way. 

Colin’s breakthrough was pure genius. Canning made fish portable, convenient and clean. The French and then the Portugese muscled in to the market and created major canning fish industries, in the process laying waste to the salt fish factories that had preserved fish for centuries.

Today, when it seems that 83% of Irish people take vacations in Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve, we get the chance to see up close how the Portugese see canned fish as part of their culture, their heritage, and their history. They celebrate it in museums, they celebrate it in specialist shops. It’s a part of their tourism industry. They know what they are talking about.

The process works by putting the marine ecotone in a can - it captures the fish in its terroir at the height of its season. It’s extremely nutritious and has minimal waste. Canning is just about the most sustainable way to eat fish. After processing, the fish doesn’t need the energy of refrigeration, no light gets in, it’s light to transport, fully recyclable, and makes use of smaller fish.

Canning fish is not just about anchovies, sardines and tuna however, the standard offering from international brands we find in every supermarket. Canning offers a huge diversity of fish and shellfish with lots of queer gear, like monkfish liver, and hake cocochas, a delicacy from underneath the fish’s chin.

Everything you need to know about preserved fish & seafood

Anchovies

“Anchovy crumbs are the business and, once made, usually become a habit.” Rachel Roddy

Anchovies come canned, salted, pickled and hot smoked. They are often the hidden ingredient in many delicious recipes including ragout, pissaladière, Piedmontese peppers, Jansson’s Temptation. Anchovy is also the basis of many of the great dressings: Green Goddess, Salsa Verde, Anchoïade, Bagna Cauda, Caesar Salad, Pasta Puttanesca.

TRY:

• anchovies draped over roast tomatoes with olive oil

• anchovies served in a shallow bowl with just a smother of best virgin olive oil, some microplaned lemon zest and some grilled bread

• anchovy and rosemary are a dreamy duo. Try studded into roast lamb or make into a butter with chopped rosemary to flavour monkfish wrapped in bacon.

The Gilda - The famous Basque pintxo is having its moment in the sun, with Irish restaurants like Frae, La Gordita, Uno Mas and Row Wines all offering their version of the dish.

Technically a gilda should include manzanilla green olive; guindilla, piparra chilli pepper; and an anchovy. We also add a pickled gherkin. Some recipes use salted anchovies or boquerón (the white pickled anchovy), some add cheese, or a boiled quail’s egg, and always an extra drizzle of virgin olive oil.

Food nerds know that it was invented in San Sebastian, and named after the movie starring the actress Rita Hayworth.

To make it properly, the ingredients need to be intertwined. Start with the gherkin, then the tip of the anchovy, then the olive, another fold of anchovy, the chilli and finally secure with the anchovy. Some people simply fold the anchovy in two, but they will never enter the temple of Gilda Heaven.

Ways to serve canned prime and oily fish

Smoked Trout - Freshwater farmed trout is rated as a “best choice” by the Marine Conservation Society. It’s also low in mercury, and high in nutrients. Goatsbridge from County Kilkenny now sell their smoked trout in tins, alongside their luxurious trout caviar. Smoked trout pairs well with avocado, and makes for the fastest, most convenient lunch.

Mackerel Melt - Mackerel holds its structure well, so you can use it in salads, try it on an open-faced sandwich - what about a mackerel melt! And its great flavour makes it a perfect ingredient in a fishcake. 

Salade Lyonnaise - is a simple salad that combines bitter greens (traditionally frisée lettuce) with just cooked poached eggs and a lemon, garlic, mustard vinaigrette. Alex Jackson, author of Provençal, and Head Chef at Noble Rot, serves Salade Lyonnaise with eel (canned eel is available from Eat More Fish, though it’s pricey) and Lough Neagh eel is well distributed. (Smoked eel is also available from Burren Smokehouse and Frank Hederman). Try your Salade Lyonnaise with tinned mackerel.

Sardines

The tinned fish that most people eat – sardines are part of her herring family. There are actually a number of species of fish that call themselves sardines, and all are wild fish. This is a very versatile ingredient, going well with so many things - in an omelette, on a bagel, in pasta, on toast or in a sandwich: they taste good in everything. Look out for Sardines in Xoubas Sauce, these are a small variety of fish, preserved with peppers and vegetables. An instant meal.

The ultimate picnic food - crusty bread and sardines straight from the tin is all you need, though you can add some pickled veg on the side. Sprinkle with some flaked Achill Island or Dingle sea salt, a wallet of which you just happen to have in your handbag, of course.

Pasta con Sarde - Rachel Roddy’s anchovy crumbs are a natural match for her recipe for fusilli, fennel, lemon, and sardines from the brilliant An A-Z of Pasta.

Tuna

Tuna Kedgeree -

“Canned tuna makes a much finer sauce when you do not cook it,” commands the imperious Marcella Hazan in her book, Marcella’s Italian Kitchen.

Not cooking is the rule for tinned tuna, whether you are making a tuna and tomato sauce, or using the can to create something fabulous in a kedgeree. Make your kedgeree as normal, with onion, grated ginger, curry powder, parsley, lemon zest, and cooked rice. Garnish with boiled egg, but then instead of adding smoked haddock try some flaked canned tuna added at the very end. Don’t cook the tuna! Just turn it over with the warm rice.

Salade Niçoise -

“How my heart sinks when salade niçoise is served with fresh tuna. Chunks of seared tuna may share their tinned counterpart’s affinity for egg, capers, green beans and potatoes, but they lack the flaky, messy texture that is essential if the fish is to meld with the dressing and loose crumbs of egg yolk and infiltrate the entire salad, as opposed to sitting haughtily on top of it”.

Niki Segnit, The Flavour Thesaurus

Tuna Pizza - Yes, Tonno e Cipolla is a thing. A pizza topped with tuna and red or white onion. Popular in the home of pizza.

Coronation Tuna Sandwich - an idea from Hapi Bakery, and available at the funky Plamas, in Galway. You can buy Coronation Mayo or make your own from recipe here, serve with crispy lettuce in a soft roll.

Shellfish

TRY:

• canned crab mac’n’cheese

• spaghetti in marinara sauce with clams, or cockles (see below)

• mussel and potato salad

• Vermout party with smoked oysters, squid and calamari. Make sure to add crisps and El Espinaler sauce (and if you can’t find it, Anna Cabrera and Vanessa Murphy have a recipe in their book, Tapas).

• If you’re using canned cockles, make sure to save the liquid for your El Espinaler sauce (see Vermout party above)

• canned razor clams sautéed in garlic butter

Vermút Party - There are many reasons to buy Tapas by Anna Cabrera and Vanessa Murphy and almost chief amongst them is their description of the Vermút party. Glasses of vermouth, served with fishy nibbles. The weekend starts here.

“The most important part is the food that accompanies this tradition [of enjoying Vermouth]. This mainly comes in the form of conservas (tinned and preserved shellfish) served with a bag of salted crisps and olives stuffed with anchovies.”

Anna Cabrera and Vanessa Murphy, Tapas

Paella with canned shellfish - Mark Bittman’s Master Recipe for Paella in the New York Times brings together seasonings, onions, pepper, and optional “meat” such as chicken or chorizo into which you cook the rice:liquid ratio at 2:3.5. At the very end of cooking, you can add your canned seafood: mussels, squid, clams, lobster etc - and they come straight from your cupboard.

Canned Curiosities

Monkfish liver A part of the fish that is usually criminally discarded. It’s a creamy, nutricious luxury. Serve on toasts garnished with chives and crushed pink peppercorns.

Cocochcas de Merluza - a rare treat. Often described as cheeks, although it is actually from underneath the fish’s chin, and best served simply with a green sauce made from parsley, olive oil and salt.

Tarama Another fish roe paté that has its devotees the world over. A good version is available from Eat More Fish, but it’s quite easy to make when smoked cod roe is in season.

Bottarga is the salted, cured roe of grey mullet and is a delicacy that is grated over starches or grains or vegetables. You can also slice it paper thin, and season with soy and lemon, and a splash of oil. Once discovered… You can buy preserved bottarga from Eat More Fish.

Ensalada de Algas In Ireland we tend to dry seaweed to preserve it. This is not the case in the rest of Europe where preserves of Haricot de Mer are eaten frais or in jars. Canned seaweed salad can be added to pasta dishes and casseroles (meat, chicken, and veg all benefit from the umami hint). It’s a vegan source of Vit B12.

Calamari Ink Use in your home-made bread (thank you Kevin Thornton for that idea) or your home-made pasta. If you use in pasta, expect all your guests to get black lips after eating.

Buying guide

Sheridan’s Cheesemongers sell the Arzuro brand which includes olive oil and olives as well as excellent tinned fish.

Eat More Fish - support a huge collection of fish tins. A great place to discover the richness of this craft. And all delivered swiftly to your home.

A Taste of Spain - top of the range gourmet tins of all types. Plan your next Vermut Party here.

Vera Foods - supply many of Ireland’s leading restaurants, and you can also catch them at the Saturday Kilruddery Market and Sunday Macreddin Market, as well as online.

Shines Seafood - Progressive producer of canned and jarred fish from Ireland. So good, they make gifts and hampers out of their produce. Make sure to always have a selection in your larder.

Goatsbridge Trout - much-loved Kilkenny producers of all things trout. The go-to seafood product for many a restaurant kitchen, and widely available in Supermarkets countrywide.