SARDINES

I tend to keep a can or two of sardines on hand, the ones from North Africa packed in a vicious pepper sauce with a little slice of carrot. I don’t keep them to serve to guests or to my child. I eat them alone, when the mood strikes and the belly aches, standing at the counter in the kitchen with a stack of crackers rising beside the open can. Sometimes I’ll get carried away and thinly slice a Bermuda onion as well, adding a splash of lemon juice to the little pile.

A hundred years ago the Norwegians invented the sardine can that comes with metal lip and key. Every time I fight one of these cans open, hoping I don’t flip olive oil onto my shirt, or worse, slip and open up my finger on the sharp, curled-back metal edge of the lid, I threaten to learn to curse in Norwegian. But I never do.

My private affair with sardines began more than 20 years ago. I was in Europe and wanted to go to West Africa and I made something of a politically naive miscalculation by taking a cheap boat from Portugal to Angola, thinking I could simply hitchhike north up the red-line highways on the Michelin map. It seemed odd that the ship on which I sailed was half-filled with Portuguese soldiers. Upon arrival in Luanda, Angola, I discovered there was a war going on. Not only that, none of the African nations surrounding Angola, save Southwest Africa, had an open border. I have yet to visit West Africa. But I have seen South Africa. And I learned of the pleasant surprise awaiting the hungry traveler within each can of highly spiced sardines.

The Portuguese in Angola packed sardines with piri-piri sauce, a fiery vinegar, oil, tomato and chile pepper blend that was also available in small bowls on taverna tables for dipping fresh prawns. I bought cans of sardines and small rounds of fresh bread in Luanda against the capriciousness of the unfamiliar road south, and I often had the opportunity to thank myself for such foresight. The meals I shared with myself at the edge of the highway, waiting for a car or truck willing to stop and pick me up, no doubt established the habit I have with sardines today, of snacking alone while standing in the kitchen and musing to myself about the nature and direction of my life.

I remember one such roadside repast in particular, if only for its being rudely interrupted. I was sitting beside the highway that runs through Southwest Africa. My ride thus far had turned south for Cape Town. I sat beside the spur of the road headed east, for Johannesburg. It was Sunday and it was hot. The desert landscape was rugged and barren with horizons too far distant to be considered, much like vistas in the American Southwest, a gorgeous, spiritually invigorating emptiness. I was truly alone.

I opened a can of sardines, drained the oil into the dust and broke off a piece of hardening bread. I noticed the sun flash on the windshield of a car in the far distance. With the incredible speeds at which South Africans drove, I doubted I would have time to finish my little meal without having to stand up with outstretched thumb and, if luck were with me, quickly jump into a car for parts unknown.

The car that pulled up was the South African version of the Highway Patrol. Two white officers emerged, all crisp uniforms and sunglasses. They wanted to see my passport, which they studied with great care before returning. They wanted to know where I was going, which I told them. They wondered what I was eating, and I offered my half-finished can of sardines for inspection. They didn’t seem impressed with my poor man’s fare. They pointed out that it was the Sabbath. They told me to put on my shirt, which I did. And then they left me there at the side of the road to finish my sardines and ponder God’s great creation and my place in it in more respectful attire.

The sardines I bought in Angola had been caught not far offshore. Sardines are among the most abundant commercial fish in the world, traveling in schools that can stretch for miles in all the seas of the world save those frigid waters of the Arctic and Antarctic.

The word sardine is something of a generic, often meaning various small members of the herring family. Sardines caught and packed on the Atlantic coast of the United States and Canada tend to be Atlantic herring, Clupea herengus herengus , which live in the open ocean between Greenland and North Carolina. The Norwegians can members of the sprat family, C. sprattus , selling them as brisling sardines. The sardines of Sardinia, where it is said that the canning of the fish first began, are a Mediterranean fish in the pilchard family, Sardinia pilchardus.

Sardines vary in size, from four to 38 fish per can. The largest of the fish sold as sardines are cut crosswise and marketed as “fish steaks.” Whether whole fish or cross-cut steak, they are universally laid in the can by hand, for in all the years that sardines have been caught and canned, no machine has been invented to do it better.

Canned sardines are not raw, but cooked, first as they enter the packing line, then again in sealed cans in convection ovens. A quick scan of the grocery store shelf will reveal the many packing styles of sardines. They can be found in soybean oil, olive oil and water (some Norwegian sardines are packed in sild , which is fish oil, an acquired taste); in tomato sauce, Louisiana hot sauce, Cajun sauce, North African pepper sauce and mustard. Sardines can be purchased with or without skin and bones. Kippered sardines have been lightly smoked with oak. The French pack sardines that have been aged, like wine.

If paying close attention to my diet had been my intention 20 years ago on the road in Africa, I could not have done any better than packing my bag with cans of sardines. One can provides 40% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of protein. The cold water varieties (brisling for sure, as well as the sardines packed in Canada and New England) are rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Depending on how it is packed, one can has up to 5.5 grams of omega-3, more than a similar portion of trout or salmon. Sardines, packed bones and all, provide 40% of the RDA of calcium for children and adults. One can contains 100% of the RDA for Vitamin D, without which calcium isn’t absorbed. Vitamins B, B2 and B12 are also found in respectable quantities. As for minerals, sardines contain significant amounts of phosphorous, fluoride, magnesium, zinc and potassium; they match levels of iron with almost any meat on the market. One hundred grams of sardines packed in soybean oil yield 235 to 260 calories.

There used to be a Pacific sardine fishery. Such were the canneries of Cannery Row in the Steinbeck novel. Most of those old canneries have closed down and been refitted to house boutiques, restaurants and tourist shops. The Pacific sardine, Sardinops sagax , the harvest of which peaked in 1936-1937 season at 726,124 tons, had all but disappeared by 1967 when a moratorium on the fishery in California waters was enforced. In 1986 the sardine population had grown enough that the California Department of Fish and Game permitted a catch of 1,000 tons a year. From 1985 to 1990, the quota stood there, but in 1991 it was increased to 10,000. And for this year, it has climbed to 25,000 tons. The harvest is measured from Jan. 1, until the quota is filled. Then the season stops. According to the Department of Fish and Game, the harvest is now at about the halfway point.

The majority of the fleet that fishes sardines in California sails out of San Pedro, and since the canning industry is virtually dead, fresh sardines are frequently available in California fish markets. Crack open any Mediterranean cookbook and a whole world of sardine flavors beyond those found in the canned product becomes available.

Should I ever decide to enjoy sardines in a way less private than is my norm, there are respectable recipes that call for the odd can of sardines. They can be doctored into a pate, as per Madeleine Kamman, or served as English tea sandwiches, in the style of Claudia Roden. Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukens have an Italian pasta sauce recipe that uses canned sardines in place of the fresh product usually called for.

PATE DE SARDINES AUX CAPRES (From “In Madeleine’s Kitchen” by Madeleine Kamman)

3 (4 1/2-ounce) cans sardines, preferably canned in olive oil, skinned and boneless, drained

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

Freshly ground pepper

Salt

Lemon juice

Garlic Melba rounds

1/4 cup tiny capers packed in brine, well-drained

Remove any extra skin and bones from sardines. Place sardines in food processor container.

Add butter and pepper to taste. Process until smooth. Strain. Season to taste with salt and lemon juice. Pack into 2-cup earthenware container.

Serve on very dry garlic Melba rounds and top with few tiny capers. Makes 12 to 15 servings.

Each serving contains about:

184 calories; 112 mg sodium; 21 mg cholesterol; 18 grams fat; 1 gram carbohydrates; 5 grams protein; 0.00 gram fiber; 89% calories from fat.

ENGLISH TEA SANDWICHES (From “Everything Tastes Better Outdoors” by Claudia Roden)

Canned sardines

Salt, pepper

Lemon juice

Cream cheese (or mixture of cottage cheese and sour cream), optional

Thin slices white bread, crusts removed

Chopped parsley or watercress

Bone and mash canned sardines. Season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Or beat in cream cheese or mixture of cottage cheese and sour cream until desired consistency.

Serve on white bread slices. Garnish with chopped parsley or watercress.

PASTA WITH FRESH FENNEL AND SARDINES (From “The New Basics Cookbook” by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukens)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 onion, cut julienne

1 fennel bulb, cut julienne

12 ounces spaghetti

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

2 (4 1/2-ounce) cans sardines, drained and cut julienne

2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

Heat olive oil in large skillet and saute onion and fennel over low heat until tender, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring large pot of water to boil. Add pasta and cook at rolling boil just until tender.

Add raisins and pine nuts to skillet and cook 5 minutes.

Remove skillet from heat, add sardines and parsley and toss gently. Serve immediately over drained hot spaghetti. Makes 6 servings.

Note: Do not serve with grated cheese.

Each serving contains about:

593 calories; 60 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 33 grams fat; 58 grams carbohydrates; 19 grams protein; 0.55 gram fiber; 51% calories from fat.