Patience is appreciated in the culinary arts, but fresh fish tends to be prized amongst seafood. While you may pair grilled fish caught hours earlier with vintage cheese and wine, others like to wait a little longer for their seafood to catch up in age. For the most flavorful canned sardines, give them time to reach their true potential.
In some respects, canned sardines are a necessity meal, eaten when a fresher protein source isn’t available. However, it can also be a prized dish that enthusiasts wait years for before sinking their teeth into. The sardines take on a richer flavor as time goes on, allowing their natural taste and the notes of the canning oil to enhance it. The extended aging period also gives the fish a more tender, velvety texture. There’s no exact period for how long canned sardines should be aged — some people eat them after 12 months, while others wait 10 years or longer for the fish’s taste to intensify further.
There’s no special magic to aging sardines, either. Once the fish is tinned, they’re left alone in order for nature to take its course. However, some people do flip the container periodically to ensure the oil fully covers every inch of the sardines. Others store the cans at high temperatures as a way to speed up aging, but this can decrease the quality of the fish instead of prompting it to age gracefully.
Here’s how to enjoy aged canned sardines
Before you continue ignoring that dusty tin of sardines in your pantry in hopes of a better result, know that not all of them age equally. Fish preservers use sardines caught in-season at their plumpest state in order to retain their fattiness. The sardines are then packed in extra virgin olive oil with a limited amount of salt that won’t mask their taste. If you have quality sardines at home, let them sit for a few months to amplify their taste.
Tinned sardines typically last longer than the expiration date, but it’s important to look out for signs the canned food has gone bad if you plan on aging it. If there’s oil leaking out of the can, bulges or dents in the container, or cracks and holes where air may enter through, it’s best to toss it out. To keep the sardines past the shelf date, store them in a cool, dry place away from sunlight.
Once the aging is complete, enjoy the enhanced seafood. To really take in the flavors of the vintage fish, eat it first on a plain cracker or by itself. From there, you try all the usual methods people take to elevate canned sardines. The fish tastes delicious mashed onto a piece of crusty sourdough or baguette with a sprinkle of parsley, basil, and thyme, or paired with hearty ingredients in a colorful Niçoise salad.
