Similarly to tuna, they come packed in either spring water or oil that’s sometimes flavored with things like lemon or peppers, and even smoked. Just like my sparkling water, I always go for unflavored, and prefer oil-packed to spring water. In almost every instance, the heads are removed, leaving the spines and tails intact: I eat both. The bones are very delicate, but I actually like their texture. Plus, someone on NPR told me that they contain a lot of calcium.
Regardless of how you’re going to consume them — for me, sometimes it’s just out of the tin on heavily buttered crackers, with a plate of pickles and mustards — there are a few good rules for how to best enjoy them. Sardines, very oily little fish, really love a lot of acid. It is hard to beat fresh lemon juice squeezed over them, but a vinegar — white wine, rice wine or white distilled — is also good. To give you a sense of how much to use, I often douse them in my choice of acid, almost as if I were treating them like escabeche.
Despite their rich, fatty description, sardines also, perhaps counterintuitively, love more fat, which helps mellow out their flavor, so don’t hold back on the olive oil (meaning, when you think you’ve added enough, add a bit more). Or consider eating them with mayonnaise, aioli, softened butter or jammy eggs. This should go without saying, but they also love lots of fresh herbs and thinly sliced onions, scallions or chives.
If you’re not sure that you’re ready to commit to a full plate of sardines, I get it. (For most, it’s better to wade out than jump in.) They’re easy enough to eat alongside dishes you’re already making, taking little bites here and there. I love opening a tin and nibbling them next to an oversize plate of waxy potatoes, boiled, crushed and tossed with lots of lemon juice, fresh herbs (whatever you can get your hands on, really, but yeah, dill), scallions, spring onions or chives, and lots and lots of celery. (I am obsessed with celery, and I want you to share my enthusiasm.) The recipe here was originally published in my second cookbook, “Nothing Fancy,” but it felt right to excerpt it now given that it’s made from very basic ingredients and is one of my favorite ways to eat, and introduce others to, the magic of sardines.