What the heck is a tin fish?

Is this a fish made out of tin? A decoration? A Yard Thing? I heard this expression on a news cast the other morning that was talking about what I thought was health. (?) So I perked up and started paying attention but I guess I had missed the pertinent stuff already.

This led me to have to do a web-search.

The answer was quick and concise:

Tin fish refers to seafood that is preserved and packaged in metal cans, commonly including varieties like tuna, sardines, and mackerel. This method of preservation allows for long shelf life and convenience in cooking and meal preparation.

OH!! Well duh. I should have known.

Sardines with sweet piquillo peppers. Albacore tuna with Spanish lemon. Trout in curry sauce. From restaurant menus to TikTok reels and subreddits, tinned fish are seemingly everywhere these days, and the wide array of flavors and varieties now available across the country go far beyond the canned tuna and anchovies you might be used to from times past.

Tinned fish has been one of the most popular food trends in recent years, and it’s easy to see why—tinned fish is a convenient, shelf-stable source of protein, an approachable luxury, and an easy and delicious way to travel the globe. But if you’re new to the trend, you might be wondering where to get started.

I think this is why this was a hot topic on the newscast - it's suddenly quite popular.

Tinned fish—or rather, tinned seafood—refers to fresh seafood that has been cooked (typically steamed or smoked), then sealed in an airtight container (such as a tin or can), and heat-sterilized to preserve the seafood’s freshness and flavor. In addition to popular tinned fish such as sardines, tuna, anchovies, mackerel, trout, and salmon, you’ll also find tinned shellfish including clams, mussels, oysters, and squid. Tinned seafood is commonly packed in water or oil, but some producers add an extra level of flavor by preserving the seafood in sauces and brines such as ragout, escabeche, pesto, or curry. With that said, the options are nearly limitless—think sardines in tomato sauce, trout with chimichurri, mussels in escabeche, or spiced calamari in ragout sauce.

Make no mistake, there are some in the list above that I would not go near even if you paid me. But for those who are more open in their palate options I had to include them. You know?

Perhaps the newfound interest in part, credits to the COVID-19 pandemic, when shoppers began stocking up on shelf-stable pantry goods and cooking more for themselves at home. “COVID changed so many of our habits as consumers—it convinced us to buy more specialty groceries online, and to keep our pantries stocked with shelf-stable protein,”. “This coincided with a general interest in lean, sustainable proteins. This shift in consumer behavior also just means that there are so many brands of tinned fish available in the U.S. now that were hard to find even four or five years ago.”

Okay so all of this having been said it changes what I will be serving today, Fish Friday. We'll be having tin fish for dinner; specifically, mackerel. One tin is one serving and it's a good amount I think in each tin. These were bought at the local Dollar Tree so each tin cost $1.25 making the main entree of this meal pretty cheap.

How did the hipster burn his mouth?

He ate his pizza before it was 'cool'.