Description
Ingredients: Sardines (Sardina pilchardus), olive oil, spicy aroma, and salt
The terms “spiced” and “spicy” are used pretty much interchangeably in the tinned fish world, to mean two different things: with a hot pepper (or hot pepper flavor), and with cloves/bay/carrot/hot pepper. There are many examples of both terms being used to mean both things.
We are so frustrated by how widespread this confusing inconsistent usage is that we’ve gone through our entire product line to correct the incorrect ones such that our description of “spiced” or “spicy” will always indicate which it really is, regardless of the packaging. “Spicy” = with hot pepper flavor. “Spiced” = with the cloves/bay/carrot/hot pepper flavors.
jfeyes (verified owner) –
High quality sardines with an excellent flavor! But…..not at all spicy!
Evan Viviano (verified owner) –
Great can of sardines. Not spicy at all but I don’t think I’ve ever had “spicy” sardines that are actually spicy. Thats what the hot sauce is for. Anyway, excellent quality fish – tasted great, great texture and looked beautiful. Will be ordering these again
Anne Martin (verified owner) –
These sardines were beautiful to look at and the spicy olive oil was pleasantly mild. Texture was firm and not mushy. Oil was tasty as a dip with crackers and bread. I liked these and think they would be a great tin for a shared plate spread since the fish are small and many as well as their consistent quality. I think this tin might bring a few converts to the tinned fish cause.
Hream McDan (verified owner) –
Pretty good tin. Spicy level is a 1.5 out of 5 but aside from that issue, not too much to complain about here. Fish quality is excellent albeit more scales than I expected, texture is an easy-to-eat medium with nice flake, moisture is average and not objectionable in any way. I enjoyed this one despite longing for more heat.
The main draw here is that you don’t often find small, unsmoked sardines that try to be spicy and I respect that. If this was a little cheaper, it might compete for a semi-regular spot in the rotation but for me, not quite enough wow factor to compensate for the cost. However, it’s definitely worth trying at least once – just be sure to have some additional hot sauce handy and you’ll enjoy this one.