Description
Ingredients: sardines, olive oil, sea salt
See what Matthew Carlson has to say about these sardines compared to Matiz Small Sardines with Sweet Piquillo Peppers.
Matiz Sardines in Spanish Olive Oil
$5.50
The curve for the ration between quality and cost is not linear. What that means is a sardine that costs twice as much may not necessary be twice as good, and a sardine that costs half as much may not be half as good. Just like wine, above a certain price point you can find quality products all across the range. Don’t let the price fool you on these, they’re a sardine a lot of sardine lovers love.
120g tin
In stock
Reviews
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Hream McDan (verified owner) –
4.5 stars. I love these regular Matiz, they are the *perfect* swiss-army knife of sardines. The texture is so meaty, so clean, so mild and versatile. This tin will absolutely break your scale of sardines if you’ve only ever eaten the cheaper grocery store brands, it completely ruined lesser tins for me. If you only know King Oscar, Seasons, etc then these will absolutely blow you away. They are pure and delicious.
Are they still my #1 overall today? No, I’m shocked to admit that they’ve been dethroned by Riga Gold, Fangst no. 1, Nuri spiced in tomato. Seems sacrilegious to say but it’s true. With that said, this remains to be a tin that I’ll **always** have in my pantry, it is absolutely irreplaceable and the most versatile top-shelf sardine that I’ve ever had. Plus, it’s the perfect gateway tin to gift someone who only knows about sardines that you can get in the grocery store … I’ve given many of these away to friends and family so that their sardine brains are broken too.
Thank you Matiz for completely shattering the ceiling of what I thought a sardine could be. Every person who comes to this page, and to this website in general, should absolutely try this tin if you haven’t already.
Max D (verified owner) –
4 stars, solid sardine, I keep a few tins around.
I agree with the review above– I have a few I like more (Nuri Spiced in Olive Oil) that are only slightly more expensive but if I were going to stir it into a fried rice or something else with just a bit of sardine in it, I’m not sure I’d know the difference.
Greg L (verified owner) –
When I want Sardines, just plain sardines, this is the tin I reach for. It has been about 1 or 2 years since I found there was more to sardines than Chicken of the Sea (shudder) and King Oscar. Matiz Sardines in Olive Oil changed the game for me such that it could never be played the same again. In sandwiches, cooked, straight out of the tin. This time checks all the boxes for me. Opening the tin, you get a waft of great Sardine smell. The skin is shimmery silver and mostly unmarred. They come out whole with a fork or chopsticks fairly easily. They are large, meaty sardines. The texture is not too soft nor firm with fantastic moistness and depth of flavor. These may not be the best sardine out there, but I’ve never regretted cracking open a tin of these over something else. If you haven’t tried these, just stop reading and go buy them.
Lawrence Kalinowski (verified owner) –
3 large, clean, moderately firm plain fillets in delicious oil. kind of sums it up. very simple & very good. delicious product
Joe Warren (verified owner) –
Big fan of the box, while not flashy or innovative the color palate is aesthetically pleasing. I will say I find it ironic that they say “easy open” because it was a heck of a time to get these open! Technically they are easier than using a manual opener but I was concerned I was going to have to go that route.
I digress, upon open there are three large triangular filets awaiting. Had to check the box to make sure they weren’t in water on first inspection because the oil consistency seemed well..watery. Vividly bright and silvery skin, almost akin to being overlaid with aluminum. Easily some of the chubbiest pieces I’ve seen in a tin to date. Substantially firm and remain intact somehow even when you pull them apart each component has a solid structuring. These deens are hearty, from spine to girth.
Flavor wise they are a good standard “sardine” taste profile. Nothing stands out and makes them particularly unique, although I guess you could say they are worth writing about since.. here we are..
Are they trying to stand out? Do they need to?
If Matiz’s intention was a simple, pedestrian, middle of the class sardine: mission accomplished. For the price, pick up a box as they hit the mark of “good” across the board.
Caleb Tenenbaum (verified owner) –
Solid sardines. LARGE FAT sardines. They were some of the first sardines I tried, and I enjoyed them a lot and continue to buy them. I noticed this time that the bones were quite prominent and spiky, to the point that they gave an audible “crunch”. That being said, because they are prominent, you can remove them easily if you like (and I actually enjoy the crunch!)
Matt H (verified owner) –
This tin is ‘the level’ in terms of sardines. Good quality filets with a firm, dense texture not found with the grocery store brands. I added some spicy pepper powder to mine and they were delicious. Going forward, this will be the tin I compare other ‘dines to. Firm, delicious, clean tasting fish at a good price.
Benjamin Raber (verified owner) –
Respectfully, this was not a good experience. The fish looked fine but one was clearly full of the ‘bad stuff’, which I ate. Also lot’s and lot’s of scales. It is puzzling because their tiny sardines with pepper were very, very nice.
Of course, Im sure an off can is possible with any brand, however this one just isnt for me.