Description
Ingredients: Mackerel (Scomber japonicus), refined oil oil, piri-piri, carrot, cucumber, salt.
Preserves of 100% Portuguese production.
The excellence of our products is a result of the elevated quality of the fish and the traditional production method.
The fish is selected and prepared manually in order to achieve a product of superior quality.
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.
This particular tin is odd, in that it has the vegetables but not the clove and bay, we we’re calling it spicy.
Dana deRiancho (verified owner) –
Firm texture, less fatty than tuna. I find the little pickles to be an adorable addition, though those peppers can pack a surprising punch! I always make a mayonnaise with the oil, which tastes quite nice spread on a piece of toast with pickled pepperoncinis and mackarel. A go-to tin for sure
twa101 (verified owner) –
Mackerel is my favorite fish and this is a great can of mackerel. There were six small fillets in the can along with the peri peri pepper and slices of pickle & carrot. The fillets held up nicely from can to bowl and were absolutely delicious. Very good texture, soft but not mushy, and nice and moist from the oil. The oil was mildly spiced, with just a bit of heat finishing in the throat at the end. The remaining oil was drizzled over some kettle corn and added a nice oompf to teh popcorn. I will definitely have to try some more Minerva products down the line.
Hream McDan (verified owner) –
I had high expectations -perhaps too high- but this was just an okay tin for me. Clearly, the fish was high quality and the tin was packed nicely. Texture-wise, it was fairly dry and I’m positive that I’d identify it as canned tuna in a blind taste test. I felt like it lacked salt as well as the “spiced” flavor. I’d put this heat around 1.1 on a 5 point scale, it doesn’t really have any heat at all and the overall seasoning is very mild even apart from that. This is definitely a much different version of “spiced” than say, the Nuri “spiced” tins so you should calibrate your brain for that ahead of time.
Tried adding Tabasco and that didn’t really do much. Tried adding Espinaler sauce and it did provide a much-needed flavor and acidity boost while also not overpowering the fish. Additionally, I really enjoyed the pickles / peppers in the tin that added fun & flavor. I do like mackerel in general, I’ve had some tins that I enjoyed quite a bit … but as an “eat at room temp, directly from the tin” lunch, this one didn’t quite do enough for me.
Lawrence Kalinowski (verified owner) –
very clean. firm texture. not terribly spiced … more of a hint. more of a tuna than mackerel experience.
enjoyed it on ritz w/tobasco. felt like good quality product.
Joshua Olmsted (verified owner) –
Overall, these Minerva Mackerel Filets were a very *solid* tin of fish, but not a very exciting tin of fish. Upon opening my tin had 3 very nicely arrayed mackerel filets. All three looked identical and had a very nicely defined structure. This is particularly noteworthy as I have found skinless filets to often be a bit loose/messy. The texture is very firm but not unsatisfying, they are not overly chewy despite their firm-ness. There is a bit of a salty/briny flavor, but other than that I would say that they taste “clean” and fishy, but not too flavorful overall. Given the tag-line as “spiced” mackerel I was definitely hoping for a bit more of that Nuri spiced orange-oil, very herbaceous flavor. The oil itself while not exciting, is tasty, there’s a bit of that characteristic olive oil fruitiness when I tried a taste of it just on it’s own. I think the strongest element of this can was just the quality of the fish itself: the texture, the appearance/arrangement, flavor. If you’re someone who doesn’t care much for lots of “extras” in a tin and just wants a pure mackerel experience, you won’t be disappointed. As for me, I’ll likely stick to some of the mackerel I’ve tried in the $6-7 range (Cole’s, Nuri’s, Ferrigno). Definitely didn’t regret trying these though.