Description
Ingredients: Mackerel, olive oil, cucumber, chili, carrot, salt, cloves, black pepper, laurel.
See what Matthew Carlson has to say about this spiced mackerel.
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.
Jeff (verified owner) –
If you see “Nuri” and “Spiced” you’re going to have a good time. Many folks who know the Nuri brand know that their spiced sardines are a great reference for comparison for spiced offerings from other brands, as well as for quality sardines in general. With such notoriety for their spiced sardine offerings, I don’t think Nuri gets recognized as much for their great mackerel tins.
The spiced mackerel tin that I recently opened had three beautiful looking small whole mackerels. In general I think that Nuri sardines tend to look like they’ve been through a bit of a scuffle – this didn’t appear to be the case with the mackerel. They looked in good shape and easily lifted out of the tin without any breakage.
The oil in the tin looked a deep orange, and in taking a small sample of it, provided a bit more of a heat kick when compared to the last spiced sardine tin I’d opened. At first bite the mackerel didn’t represent the same level of heat as the oil in the tin, but the heat level seemed just right for the relatively mild flavor of this particular mackerel. Some mackerel can be very flavorful and strong, while this was not so much, and I’d say I like it both ways. The texture of these small whole mackerels is nice – a bit more firm that many sardines, though it flakes and breaks up well if you like to do so.
I think this tin would do well in an array of recipes, but I enjoyed it simply with a piece of sourdough toast and a bit of pickled and fermented veg on the side. If you like Nuri spiced sardines and haven’t tried this mackerel, or, if you love mackerel and haven’t tried this one, you have to give it a try. If you’ve tried mackerel and found it to be a strong flavor for you, this one may work out given the combination of slight heat and mildness of the small fish.
Odinn O Oskarsson (verified owner) –
I really like mackerel and I really like Nuri, this tin was the best of both, extremely firm flesh on this one, nice spice level, not too much but just enough, I ate them straight from the tin (as I do with most mackerel) I really liked that it was whole small fish, this is my first experience with that, I like filets, don’t get me wrong, but the whole fish are much easier to eat.
This was an outstanding tin, I really enjoyed it.
Matt Garlick (verified owner) –
These were absolutely delicious. Much firmer than I was expecting them to be, but had great texture. Definitely similar to chicken but very much it’s own fishy thing. Nuri spiced anything is fantastic and these are no exception! I could definitely see myself reaching for these over the standard Nuri spiced sardines.
Joshua Olmsted (verified owner) –
As someone fairly new into the tinned fish journey, these Nuri Spiced Mackerels were phenomenal. The spices hit you right up front, nice and herbal (you can definitely taste the clove, but it doesn’t overpower), with just a little mild pepper kick. The fish has a great salt level, definitely the kind of fish that you don’t really need to add anything to. Good on toast, but also very tasty on their own. Much like the Nuri spiced sardines, the oil left over is delicious (and a gorgeous orange-red color) and I found myself just dipping crackers in it after I was done with the fish. There weren’t as many little vegetable bits in this can as I found in my prior cans of Nuri sardines (likely because the mackerel were a bit larger and really filled out the can) but what is there is definitely tasty.
If you’re wanting to branch out from sardines/sprats this would probably be a great place to start! Approachable, flavorful, easy to work with.
Jacob Rosch (verified owner) –
These are delicious, great texture wonderful flavor and a great price.
twa101 (verified owner) –
This was my second tin of whole mackerel (not fillets) and this tin smelled mild and fresh. No funk at all. Three fish showing off their beautiful striped skin and seemed firm to the touch and heavy for their size. The taste was very mild and had a nice flavor from the salt and seasoned oil. The oil was a bright orange hue from the single chile and two carrot slices. These were by no means spicy in the chile heat, but spicy in the mix of aromatics, like a good soup broth.
The texture of these whole baby macks were hard to describe. These are firm and and dense, like a good weißwurst. In fact, you could probably slice these into neat little discs for canapés. The flesh is a very fine grain, moister on the outside and drier in the middle. Soft, but with something still to chew. While the spine is larger than a sardine of a similar size, they are so soft that they’re undetected when eating. If you haven’t tried whole mackerel yet, I think these would be a good entry point.
Lauren Giunta (verified owner) –
I can’t really say much about this tin that previous reviewers haven’t already stated.
Just lovely whole little tender macks in flavorful oo. For those of us that don’t have a ton of cash to blow, this is the tin of mackerel to have on hand for occasions that require something special.
Cracking this tin was a f**king pleasure. Blinding stripes of relatively undisturbed skin, glazed like krispy kreme doughnuts, swimming in a shallow pool of honey-colored fat. Tender as can be flesh & bones that flaked & broke where you wanted them to. The flesh of the fish had taken on some flavors from the oil. Well-salted but not overwhelmingly so.
Wrapping that looks beautiful while waiting on your shelf.
Produced almost entirely by hand (have you seen the Nuri factory video? Would love to hear from the women who do the packing & get their take on the whole thing.)
What more could you ask for?
Please just buy this damn tin.
nrobinson (verified owner) –
3 chunky little mackerel. Love love love the tin appeal here. Texture is firm and meaty. Spine is noticable but disintegrates easily in mouth. Spiced flavor is a touch warmer compared to the sardine version, clove forward and low capsaicin heat in this particular tin. I prefer these over mackerel fillets. A really nice treat. My wife loved it and she’s hit or miss on mackerel. Great tin!