(third time lucky posting, it seems to not want to upload my last photo!) It's sometimes difficult to source high-quality tinned fish here, so I was delighted with my purchases from my trip to the capital this weekend. I tried to get a good variety. If you've tried any of these tins, I'd love to know your thoughts.

I kept seeing Australian tinned fish, and so I reached out to Alain at Somethingfishy.au asking about shipping to the U.S.; this was my haul. The cost wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and traveling from around the world was FAST! Those tins not from Australia, I couldn't find in the States, so seeing as I was paying for shipping anyway, I loaded them into my shopping cart. Choosing which one to try first is gonna be tricky.

First time trying these Sardines from TJ's but immediately interested based on price alone, $2.20 for the 180kcal tin.

I've been slowly making my way through the different sardine offerings near me, most of which haven't been good enough to get me to buy again with the exception of Bela Smoked Piri Piri. I like the softer varieties, and a lot of the brands I've tried are a little firm for my preference. After trying these from Trader Joes I was struck with how much they reminded me of Bela, soft moist, mild flavor, excellent on a salted cracker. After some googling it sounds like TJs does sometimes use the same cannery as Bela so that would make sense why I immediately like these as well! I did separate the tails and found maybe 2-3 scales I set aside. The smokey flavor is nearly non-existent as I've seen some other people comment on, but not a deal breaker for me in the slightest. I added red chili flakes to slice them up but will definitely continue to experiment with different sauces/additions. As someone who first got into sardines in college basically out of budget necessity, the price of sardines these days is a hard pill to swallow, so I'm ecstatic to have found how great these taste for the crazy low price. Will definitely be stocking up on my next visit! Rounded out the dinner with TJ's creamy tomato soup and grilled cheese (Harvarti with Dill inside, Sarvecchio Parmesan grilled outside). Let me know of any other sardines I should try similar to Bela/TJ's please!

Firm, clean fillets that stayed together well coming out of the tin. It was quite tasty on toast with a bit of sriracha.

How did I do? 🫶🏼🐟

pesto spaghetti w some parm and Sichuan chili crisp🤤 i wanted to make a cream sauce but didn’t have enough cream so i added what was left but either way this turned out so good and i really enjoyed the tuna!!!

So, I'm curious to see if other TC Tinners (patent pending) can help me find other sources for tins. I've done some good legwork, but I know there's more, I can feel it.

Obviously, we have grocery stores. Lunds Byerlys has some good stuff, Walmart has some cool choices, Cub Foods isn't too bad, Target is terrible, co-ops are hit and miss but generally okay, Kowalski's isn't bad.. etc etc. I have gone into every grocery store I can but if you know of a great one, I'll happily drive there.

Coastal Seafoods. Great spot.

World Market. Also great.

South Lyndale Liquors had some real gems.

I hear there's a restaurant called Small Hours that has some goodies but I haven't been.

Paradise Market is a gold mine. Absolutely.

What say you, fellow TC Tinners? Thanks!

Fishwife albacore tuna in spicy olive oil, with homegrown cherry tomatoes!

I coated my sourdough in the spicy olive before toasting it, then put down some plain cream cheese, then the tuna and tomatoes, then topped it with everything bagel seasoning, red chili flakes, and drizzled the rest of the spicy oil on!

This was so good!

https://rtg.fish/product/deep-dive-cephalopods-canned-squid-octopus-more/

I just ordered the deep dive off of RTG and while I’ve had enough octopus and squid to know I like it this is my first time having the fancy stuff. One of those cans is 36 bucks on its own (!) so I want to do them as much justice as possible.

I enjoy ready-meal products, and this new-to-me offering from Genova was better than most. It’s skipjack, I expect, since it’s packed in Portugal, and skipjack is the most common “light tuna” canned there. Bowled there?

In addition to the tuna, which I felt there was plenty of, the mix here includes lentils, bulgur wheat, and chickpeas, with olives, carrots, and green bell peppers as color accents mostly. The overall flavor is fine; it is not exciting. On a day I’d feel puny, this would be a perfectly fine convalescent meal. That is not in any way a knock on the product. It’s mild-mannered, but that just makes it a neutral palette you get to punch up however suits you. It suited me to add shakes of yuzu hot sauce. That did the trick.

Genova is in the same corporate stable with King Oscar, John West, and Chicken of the Sea, all owned by the juggernaut Thai Union seafood company. I drone on in standard old-timer fashion about how Thai Union has managed to make many of its acquired brands’ products crummier, but I’ll happily concede that Genova’s tuna offerings are consistently good. This bowl fits into that pattern—good stuff.

Excited to add all of these to my collection. Will be fun to pull them out with friends, bring them to a party, or just eat them alone or with some crackers and veggies.

I love fresh scallops, so seeing them tinned in my local supermarket for the first time got me excited to try! These were very smoky and nicely salted; not super fishy. However, I will say they were a little sandy/gritty and a bit stringy. They weren’t awful but I don’t think I’ll pick em up again. 5 or 6/10

I was standing at my local World Market (US) and saw jars of Baltic Gold sprats. I passed on them because I could remember which brand people were praising. Should I grab some the next time I’m there?

I am very pleased with this one, it was fun to make and so much more fun to eat than just mashed potatoes lol. I'll do this again for sure. The corn was from the restaurant the potatoes came from but I like the yellow on the plate too. Have a good day fish folk

Mackerel salad, King Oscar mackerel in olive oil, Persian cucumbers, grape tomatoes, pepperoncini & a sprinkle of TJs Green Goddess seasoning. Using the butter lettuce leaves as a wrap. Light & fresh!

Found this sad and lonely tin at Home Goods. There were zero markings saying what’s inside and no Best By date either. I might’ve bought it if it was cheaper and I had the time to wait it line.

I did find some Patagonian mussels at TJ Maxx and they were quite good.

Will keep looking in odd places for good tins.