Spiced Sardines in tomato sauce. 3 to 4 fish with olive oil, a chilli pod, carrot slice, peppercorn, laurel leaf. Meaty and not hot.

NURI Portuguese tinned fish

The idea of tinned fish, you know, mainly “Blue Fish” like tuna, sardines, mackerel, has taken on a life of its own. They have found favor with consumer’s current life style, looking for different things and different flavors. In countries like Spain and Italy, they have never lost their luster. In the U.S. they have really been down played, but are now on the comeback. During the late 1800s, these fish products were so well thought of that silverware sets had special forks for them which now have become collector’s items.

The Portuguese have been producers of these products and at the head of this trend for a very long time. One of the most important producers still working is the Pinhais company, based at Matosinhos, at the mouth of the Douro River where it meets the Atlantic at Porto in northern Portugal. This production dates from 1920 and the identical system of production is still practiced today. With the exception of two mechanized procedures, everything is still done by hand. In this respect, it is a living historical museum of a food product. It would be a lovely visit for anyone going to Porto and the Port Country. LINK: factorytour@pinhais.pt

The brand name is “NURI” and the company products come wrapped by hand in colorful paper just as they did in 1935 when created. Fresh fish is purchased from local fishermen and the fish is then headed and gutted, then quickly steamed, trimmed and put into tins with olive oil or spiced olive oil--then shipped for our delectation. The spiciness is not hot, but is savory, lending a bit of piquancy to the fish, but not heat.

A very interesting things about these Nuri products is that they improve with age. It appears that tinned “blue” fish products like being immersed in olive oil, and their flavor improves with time in tin. In fact, there are sardine productions that are dated just to insure that this fact is made known to the consumer. Something to try.