What We Eat When We Eat Alone - Deborah Madison [25]
Saved by Sardines, Rescued by Pasta
“I take a tin of sardines, mix it with lemon juice and mayonnaise, and make a sandwich. That’s dinner.”
A Tassajara workshop participant
One December we put two cans of sardines and some crackers in the glove compartment of the car, a suggestion from one of our interviewees, and took off for a two-week road trip to California. When we got back to New Mexico, I returned the sardines to their place on the shelf and crumbled up the crackers for the birds.
Years earlier the same thing had happened when Marion Cunningham and I took a road trip from California to the Southwest and found ourselves unable to resist the roadside attractions. Although we had the option of eating those wholesome sardines we had brought along for lunch at roadside rest stops, they couldn’t compete with the lure of warm hearth breads and hand pies baked in the native clay hornos, and those cold Heath Blizzards offered every so many miles on I-40. Once home, the sardines were returned to the cupboard.
Actually I do like sardines, but not enough, apparently. Still, they would be good to have on hand in an emergency, which is why we had them in the first place.
But what kind of emergency? Say you’ve ended up in Austin, Nevada (population, a few; location, remote), on New Year’s Eve after the only café has closed. Or, you’ve dropped your keys in the mountain stream where you were fly-fishing, and you have nothing to eat while you wait for the tow truck except that can of sardines you found tucked away in your knapsack. Or you’re on a long road trip, just like we were, and you hunger for an alternative to the usual roadside options. Situations like these are sardine-warranting emergencies and, of course, so is being snowed in and having eaten through everything else in your cupboard. In fact, sardines, along with pasta and canned tomatoes, are three trusty cupboard foods that are good to keep on hand.
Sardines are also good to know about when you’re a hungry student on a modest budget. Having burned out on sardines when he was in art school, Patrick won’t go near them, but there are many who turn faithfully to these and other canned fish when rustling up their solitary meals. One woman explains her approach like this.
“I take a tin of sardines, mix it with lemon juice and mayonnaise, and make a sandwich. That’s dinner.” And it’s actually pretty good, especially on toasted rye bread.
An Ohioan dictates her sardine recipe as follows: “Open a can, pour in balsamic vinegar, sprinkle over herbs and dip bread into it. It’s delicious.” While a third woman creates a whole meal with sardines at the center of the plate. “Take canned sardines,” she says, “they must be boneless and skinless, add lemon juice and olive oil, and serve with sauerkraut and parsley potatoes.”
Sardines, by the way, along with herrings, mackerel, salmon and other fish in a can, provide an extremely affordable way to consume fish that’s rich in those sought-after Omega-3s. And if you eat the soft little bones, you get calcium, too.
Recently I was on a panel with Paul Johnson, the author of Fish Forever and one of the most knowledgeable people around when it comes to fish. Someone from the audience who knew of this project turned the tables and asked all of us what we eat when we eat alone. Paul was visibly sheepish about his answer, which, he finally announced in a confessional tone, “Sardines. On rye crackers.” When I asked him later why he was embarrassed by his answer, especially given that sardines were one of the most frequent responses to the eat-alone question, he said, “Because they aren’t fresh!”
And I guess if you’re in the fresh fish business, you might feel a little awkward about eating canned. Who knew? But then, that’s how I feel about vegetables: frozen won’t do, although I’m pretty sure I have some peas somewhere in my freezer.
Sardines on toast is what I turn to, although smoked herring might end up the same way. I toast a hefty slice of whole-wheat or sourdough bread,