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Using Seafood from a Can


Peter the eater

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Do you guys have any recommendations for canned tuna (e.g., the Italian kind)? Hopefully something you can order from Amazon.

 

Also looking for white anchovies (canned / shelf-stable / available on Amazon). I ate them in a restaurant in France and they were really good, more like a sardine texture. Maybe it's not possible to find a good canned one, but maybe it is possible.

 

Possibly, I should just get canned sardines. I tried the "Season" brand (Costco). It was OK, but not great.

 

I'd appreciate any brand / product recommendations that anyone has eaten recently.

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@MokaPot For tuna I like Ortiz bonito in the oval can. I may be misinformed, but I believe bonito is a small tuna, so it contains less mercury. It's very good quality, and not cheap, but I've discovered that Amazon sells a pack of several cans for a reasonable price--better than I have paid in the past at local gourmet shops.

 

For sardines I also order from Amazon. Two brands I find to be very good: Santo Amaro, European wild,  packed in olive oil, are a pretty good deal if you buy in a 12 tin pack. They are lightly smoked and typically large, three sardines to a can. The other one I like is Matiz, also European wild, a similarly large sardine and more delicate and not smoky, also in olive oil. They are a bit pricier than the Santo Amaro. None of the canned fish are cheap. They are from Spain or Portugal, but I can't remember which. Both have the bone in, which I require. Why toss out one of the best sources of calcium? As for the "wild" part, I believe all sardines are wild caught. They appear to be sustainable, at least on the European coast.

Edited by Katie Meadow (log)
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You can also go onto Donostia Foods, La Tienda, Despana, Gustiamo, et al. and find some fine canned tuna, along with other excellent canned products.

 

Ortiz is my go-to brand. Matiz is another. Before the panic buying set in, I was able to buy 8 cans of the Ortiz for something like $4 a can - good luck with that now.

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Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

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I've been ordering tuna from Fishing Vessel St. Jude for years now.  Small, family-owned business out of the Seattle area and are on the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch sustainable source list for tuna.  Their tuna is top notch. They are also currently selling some some La Brújula tinned fish from Spain and I've found that brand to be very good.  I always order enough to get free shipping.  A recent email says that kicks in @ 18 cans, although that's not reflected on their website.  Might be worth checking with them if you order.  I have found them to be responsive to email queries. 

 

I recently purchased a big jar of Spanish anchovies from Beaune Imports.  Not particularly cheap but they are very nice and will last me longer than those tiny little jars.

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I will agree Ortiz is a cut above anything else I've tried.     Current price on amazon is highway robbery, IMO.     I have used plain old Genova for pasta sauces with very good results and the current price is less than a sixth the cost of Ortiz when I just checked. 

 

Fishing vessel St Jude looks very interesting, may have to order from them. 

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I just purchased a container of Dungeness crab meat from the freezer case.  6 ozs. priced at $ 15.98.

I needed it for my crab spread I'm serving to my card-playing friends.  I've tried the canned stuff and what I got was really awful.  This, hopefully, will be better (it should be) I'll post back afterwards.

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Dr. Teeth said:

Fishing vessel St Jude looks very interesting, may have to order from them. 

 

I'd love to hear what you think if you do.  Make sure to throw in a couple of cans of their tuna belly as a treat. It absolutely melts in your mouth. 

This is what you'll see in a can of their regular tuna.  Just one big chunk of good tuna.

IMG_2432.thumb.jpeg.7d95378ccc0078e1d867ee00e519ff00.jpeg

 

Out of the can:

499559166_IMG_2433(1).thumb.jpeg.8143a0095bce8ac528885528817f31af.jpeg

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9 minutes ago, Dr. Teeth said:

Looks incredible.    They are asking for an order of at least 24 cans for free shipping.  At 7 bucks a can that would be an interesting conversation with Mrs. Dr. Teeth. 

 

Shoot them an email and ask about that.   This is from an email I received from them on 24 Apr

Quote
please remember free shipping on any 18 cans /pouches mixes. Have a good week-end. Thank you Joyce

 

 

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That Fishing Vessel St. Jude tuna looks great.  I usually buy Ortiz, but it has been out of stock in my local markets recently.

 

I really miss fresh clams.  The local markets are not stocking them at the moment.  I bought a couple of cans of Bar Harbour clams and am going to try them on pizza this weekend.  I am going to get some fresh ones shipped from Wellfleet for my birthday in a couple of weeks.  They come in quantities of 100, so we will be eating a lot of clams!

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On 5/5/2020 at 5:24 PM, blue_dolphin said:

I've been ordering tuna from Fishing Vessel St. Jude for years now.  Small, family-owned business out of the Seattle area and are on the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch sustainable source list for tuna.  Their tuna is top notch. They are also currently selling some some La Brújula tinned fish from Spain and I've found that brand to be very good.  I always order enough to get free shipping.  A recent email says that kicks in @ 18 cans, although that's not reflected on their website.  Might be worth checking with them if you order.  I have found them to be responsive to email queries. 

 

I recently purchased a big jar of Spanish anchovies from Beaune Imports.  Not particularly cheap but they are very nice and will last me longer than those tiny little jars.

I was just reading about Spanish anchovies in Roast Chicken and Other Stories by Simon Hopkinson (great read by the way).  He is a big anchovy fan and thinks that Spanish anchovies have the best taste even over the much touted salt packed anchovies.  Quote : " Filleted Spanish anchovies....these are fat and juicy, a lovely pinky-red colour, and their flavour is remarkably fine."

 

 

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Did a brief Amazon search for the Ortiz tuna in the oval-shaped can. Seems like the price is around $10 to $15 per can (bought in multiples, starting at around 8 cans). Can size is around 110 grams / 3.88 oz.

 

Can the Ortiz tuna buyers please say how much this tuna used to cost before the pandemic? I realize the price won't necessarily return to what it was, just trying to get an idea.

 

Thanks!

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4 minutes ago, MokaPot said:

Did a brief Amazon search for the Ortiz tuna in the oval-shaped can. Seems like the price is around $10 to $15 per can (bought in multiples, starting at around 8 cans). Can size is around 110 grams / 3.88 oz.

 

Can the Ortiz tuna buyers please say how much this tuna used to cost before the pandemic? I realize the price won't necessarily return to what it was, just trying to get an idea.

 

Thanks!

 

I haven't bought Ortiz in a while but this one is currently $5.49/can at World Market which seems in line with what I remember for single can, no-discount purchases. 

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$5.50ish is roughly the going rate everywhere. The Zingerman's maximum sale price last year was $5 a piece for 30 cans. World Market has periodic sales though and last year I stocked up at a $3.50 a can. I'm still pretty well stocked. I also got a bunch of Ortiz anchovies for $1.75 a can. The jarred ones are even better, but for the price, I'm not complaining.

 

80B52869-0AE7-44D3-8FAB-0A0E0068E40F.thumb.jpeg.57c844c62963049f7301cfc5af98f6db.jpeg

Edited by btbyrd (log)
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1 hour ago, btbyrd said:

$5.50ish is roughly the going rate everywhere. The Zingerman's maximum sale price last year was $5 a piece for 30 cans. World Market has periodic sales though and last year I stocked up at a $3.50 a can. I'm still pretty well stocked. I also got a bunch of Ortiz anchovies for $1.75 a can. The jarred ones are even better, but for the price, I'm not complaining.

 

80B52869-0AE7-44D3-8FAB-0A0E0068E40F.thumb.jpeg.57c844c62963049f7301cfc5af98f6db.jpeg

 

@btbyrd.  I like how you live.  

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On 5/8/2020 at 1:12 AM, blue_dolphin said:

 

I'd love to hear what you think if you do.  Make sure to throw in a couple of cans of their tuna belly as a treat. It absolutely melts in your mouth. 

This is what you'll see in a can of their regular tuna.  Just one big chunk of good tuna.

IMG_2432.thumb.jpeg.7d95378ccc0078e1d867ee00e519ff00.jpeg

 

Out of the can:

499559166_IMG_2433(1).thumb.jpeg.8143a0095bce8ac528885528817f31af.jpeg

I went to your link to see what they actually sell. The reason for my curiosity was the contents of the can. It seems to me that half the contents seem to be oil. Is that normal in the US? That maybe makes the price ~$5 per ounce of actual tuna. Seems high to me.

Are regular cans of tuna that price?

I assume this is being sold as a premium product. I am in no way denigrating it I am just curious.

 

Be kind first.

Be nice.

(If you don't know the difference then you need to do some research)

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9 hours ago, SLB said:

Whose canned salmon do you guys like?  

I like some of the stuff from the Alaskan producers - sticking with sockey or coho in cans or jars - good product...

 

https://www.great-alaska-seafood.com/Canned-Alaska-Salmon.htm - currently my favorite place to order Alaskan seafood from.

 

http://www.copperriverseafoods.com/wild-alaska-smoked-sockeye-salmon-6-5-oz-jars-1-case/

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Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

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25 minutes ago, Bernie said:

I went to your link to see what they actually sell. The reason for my curiosity was the contents of the can. It seems to me that half the contents seem to be oil. Is that normal in the US? That maybe makes the price ~$5 per ounce of actual tuna. Seems high to me.

Are regular cans of tuna that price?

I assume this is being sold as a premium product. I am in no way denigrating it I am just curious.

 

 

Yes, I believe this is indeed being sold as a premium product and I agree that the price is high, but not $5/oz - yikes!  

 

When I drain the regular cans of St. Jude tuna, I usually get ~ 1 oz of "tuna broth."  The cans with oil added, like the one in the photo above, tend to yield around the same 1 oz of broth but with a modest amount  (maybe .25 to .5 oz?) of olive oil.  

My understanding is that it's normal for that amount of liquid to collect as the fish is cooked during the canning process.

The chunk of tuna itself fills almost the entire can and weighs a little over 5 oz.  There is only a little space around the perimeter of the can to contain the liquid. 

 

I can't speak to the current price of "regular cans of tuna" but when I was buying tuna at the grocery store, more than 10 years ago, it was a good bit less expensive than this product. 

 

 

 

 

 

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If it helps, Cook's Illustrated current issue has an article on Choosing Oil Packed Tuna.  Their recommended favorites were Tonnino and Ortiz, both of which I buy.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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now Lets get to the   ' Using '  part.

 

I have a ' few ' cans of lower end Tuna.    I got it from target.com

 

a while ago , as that's all they had left.  no matter that it might have a lot of mercury in it

 

or glow in the dark.    I have it , and plan to use it over time.

 

I also have pasta , and have been making some very good One Pot pasta ' Pots '

 

not dishes.  using the different pasta i have

 

how can I use the canned tuna + the pasta to get something that's reasonably tasty.

 

Ive never made   ' Tuna + Pasta '  but growing up ive had tuna casserole .

 

I dont really have any cheese for this project.    I do have a little Fz , but am saving that for a

 

sure thing.

 

I have plenty of dried herbs and blends from Penzies.  I vape good quality  Kalamata

 

olive oil from Tj's.    

 

your thoughts and ideas ?

 

oh yes , I have canned ( diner ) peas.

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Make a tomato sauce.  When the sauce is hot and ready add the can of drained tuna.  Stir to break up the bigger chucks while the tuna heats through.  Serve over pasta.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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