lesbians for tinned fish pt1

we're lesbians! and we're reviewing tinned fish!

hi all.

i want to preface this by saying i still feel a little silly writing on here. i've never really kept a writing blog or a diary, so writing in a more casual way is something i'm not very used to, but i want to write about things i love things i care about things i'm interested in. even if you're not reading, i'm writing to you.

over the past couple months, i've been really interested in tinned fish. i don't have a tiktok, but instagram reels keep me hostage for hours at a time and i keep seeing videos about tinned fish. i cook and follow recipes pretty regularly, so i thought it'd be fun to have a little corner on here where i talk about food in a way that feels low stakes.

my friend key and i met online when we were about 16. when i think about who's opinion i always look forward to, i think of key. so key and i are going to talk about fish.

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KEY

key's brunswick sardines in mustard and dill

• sandwich ingredients (everything from trader joe’s minus sardines)

  • spinach (cooked down, seasoned with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, sesame seeds)

  • sourdough bread (toasted)

  • sardines

  • tomatoes (optional)

• taste

  • sardines alone: 7/10

    • mustard and dill flavoring weren’t very strong (this is a negative for me)

    • visually looked appealing inside the can

  • spinach sandwich with sardines: 8/10

    • spinach added a good flavoring with the sardines

    • yummy with tomatoes on the side, bread got soggy in some parts

    • should’ve toasted the bread longer

JEAN

jean's patagonia smoked mussels

• sandwich ingredients

  • multi grain bread (toasted on one side)

  • sauce (non sweetened almond milk yogurt, salt, pepper, lemon juice, cilantro, garlic powder, olive oil)

  • romaine lettuce

  • tomatoes (light salt, pepper)

  • mussels

• taste

  • mussels alone: 7/10

    • mild briny taste, a little peppery

    • texture inside almost pâté-like. not a big fan of that.

  • mussels sandwich: 10/10

    • not usually a big sauce person, but it was incredible here. don’t skip out on the sauce.

    • crunch from the lettuce fixed my texture issues.

    • adding something peppery really elevates the taste.

    • personally wouldn’t add in a mushy element like avocado. keep it crunchy.

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overall, key and i had pretty positive experiences with this batch of tinned fish. it’s important to mention our tinned fish are very different price points. key’s sardines come out to about a little less than two dollars, while my mussels from patagonia provisions came out to about eight dollars. in terms of accessibility, brunswick sardines are readily available at walmart, while patagonia mussels are only available at whole foods, patagonia, and other select retail stores. i think tinned fish is often thought of as an inexpensive yet flavorful food, and while that still rings true, there’s an undeniable snobbiness in preferring more specialty (see: expensive) brands over others. buy what works best for you, and fuck the noise.