Society for the Appreciation of the Lowly Tinned Sardine: "money first and human after ...."

Bonjour

I wish we were meeting under better circumstances. All stocked up, hunkered down. It's time to take inventory, of many things.

This is a conversation with a person I play chess with online. They live on the other side of the planet.

Strange times call for strange tins. I have been sitting on this tin for a long time. I don't know where I got it but it does have a Dean & Deluca price tag. Did I pay that? Would I pay that? Are they still open? Maybe. Mostly I don't look at price tags when food shopping. Drives the Wife crazy. Usually I don't know how much I paid or where the receipt is. Sucks when the price is still so obvious. Like big chunks of beef or fish, the price is on till you open it. Gets me in trouble every time.

But this is a very special tin. A Vintage Tin. So special they put a Vintage on it. Cellaring tins is a thing. Yup. With aging a worthy tin will mellow and develop nuances that hopefully will be delightful and delicious. The tins should be turned over every six months and kept at an evenish temperature. Spikes in temperature, up and down, could ruin anything (beer)(wine)(guitars)(sardines), slow changes are fine.

Just make sure it's worthy of shelf space to begin with. Those tins in that last post were scary to look at after so many years. Look at it too hard and POP! your pantry will never smell the same again.

Connétable is one of the finest producers of tinned fish in the world. They have understanding.

"Cette boite d'exception fait partie d'une serie limitee. Tous les ans, je modifie son illustration."

"This exceptional tin is part of a limited series. Every year, I change its illustration."

Quoted from the lid.

They release a few different tins. This being the "exceptional". Sadly the sticker covers the rest but it's headline is "PLAIN SARDINES VINTAGE in premium extra virgin olive oil".

"Millésime 2007" It's 13 years old. The Wife is concerned. I predict they will be fine smelling and tasting, the outstanding olive oil infusing the fish, creating a rich and tender love bite. Just like all Love Bites should be. We shall see...

Plated with water crackers, dijon, house made pickled sweet onions, and Herbes de Provence. No time to preplan such an appetizer, I was inspired this afternoon and I only leave the house to walk the dogs, a rule to survive by.

The olive oil is a bit cloudy, which is to be expected. Thirteen year olds always seem a bit cloudy.

Six beauties. Super Clean Smell. I straight up tasted the olive oil and I should make a dressing out of it.

It definitely mellowed on the brininess but they are still sardines and really it does not want or need dijon. A light sprinkle of herbs and one or two pickled onion slivers brought it all together nicely.

These were great! I'm and glad we opened them today. It's really tough out there for a lot of people and this gave me hope. Espérer. Hope for the future. When we look for people to lead us the top of the list should be empathy. Five Tins!

empathy noun

em-path-thy

:the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner

also: the capacity for this

Our French friend's leader does not have "empathie", our leader does not have empathy.

Please, have understanding, stay home, stay healthy, open a tin, tell us how you do.