Sardines anyone?

[Addie]

Unfortunately our Costco doesn't have that kind of sardines.

I never understood why chain stores don't all carry the same products.

 

[CharlieD]

I never understood why chain stores don't all carry the same products.

I know, right...

 

[Andy M.]

I never understood why chain stores don't all carry the same products.

Because stores in different parts of the country and in different neighborhoods have different customers who may want different things. For example, Hispanic, Asian, etc.

 

[Kayelle]

Unfortunately our Costco doesn't have that kind of sardines.

Sorry to hear that Charlie. They were giving out free samples when I bought them so I suspect they are a new item. Maybe they'll show up at your Costco before long, so keep checking. They really are a very good brand, and at around $10.00 for six cans they are sure affordable.

 

[taxlady]

I remember really liking sardines as a kid and the bones didn't bother me. I have occasionally tried them as an adult and have yet to find a brand I like. My mum used to swear by sardines from Portugal.

 

[CharlieD]

Sorry to hear that Charlie. They were giving out free samples when I bought them so I suspect they are a new item. Maybe they'll show up at your Costco before long, so keep checking. They really are a very good brand, and at around $10.00 for six cans they are sure affordable.

They did have a different brand of Sardines that I have bought before. Can't remember the name of it.Good thing it was in a regular store and bought only one. Very poor quality.

 

[rodentraiser]

I never understood why chain stores don't all carry the same products.

I used to work at 7-11 and for a long time, we could order our groceries to fit our shoppers. I worked in a very upscale town (think of a rich dot come city) and the people who shopped with us included those guys and all their Hispanic help who could barely speak English. So I used to ask everyone what they would like to see on our shelves and ordered as much as I could for them all.

Then Southland Corporation (7-11) decided that every store had to sell exactly the same thing. That meant we had to cut out a bunch of popular items and include others that sat on our shelves for months, and our sales and profits dropped like a rock. Only some stupid CEO who didn't know one end of his butt from another could make such a dumb decision.

 

[LizStreithorst]

My supermarket still orders things I request if they are available to them. I tried to order beef kidneys and beef tongue. The meat manager looked on his list and he couldn't get them. He did tell me what slaughter house to go to where I could get what I wanted. They do very well considering the fact that at most places you can't get it if it ain't on the shelves.

 

[Addie]

I used to work at 7-11 and for a long time, we could order our groceries to fit our shoppers. I worked in a very upscale town (think of a rich dot come city) and the people who shopped with us included those guys and all their Hispanic help who could barely speak English. So I used to ask everyone what they would like to see on our shelves and ordered as much as I could for them all.

Then Southland Corporation (7-11) decided that every store had to sell exactly the same thing. That meant we had to cut out a bunch of popular items and include others that sat on our shelves for months, and our sales and profits dropped like a rock. Only some stupid CEO who didn't know one end of his butt from another could make such a dumb decision.

Well, that explains the 7-11 up the street from me. They only carry mostly 7-11 brand items. The only thing I buy there are cigarettes. Only because they have the lowest prices. Everyone I have talked to complains about the store layout. It is built around the comfort of the help. Only one type of Lays chips are on the very bottom shelf while 7-11 chips in all the unpopular flavors are on top. I took a look at the date on a few of them. Months old. Bad Management.

 

[rodentraiser]

Addie, most 7-11 products like candy, chips, bread, and sandwiches are brought in by independent contractors. They were assigned whatever shelf space we had available. Our manager did her best to keep those guys happy. They were responsible for taking the outdated items off the shelf and replacing them, although if we saw something outdated, we could take it off, put it behind the counter and give it to the vendor when he showed up. We took pride that our store was clean, safe for the customers, and didn't sell out of date food.

The beer and soda were also brought in by independent contractors, and you should have heard them fight about their spaces. Beer Co. A wanted to put a new beer out, so he'd pull some of Beer Co. B's beer off and replace it with his own new stuff. Honestly, sometimes it was like being in charge of first graders. "Teacher, he took my shelf!"

 

[Addie]

Addie, most 7-11 products like candy, chips, bread, and sandwiches are brought in by independent contractors. They were assigned whatever shelf space we had available. Our manager did her best to keep those guys happy. They were responsible for taking the outdated items off the shelf and replacing them, although if we saw something outdated, we could take it off, put it behind the counter and give it to the vendor when he showed up. We took pride that our store was clean, safe for the customers, and didn't sell out of date food.

The beer and soda were also brought in by independent contractors, and you should have heard them fight about their spaces. Beer Co. A wanted to put a new beer out, so he'd pull some of Beer Co. B's beer off and replace it with his own new stuff. Honestly, sometimes it was like being in charge of first graders. "Teacher, he took my shelf!"

Someone from your former store needs to go to the store up the street. For a month now they haven't been able to accept EBT cards. Me thinks, and so do lots of their customers, that they were allowing illegal purchases charged to the cards and got caught. A large fine and loss of income and customers. This store is just badly run.

 

[rodentraiser]

It starts with the manager and trickles down to the employees. I was lucky - I had a great manager and some awesome coworkers. The other 7-11 in town also had a great owner and coworkers - I used to wait on that manager when I worked in the bank. Our whole town was sort of like that - we looked out for one another and we knew all the cops personally and I loved my regulars. People are amazed if I tell them I worked grave in a 7-11 for three years, and yes, I have lots of stories, but in that town and in that time, I could get away with it and not worry about too much trouble.

 

[outRIAAge]

I like the sardine pizza recipe. I am all ears for good canned-sardine recipes, because they're about the greenest protein you can buy, and they happen to taste terrific. They are the lie to the idea that poor people can't eat very well indeed.

I highly recommend Pasta con le Sarde which is a knickerdropping combination of sardines with fennel. I first discovered the flavour combination in a big yellow can labelled only in Portuguese, and it haunted me for years until I found out what it was.

(There's even a good vegan variation titled - best as I can manage - Pasta con le Sarde a la Mer: Pasta with Sardines in the Sea.)

There is a respected pizza-style called Finocchio Flower Power where "finocchio" is Italian for fennel. The recipe uses fennel sausage and thin slices of fresh fennel. Next time I have my wood-burning oven cranked, I'll make one with that sardine pizza sauce, slivers of fennel, and skip the sausage.

 

[Kayelle]

I like the sardine pizza recipe. I am all ears for good canned-sardine recipes, because they're about the greenest protein you can buy, and they happen to taste terrific. They are the lie to the idea that poor people can't eat very well indeed.

I highly recommend Pasta con le Sarde which is a knickerdropping combination of sardines with fennel. I first discovered the flavour combination in a big yellow can labelled only in Portuguese, and it haunted me for years until I found out what it was.

(There's even a good vegan variation titled - best as I can manage - Pasta con le Sarde a la Mer: Pasta with Sardines in the Sea.)

There is a respected pizza-style called Finocchio Flower Power where "finocchio" is Italian for fennel. The recipe uses fennel sausage and thin slices of fresh fennel. Next time I have my wood-burning oven cranked, I'll make one with that sardine pizza sauce, slivers of fennel, and skip the sausage.

Thanks for getting this totally derailed thread back on the sardine track, with a very interesting post.

 

[erehweslefox]

I myself haven't used fennel in a long time in a recipe, I think I'm in a rut.

 

[Addie]

Instead if giving Spike a list of what I would like from the produce department, I really need to take the time to go to that side of the store and browse the produce department. I haven't used leeks in ages. And I like them, even if they are a lot of work sometimes.

 

[erehweslefox]

I like the sardine pizza recipe.

I like the Portuguese ideas you have posted myself, the sardine pizza is mine, and well, you have to like sardines, one thing about that recipe, is it is scalable. You can easily add or detract from it.

I've done that exact recipe up in Williamsburg Brooklyn on New Years day 2001, with Kale mixed with fresh spinich, very nice artisan riccota cheese, and anchovies (which I still think are sardines, but fancy like) for author hipster friends, heirloom tomatoes, and chillies, and all loved it.

Same thing a month later in Oklahoma, replace the riccota with cottege cheese, the spinach was frozen, the sardines from a can, and a can of Ro-Tell tomatoes.

Same damn pizza. My Okie friends at least had yeast already for the crust.

I'll stand by that recipe whether you make it with good or awful ingredients. Salty fish belongs on pizza, some will vehemently argue against this. They are wrong.

 

[outRIAAge]

It's hard to find fresh sardines, and you have to have tolerance for bones, but I sometimes find them here in Seattle for $2/lb, simply silly pricing. I totally concur with your salty fish theorem. It's not well-known that sardines are just "small, oily fish," not a species. It's rare to find the larger types, like pilchards, in the US.

I used to do fisheries research on the Hudson River, and (little-known fact) anchovies are native to the tidal (lower 100 miles) section of the river. Most species of fish we hauled up survived just fine, even after measuring and tagging, but anchovies inevitably died. I likely killed a million of them, sadly. Some of the crew used them for garden mulch; I cooked with them (very mild and delicate when fresh) and made disastrous attempts at salt-curing.

Erehweslefox's pizza ideas are great, but what are people doing, buying ricotta? It only takes 15 minutes to get a gallon of whole milk to the hung-up-dripping-in-panty-hose stage of ricotta-making. Better than anything you can buy.

If you ever find white anchovies, pay whatever it takes (a lot!) to get them. They're a different world. Eat them right out of the jar. Bet you can't have just one.

 

[outRIAAge]

Stargazy Pie

Stargazy Pie​

This surely is the most IN U FACE sardine recipe imaginable. The combination of oily fish and hard-boiled eggs is interesting. Fresh fish are mandatory, obviously, and you have to be a hardcore fish-eater, because they're going to be staring at you as you eat them. It's a centuries-old Cornish recipe, and a complete giggle to serve. Any oily fish like small mackerel or bluefish also work fine.

There's a reason for the pie geometry: the heads get roasted and their flavoursome juices and oils drain down into the pie (I DID mention "hardcore fish-eater"

Here's the Saveur recipe, which is fine. Coleman's mustard (Keen's if you're in Canada) is mandatory. Crème fraîche is overkill, given all the flavours; plain yogurt or sour cream work fine. As you can imagine, getting the crust on while poking the heads through is an utter pain, so maybe get some help.

 

[erehweslefox]

Stargazy Pie​

This surely is the most IN U FACE sardine recipe imaginable. The combination of oily fish and hard-boiled eggs is interesting. Fresh fish are mandatory, obviously, and you have to be a hardcore fish-eater, because they're going to be staring at you as you eat them. It's a centuries-old Cornish recipe, and a complete giggle to serve. Any oily fish like small mackerel or bluefish also work fine.

There's a reason for the pie geometry: the heads get roasted and their flavoursome juices and oils drain down into the pie (I DID mention "hardcore fish-eater"

Here's the Saveur recipe, which is fine. Coleman's mustard (Keen's if you're in Canada) is mandatory. Crème fraîche is overkill, given all the flavours; plain yogurt or sour cream work fine. As you can imagine, getting the crust on while poking the heads through is an utter pain, so maybe get some help.

Oh, I MUST make this, it would freak my wife the Heck OUT! I've already been threatening her with Eel pie from my medieval cookbook.... I am just picturing the expression on her face here. I am Cornish and Welsh, why have I not heard of this?

TBS