When I was a kid, we used to buy lots of canned goods such as sardines, corned beef, luncheon meat, and tuna for a number of reasons. One, it can be eaten when we run out of food in the refrigerator and we're hungry. Too, we can eat it when the maid's not at home and/or when no one wants to cook. Three, they're cheap compared to buying microwavable dishes. I think there are more reasons but I can't remember every one of them.
Anyways, we always bought sardines from the Philippines because they're cheap. I used to really like them especially the spicy ones. However, I grew up and saw all the other sardines on the supermarket shelf from different countries and I began to wonder how different they really are. Is it just called spanish sardines because it's manufactured in Spain? Just recently, I decided to buy three kinds and taste all of them. I bought a Ligo sardines from the Philippines, a spanish sardines that I can't remember the brand, and a Zaragosa Portugues sardines.
Ligo sardines was the worst of the three. It only had three pieces inside and its taste reflected its price. The sauce was spicy, the kind of spicy that's constant and somehow overpowering. The sauce was thick and there was a lot of it. I'm not so sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing though. Oh! On the plus side, the fish was fat.
Next I tried the Spanish sardines. I was surprised at how many pieces fit in that little bottle. There were about 12-15 sardines inside. The fish was thinner than Ligo and still had its tail :)) It was bathed in a sauce made of oil, chili, and some other spice. The chopped chili and part of the oil gave it its spicy taste. It was not overpowering though. It only hints once in a while.
For the Portugues one, it also contained around 10 or more pieces in one bottle. There were no chili in the corn oil that surrounded the sardines but it was still a little bit spicy. The least though, out of the three. It had the thinnest fishes and had still had scales which I didn't enjoy. However, I still liked it better than the Ligo.
I only tried three kinds and they may not even be representative of each country's sardines. Based on these three, I liked the Spanish sardines the most. It suited my taste best. There were enough for the three people to get full. The sauce didn't look unhealthy and the spiciness was just the right amount for the fish.
*Again, all pictures are from the internet because I forgot to take photos of the ones I tried. I was too focused on comparing them, I think.
One, Too, Three
TumugonBurahin