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Ocean Charcuterie: Our Most Popular Story Of The Year

Published February 25, 2020

Comment

I’ve been saying for decades that people should eat more small fish. The little guys (sardines, anchovies, mackerel, herring, and so on) are food for bigger fish (and, ridiculously, for farmed fish, and serve as pet food, and are even ground into fertilizer). They’re plentiful, sustainable, low in mercury, and delicious. Same goes for things like mussels and squid.

Clearly, this argument doesn’t always resonate with people (endangered bluefin tuna still seems to be more popular than the ubiquitous smelt), so I’m always delighted when other writers take on the case. Look no further than the unassuming article below, a piece by David Neimanis, which makes the case that we should all be eating more canned fish. We ran it on Heated recently, and I’m thrilled to say that it has become one of the most read stories that we’ve ever published.

It’s worth a look, if for no other reason than to discover and/or embrace the magical world of high-quality, shelf-stable, incredibly tasty canned seafood that bears no resemblance to “chicken of the sea.” David calls it “oceanic charcuterie.” I call it lunch (and really, sometimes breakfast). See you Friday.

—Mark

Canned seafood has a bad reputation in the United States, but it shouldn’t.

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