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Sardines, or pilchards, are a group of several types of small, oily fish
Oily fish

Oily fish, oil-rich fish or pelagic fish are those fish which have fish oils throughout the fillet and in the belly cavity around the gut, rather than only in the liver like Whitefish ....
 related to herring
Herring

Herring are small, oily fish of the genus Clupea found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, including the Baltic Sea....
s, family Clupeidae
Clupeidae

Clupeidae is the family of the herrings, shads, sardines, hilsa and menhadens. It includes many of the most important food fishes in the world....
.






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Pacific Sardine002
2006 Sardines Can Open
2006 Sardines Plate Flash
Sardines 03 Beach Torre Del Mar
Sardines, or pilchards, are a group of several types of small, oily fish
Oily fish

Oily fish, oil-rich fish or pelagic fish are those fish which have fish oils throughout the fillet and in the belly cavity around the gut, rather than only in the liver like Whitefish ....
 related to herring
Herring

Herring are small, oily fish of the genus Clupea found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, including the Baltic Sea....
s, family Clupeidae
Clupeidae

Clupeidae is the family of the herrings, shads, sardines, hilsa and menhadens. It includes many of the most important food fishes in the world....
. Sardines were named after the island of Sardinia
Sardinia

Sardinia is the Mediterranean islands#By area island in the Mediterranean Sea . The area of Sardinia is . The island is surrounded by the France island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Tunisia and the Balearic Islands....
, where they were once in abundance.

The terms are not precise, and the usual meanings vary by region; for instance, to many people a sardine is a young European pilchard. A generalisation is that if the fish is under 4" long (10 cm) it is classed as a sardine, and if larger than 4 inches it is classed as a pilchard. The FAO/WHO
Who

*Who is an English language interrogative pronoun....
 Codex standard for canned
Canning

File:Berthold Weiss Canned Foods.jpgFile:Canned food factory .jpgCanning is a method of food preservation in which the food is processed and sealed in an airtight container....
 sardines cites 21 species that may be classed as sardines; FishBase
FishBase

FishBase is a comprehensive database of information about fish. , it included descriptions of over 30,000 species, over 260,000 common names in hundreds of languages, over 46,000 pictures, and references to more than 42,000 works in the scientific literature....
, a comprehensive database of information about fish, lists at least six species called just "pilchard," over a dozen called just "sardine", and many more with the two basic names qualified by various adjectives.

Canned "sardines" in supermarket
Supermarket

A supermarket is a self-service Retailing#Retail types offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments....
s may actually be sprats (such as the "brisling sardine"
European sprat

The European sprat, Sprattus sprattus, also known as Bristling or Brisling, is a small, herring-like, marine fish. Found in European waters, it has silver grey scales and white-grey flesh....
) or round herrings
Herring

Herring are small, oily fish of the genus Clupea found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, including the Baltic Sea....
. The actual sizes of the fish canned vary by species. Good quality sardines should have the head
Head

In anatomy, the head of an animal is the rostral part that usually comprises the brain, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth . Some very simple animals may not have a head, but many bilateria do....
 and gills removed before packing. They may also be eviscerated before packing (typically the larger varieties), or not; if not eviscerated they should be free of undigested or partially digested food or feces
Feces

Feces, faeces, or f?ces is a waste product from an animal's gastrointestinal tract expelled through the anus during defecation....
 (accomplished by holding the live fish in a tank for long enough that their digestive systems empty themselves). They may be packed in oil
Oil

An oil is a chemical substance that is in a viscosity liquid state at room temperature or slightly warmer, and is both hydrophobic and lipophilic ....
 or some sort of sauce
Sauce

In cooking, a sauce is liquid or sometimes semi-solid food served on or used in preparing other foods. Sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to another dish....
.

Classification

  • Genus Dussumeria
  • Genus Escualosa
    • Slender white sardine Escualosa elongata
    • White sardine Escualosa thoracata
  • Genus Sardina
    • European pilchard (true sardine) Sardina pilchardus
  • Genus Sardinella
    Sardinella

    Sardinella is a genus of fishes in the family Clupeidae....
    • Round sardinella (gilt sardine, Spanish sardine) Sardinella aurita Sardinella longiceps,Sardinella gibbosa(Indian sardines)
  • Genus Sardinops
    • South American pilchard
      South American pilchard

      The South American pilchard, Sardinops sagax, is a sardine of the Family Clupeidae, the only member of the genus Sardinops, found in the indo-Pacific oceans....
       (Pacific sardine, California sardine, Chilean sardine, South African sardine) Sardinops sagax (Jenyns, 1842)


Sardine in popular culture

Sardines are typically tightly packed in a small can which is scored for easy opening either with a pull tab (similar to how a can is opened), or a church key, attached to the side of the can. Thus, it has the virtues of being an easily portable, self-contained source of food, and often such things as sewing kits or survival kit
Survival kit

A survival kit is a package of basic tools and supplies prepared in advance as an aid to survival skills in an emergency. Military aircraft, lifeboat s, and spacecraft are equipped with survival kits....
s are packed in a similar container

. The close packing of sardines in the can has led to their being used metaphorically for any situation where people or objects are crowded together; for instance, in a bus
Bus

A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. A bus can generally seat a maximum of anywhere from 8 to 200 passengers; many more passengers than a minivan....
 or subway car.

United Kingdom

Pilchard fishing and processing was a thriving industry in Cornwall
Cornwall

Cornwall , constitutional Duchy and palatine, is a metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain....
 from around 1750 to around 1880, after which it went into an almost terminal decline. However, as of 2007, stocks are improving (q.v. River Cottage
River Cottage

River Cottage is a former weekend and holiday home, that used to be a former game keepers lodge in the grounds of Slape Manor, Netherbury, Dorset....
: Gone Fishing 22/11/08).

The industry has featured in numerous works of art, particularly by Stanhope Forbes
Stanhope Forbes

Stanhope Alexander Forbes Royal Academician, , was an artist and member of the then influential Newlyn school of painters. He was married to fellow painter Elizabeth Adela Stanhope Forbes ....
 and other Newlyn School
Newlyn School

The Newlyn School is a term used to describe a colony of artists based in or near to Newlyn, a fishing village adjacent to Penzance, Cornwall, from the 1880s until the early 20th century....
 artists.

A traditional Cornish pilchard dish is stargazy pie
Stargazy pie

Stargazy pie is a Cornwall, England dish made of baked pilchards and five other kinds of seafish, covered with a pastry crust. The pilchards are arranged with their tails toward the centre of the pie and their heads poking up through the crust around the edge, so that they appear to be gazing skyward....
 or starry gazy pie
Stargazy pie

Stargazy pie is a Cornwall, England dish made of baked pilchards and five other kinds of seafish, covered with a pastry crust. The pilchards are arranged with their tails toward the centre of the pie and their heads poking up through the crust around the edge, so that they appear to be gazing skyward....
.

In some areas of the Midlands, the male sardine is known as a "malcolm".

Portugal

Sardines play an important role in Portuguese culture
Culture of Portugal

The culture of Portugal is rooted in the Latin culture of Ancient Rome, with Celtiberians and Lusitanian backgrounds. Portugal, as a country with a long history, is home to several ancient architectural structures, as well as typical art, furniture and literary collections mirroring and chronicling the events that shaped the country and it...
. Having been a people who depended heavily on the sea for food and commerce, the Portuguese have a predilection for fish in their popular festivities. The most important is Saint Anthony
Anthony of Padua

Saint Anthony also venerated as Saint Anthony of Lisbon and Saint Anthony of Padua, is a Catholic saint who was born in Lisbon, Portugal, as Fernando Martins de Bulh?es to a wealthy family and who died in Padua, Italy....
's day, 13th June, when the biggest popular festival takes place in Lisbon
Lisbon

Lisbon is the Capital and largest city of Portugal. It is also the seat of the Lisbon and capital of the Lisbon region. Its municipalities of Portugal, which matches the city proper excluding the larger continuous conurbation, has a municipal population of 564,477 in , while the Lisbon Metropolitan Area in total has around 2.8 million inha...
, taking the people to the streets where grilled sardines are the snack of choice. Almost every place in Portugal, from Figueira da Foz
Figueira da Foz

Figueira da Foz , also known as Figueira for short, is a city of the Coimbra , in Portugal. It is located at the mouth of the Mondego river, 40 km west of Coimbra, and sheltered by hills ....
 to Portalegre
Portalegre

----Portalegre is a city and a municipalities of Portugal in Portugal with a total area of 447.1 km? and a total population of 24,756 inhabitants....
, or from Póvoa de Varzim
Póvoa de Varzim

P?voa de Varzim is a Portugal city in the Norte and sub-region of Greater Porto, with a 2007 estimated population of 66,463. According to the 2001 census, there were 63,470 inhabitants with 42,396 living in the city proper....
 to Olhão
Olhão

Olh?o or Olh?o da Restaura??o is a city and a Municipalities of Portugal in the Algarve region, southern Portugal. It is located near Faro, Portugal which is the district's capital and the capital of the Algarve.It is mostly a fishing port cityFaro,Olhao,Loule and Tavira form an urban conurbation,around the city of Faro,in Sotavento ,i...
 has the summertime popular tradition of eating grilled sardines (sardinhas assadas).

India

Sardines are a favourite of Keralites & Tamilians. It is also one of the favourite fish of the people of costal Karnataka
Karnataka

Karnataka is a States and territories of India in the southern part of India. It was Unification of Karnataka on November 1, 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act....
. However, the fish is typically used fresh and canned sardines are not popular. Fried sardines are a much sought after delicacy. It is called as Mathi or Chalai in Tamil Nadu & Kerala. People from costal Karnataka call it as Pedvo or Bhootai. Sardines are cheaper in India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 (compared to larger fish like the Seer
Seer

Seer or Seers or SEER may refer to:Predicting the future* A Clairvoyance or a prophet* The Seer , a fictional character on the television series Charmed...
 or Pomfret
Pomfret

Pomfret are perciform fishes belonging to the family Bramidae.They are found in the Atlantic, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Oceans, and the largest species, the Atlantic pomfret, Brama brama, grows up to one metre long....
) making it a common person's delicacy. It is a pelagic fish, caught in fairly large quantities using a purse seine or a ring seine. Consumed in various forms, including deep fried, pan fried, made into curries of various types.

Spain

In the Timanfaya Volcanic National Park on Lanzarote
Lanzarote

Lanzarote, a Spain island, is the easternmost of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 125 km off the coast of Africa and 1,000 km from the Iberian Peninsula....
 in the Canary Islands
Canary Islands

The Canary Islands are a Spain archipelago which, in turn, forms one of the Spanish Autonomous Communities and an Outermost Region of the European Union....
, a popular tourist menu is to eat sardines, freshly caught that morning, grilled over the heat
Geothermal (geology)

In geology, geothermal refers to heat sources within the planet. Geothermal is technically an adjective but in U.S. English the word has attained frequent use as a noun ....
 from a volcanic vent.

Croatia

Fishing for sardela or sardina (Sardina pilchardus) on the Croatia
Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a Central European country at the crossroads of Pannonian Plain, Balkans, and the Mediterranean Sea....
n Adriatic coasts of Dalmatia
Dalmatia

Dalmatia is a region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, situated mostly in modern Croatia and spreading between the island of Rab in the northwest and the Bay of Kotor in the southeast....
 and Istria
Istria

File:Istria Croatian Adriatic.pngIstria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner....
 is an ongoing activity tracing its roots back thousands of years. The region was part of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, then largely a Venetian
Republic of Venice

The Most Serene Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice . It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century AD until the year 1797....
 dominion, and has always been sustained through fishing mainly sardines. All along the coast there are many towns that promote the age-old practice of fishing by lateen sail boats for tourism and on festival occasions. Today this tradition is also continued by many producers.

Serbia

Although currently a landlocked country, Serbia
Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a country in Central Europe and Balkans Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central part of the Balkans....
 has a tradition of consuming sardines as a result of being part of Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia

File:LocationYugoslavia2.pngYugoslavia is a term that describes three political entities that existed successively on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century....
 and having access to the Adriatic coast and its traditions. Sardines as well as all kinds of sea-food are very popular in Serbia for their healthy characteristics and favourable taste. The first factory producing canned sardines opened in 2007 in the village of Belotinac (near the southern city of Niš
Niš

Ni? is a city in Ni?ava District, Serbia situated at 43.3? N 21.9? E, on the Ni?ava River. With more than 250,000 inhabitants it is the largest city of South Serbia and third-largest city in the country, after Belgrade and Novi Sad....
), mostly using fish from Morocco
Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 34 million and an area just under 447,000 km2....
 and Croatia
Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a Central European country at the crossroads of Pannonian Plain, Balkans, and the Mediterranean Sea....
.

Nutrition

Sardines are healthful and considered a "brain food." These fish are rich in omega 3 fatty acids, which can help maintain a healthy heart. Recent studies suggest that omega-3 fatty acids slow the progression of mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. These fatty acids can also help control blood sugar level. Not only are sardines high in omega-3 fatty acids, but they are also a good source of vitamin D
Vitamin D

Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble prohormones, the two major forms of which are vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 . The term vitamin D also refers to metabolites and other analogues of these substances....
, calcium
Calcium

Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft grey alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth most abundant element by mass in the earth's Crust ....
, B12 and protein
Protein

Proteins are organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid Residue ....
.

Sardines are extremely low in contaminants such as mercury
Mercury (element)

Mercury , also called quicksilver or hydrargyrum , is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. A heavy, silvery d-block metal, mercury is one of six elements that are liquid at or near room temperature and pressure....
.

See also

  • Anchovy
    Anchovy

    The anchovies are a Family of small, common salt-water fish. There are about 140 species in 16 genera, found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans....
  • Fish as food
    Fish (food)

    Fish as food describes the edible parts of freshwater and seawater, poikilothermic vertebrates with gills. Shellfish, such as mollusks and crustaceans, are other edible water-dwelling animals that fall into the broadest category of fish....
  • Niboshi
    Niboshi

    Niboshi are Japanese dried baby sardines . They are one of many varieties of small dried fish used throughout Asia in snacks and as seasoning for soup stocks and other foods....


External links