I have been eating a tin a day for the past few weeks. Today I took one single bite, and my lips and mouth got itchy. Now I'm getting a rash around my mouth. I get this sometimes with raw apples, but I've never had an issue with sardines. I'm not allergic to any seafood, as far as I know. Could this be a something in this single tin, or a more general issue that is developing?
As a little treat, I bought some more expensive tins from World Market. It was a nice divergence from my normal Trader Joe's tins. If anyone has more recommendations, I'd love that!
Sardines a la tapenade (9/10): I think these were the best quality fish. They were firmer and had most of the skin still on. Not super olive-ey, so I added some kalamata olives when I had these as a midnight snack.
Sardines in olive oil with lemon (7/10): I could taste the lemon slightly, but had to add some lemon juice to amp it up. These fish were really big, and two had roe! The other had GIANT livery organs, which are my favorite part of sardines. If anyone knows exactly what they are (smooth and livery, sort of anteroventral) I would love to know. I've seen others say that sardines are too small to have liver, so I'm curious.
Spiced sardines in tomato sauce (8/10): I really liked these, and I'm usually not huge on spicy food. The addition of vegetables in the sauce was nice, and it went great with my spaghetti dinner.