Mother (with young child): We're like sardines in here!
Child: What does that mean, Mummy?
Mother: Well, y'know, all crammed in. Like fish...in a jar.
I couldn't believe my ears. A jar? Sardines in a jar? What on earth was she talking about? Where was this nonsense coming from? What was she teaching her child?! While admittedly it is possible to buy various types of preserved fish in jars, surely sardines are universally known as being one of the most common tinned foodstuffs. The entire reason that "crammed in like sardines" has become a phrase frequently used to describe packed commuter trains (made of METAL) is because of the fact that they come so tightly packed IN TINS. How could anyone ever hear "sardines" and think "jar"?! But maybe this poor child would do so from now on, having been told a skewed meaning of the phrase by his mother.I could have ranted and raved, but of course I didn't. It was neither the time nor the place. "Do you remember that New Year's Eve when that strange man on the Tube started shouting at Mummy about tinned fish?" No, I bit my tongue and kept quiet.
I realised though, as I stood there in a state of semi-shock, that in a way this incident was a good thing, as it highlighted the need to raise the profile of the humble tin, and elevate its place not just in our kitchens, but our culture, history and even language as well. And I knew just the place to do so. There have been times in recent months when I have wondered whether or not to continue with this blog, which at times seems little more than a very weird personal obsession. This incident on the Tube on New Year's Eve, however, made me resolve to continue in 2017, with more determination, vigour, and [hopefully!] frequency than ever before. A world where children grow up thinking sardines come in a jar? Not while the Tin Cannoisseur is still here!
Happy New Year, all!
Although there is clearly a place for jarred fish in the food emporiums there is no place for confusing a poor child with such a mangled explanation. Surely the mother could have deferred answering rather than making an answer up.
ReplyDeleteOf course my understanding of the origin of the phrase was that sardines are packed so tightly because the metal surrounding them was more valuable than the contents. Now there is a thought for a future blog, the value of the contents vs the value of the tin???
On that subject I recently happened across some Princes Pressed Cod Roe in our local supermarket (where every little helps), 600g for £2.28 and 200g for £1.38. So it seems that despite the apparent scarcity of Cod, the eggs are still worth less than the metal surrounding them. Being of Scottish extraction I stood agonising over whether to buy the 200g tin and pay significantly more per g for my cod roe, or buy the 600g tin and potentially waste some (therefore not saving any money on my per g cost)or suffer cod roe overload and be put off for life.
In the end I went for corned beef, stable prices, same size tin and a myriad of uses after the main event in the event of leftovers!
Looking forward to continuing to read your blog in 2017 and picking up more Tin Cannoisseur inspiration.
Hello, thank you very much for your comment. I had never given a thought to value of tin vs. value of contents previously but that may well be worth some further research! One of my very first posts was about a tin of dressed lobster which I would have definitely thought would have been worth more than the tin itself, but who knows!
DeleteWith regards to the Cod Roe, don't worry about not having tried it as it just so happens I have a tin in my cupboard which I will be sampling and writing about very soon - watch this space and I will let you know if it's worth investing in! You're right though, you can't go wrong with a tin of corned beef which rarely disappoints whatever you do with it. I had a reasonable amount of success with some corned beef scotch eggs back in 2015:
http://thetincannoisseur.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/a-deep-fried-treat-in-honour-of.html
Many thanks for reading,
TTC