In my non- sandwich lunchtime quest, I consider many options prior to choosing what I will have to eat. To be honest, it’s a wonder I manage to get anything else done at all as it is quite a preoccupation, let me tell you. And today has been no exception.
Thankfully, I was inadvertently diverted to the tinned section of the supermarket and at last, found what I was looking for. Unlike U2. (little musical pun there for anyone who’s interested) Moving on.
Now I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love the packaging of tinned fish. Especially those rectangular size tins with the ring pull. There is just something so visually satisfying about the whole thing. The font size, the picture, the shine… I’m also drawn to the feeling of history they seem to emit, as though they have been stored for a very long time, but, due to their marvellous packaging, they will not fail to delight when released from the tin.
And so it turns out to be. Moreover, isn’t it bonkers how sardines really do seem to expand when you take them out of the tin? Talk about packing them in…
Back to lunch. Sardines on toast. Simple, but delicious. Now then, those of you like me, who are enamoured with the packaging of tinned fish will know that the classics come in tomato sauce or sunflower oil. I always plump for the ones in tomato sauce when plopping them on toast because I like to add a couple of bits to give it a ‘je ne sais quoi’.
Also, they do it on the telly and it always looks impressive. Not that we have a working telly anymore. I’m hoping for the leaves to fall from next door but one’s trees soon so that I can re-engage with the television. At the moment we have become the epitome of the 1950’s. Himself serenades me on the piano, and I have taken up knitting, which is wonderful, but… It’s starting to get dark earlier, everything takes a little more time to spring into action, and at the end of the day it is getting a little easier to sit, slightly dribbling, on the settee for many more hours than you imagined possible. But that’s a whole other story.
Anyway, where were we? Oh yes… Having had the immense pleasure of opening the tin, put one slice of bread under the grill to toast and pop the sardines and sauce into a bowl. Add salt, pepper, chilli flakes and a splash of vinegar in with the sardines, give them a mash up and plonk on the non toasted side of the bread. Put back under the grill until the sardines are slightly bubbling.
Make a cup of tea. Enjoy.
Being Nigella 