Hot girls are eating tinned fish, but I’m not sure how I feel about it.
I discovered this on TikTok, of course, and read an article on the subject that says, “It’s not a trend, it’s a lifestyle.”
Forget about the blah, water-packed tuna of your childhood and imagine instead absolutely perfect fish, preserved at its freshest in olive oil and (often) a handful of complementary spices or herbs, ready to be the crowning glory of your next appetizer spread or photo-worthy lunch.
Aside from the unnecessary tuna diss (how dare you!), the article did pique my interest. I can see the health benefits, of course, the essential fatty acids that will make our skin and hair beautiful. But is tinned fish smoked? Is it fishy? I don’t like smoked and/or fishy things.
When I was little my family had a boat on Lake Michigan and every summer we’d go on a two-week cruise with a bunch of other boating families. We’d stop at every port on the lake, from Michigan City to Mackinac Island. Some places were lovely (Saugatuck and Ludington come to mind), while other places were less so. I remember Leland being beautiful, but there were smoking huts by the harbor so everything smelled like fish. Because of this, I’m not a huge fan of anything smoked to this day. Whether it’s turkey or a brisket, it always tastes fishy to me.
(Btw, I couldn’t remember the name of the place with the fish smoking huts so I made some calls to my family and was reminded of the time we got caught sneaking off the boat one night, and of the place where “you ate so much ice cream that you got sick.” I don’t remember either of these things, but they track.)
I asked my Uber driver this morning if he ever tried tinned fish and was met with a resounding “Noooooooo.” He said he loves seafood too much to eat it out of a can. He tries to keep processed foods to a minimum and it probably has a lot of sodium. I did a little research and found this to be true.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Meet the Mess to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.