At Maison DEHESA, the sardine is queen. A blue fish with delicate flesh, long thought humble, it now takes its seat at the tables of starred chefs. We serve it two ways: in the tin, in olive oil, and smoked, as a Japanese-style sashimi.
The little sardine, in the tin
Our XXS sardines are of a rare size: sixteen to twenty-two whole sardines in a 115 g tin. Caught with purse seines in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, they reach the cannery chilled. They are washed, brined, then steamed, with no frying at all. Laid in the tin, they are covered with olive oil, then the tin is sealed and sterilised.
There are two oils in a tin of sardines: the one you read on the label, the covering oil, and the invisible one that may have been used to fry them. Ours never know a fryer. The olive oil in the tin is the only oil they have ever met. Their flesh stays firm, never mealy, with a delicate fat and no dominant note of salt or oil.
The tin keeps for six years. Connoisseurs let it age and turn it over from time to time, so that the oil bathes all of the flesh.
What the little sardine brings
A small blue fish, the XXS sardine is naturally high in protein and high in omega-3 fatty acids: 1,400 mg of EPA and DHA per 100 g. EPA and DHA contribute to the normal function of the heart. The beneficial effect is obtained with a daily intake of 250 mg of EPA and DHA, about 18 g of these sardines, four little sardines, as part of a varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.
The smoked sardine, as sashimi
Our smoked XXL sardine comes from another school. Chosen among large sizes, salted, its bones removed with tweezers, it is slowly smoked in a Japanese style. Its flesh keeps a firm texture, between cooked and raw, like a sashimi, and a mineral fat that the smoke draws out. It too is naturally high in protein.
In 2022 it received the gold Épicure award for fine food, granted by Le Monde de l’épicerie fine.
Serve it chilled, taken out a few minutes before tasting, on toasted bread, with a squeeze of lemon or a few drops of P.X. vinegar.
The two Madame Sardines
The sardine in chefs’ kitchens
The little sardine in the tin:
- Antonin Bonnet pairs it with cockles, in bites for the aperitif.
The smoked XXL sardine:
- Josselin Marie matches it with mandarin and leek, then with leek confit in squid ink, at La Table de Colette.
- Alexia Duchêne lifts it with fermented black lemon.
- Romain Meder serves it with roasted cauliflower, yoghurt and smoked scamorza.
- Marvic Medina lays it on a Jerusalem artichoke, roasted and steamed.
- Aldwin Beets rolls it into winter rolls with colourful vegetables.
- Pierre-Thomas Clément pairs it with burrata.
- Aurélien Bonin turns it into a vitello sardinato.
- Jérôme Banctel draws from it a lesson in umami.
Our house recipes
Puff pastry, samosas, bruschetta, salad: our smoked sardine recipes are easy to make at home. For busy days, a gourmet dish in five minutes; for the holidays, sardine sashimi with P.X. vinegar.