The Tinned Fish 25 · No. 20 of 25

  1. Two-Chilli Sardines with Lemon from La Belle-Iloise No.20Photo: The Tinned Fish Market (UK)

    Sardines and sprats · France and Italy

    Two-Chilli Sardines with Lemon

    From La Belle-Iloise · Quiberon, Brittany

    In olive oil with chili●●Spicy

    A Breton cannery founded by Georges Hilliet in 1932 by the fishing port of Quiberon. It still sells mostly through its own shops in French seaside towns, in tins with their famous painted labels.

    French sardines with real chili and lemon. The tin to bring back from Brittany, or order from London.

    Eat it withBaguette and butterRadishesMuscadet
    Order from The Tinned Fish Market (UK) ↗

    La Belle-Iloise doesn't sell this tin direct here, so the button goes to The Tinned Fish Market (UK), a shop that carries it.

    Chef's quick recipe

    Sardine rillettes, the Breton way

    10 min · 1 small bowl (4 toasts) · Mashed with butter and cream cheese, sardines become the spread every Breton bar serves with a glass of Muscadet.

    Save to my recipes

    You need

    • 1 tin La Belle-Iloise two-chilli sardines
    • 2 tbsp soft salted butter
    • 2 tbsp cream cheese
    • 1 tsp lemon juice
    • 1 small shallot, very finely chopped
    • 1 tbsp chopped chives
    • Black pepper
    • Baguette, sliced and toasted

    How to make it

    1. Lift out the sardines, keeping the oil and chilies. Remove the backbone if you like (it's soft and edible).
    2. Mash the sardines with the butter, cream cheese and lemon juice until coarse and creamy.
    3. Chop one of the chilies from the tin very finely and stir it in with the shallot and chives. Season with pepper.
    4. Pack into a small bowl and drizzle with a spoonful of the tin's oil. Serve with the toasts.

    Chef's own recipe, in our words, built around the tin. It isn't La Belle-Iloise's.

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← No. 19 Real Conservera EspañolaNo. 21 Rizzoli Emanuelli →

How to buy a good tin. Look for the fish named on the front (sardines, not "fish"), olive oil rather than "vegetable oil", and a cannery's name and town on the back.

Keep it. Most tins last years in a cool cupboard, and sardines in oil get better with a year or two. Anchovies are the exception: keep them in the fridge.

Serve it. Warm oily fish a little (stand the closed tin in hot tap water for 5 minutes). Chill shellfish in escabeche for 10 minutes. Always keep the oil: it's the sauce.

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La Belle-Iloise didn't pay to be here. Order goes straight to The Tinned Fish Market (UK). The recipe is Chef's own, in our words.

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