Taste of Olney

This week’s recipe by Danny Stewart brings us back to a taste combo that once was a ubiquitous menu item in big city delis, restaurants, and sandwich shops – a healthy, delicious and abundant food maligned into culinary oblivion by a rival’s marketing campaign. Sardine sandwiches may have fallen out of culinary favor since my grandparents’ time but they’re back – now boasting the added benefit of being hearthealthy and, in a small way, an antidote to overfishing. Danny’s signature sandwich centers around Donastia-brand sardines from Spain. Donastia is part of the official name for the city of San Sebastian, which is on the Bay of Biscay.

“This is a super-food sandwich,” Danny said. “You’ve got avocado, you could use whole grains. You’ve got sardines with good fat, and delicious mustard,” he said. “This is a gourmet line of seafood from Spain. We have sardines, we have anchovies, we have tuna and we also have some Spanish peppers. They are delicious - they’re like what you would find on tapas in Spain. They are very different – much milder than regular sardines and would make a great lunch, just on lettuce with some lemon juice.” The sardine sandwich requires no measuring - just assembling classic deli ingredients: rye bread, deli mustard, avocado, sardines, and lemon zest. It is the perfect lunch on the go. Chef Mike Colameco recalls when sardine sandwiches were ever present in American restaurants. “Back then, the New York market consumed five million tins a year, and the sardine industry was the state of Maine’s largest employer,” he wrote in Saveur magazine. “I knew this because my father was in food sales, peddling the European gourmet specialties of that era, and we had cans of sardines around the house all the time. …we’d eat them piled on Triscuits and wash them down with Schmidt’s beer.”

In the 1950s, international tuna conglomerates began huge marketing campaigns to displace the lowly sardine, Mr. Colameco writes. “It seemed that overnight, tuna salad was in and sardines were out. Tuna was cheaper, less ‘fishy’ tasting, and, of course, it seemed less ethnic.” The byproduct of this switch, he said, was “factory tuna trawlers, depleted tuna stocks, massive bycatch loss, and mercury as a dietary supplement.”

“By contrast, sardines remain abundant, bycatch is very low, and their meat is loaded with vitamins, minerals, and omega-3 oils, without the heavy metals and toxins often found in larger fish,” he said.

To make a Danny Stewart sardine sandwich, toast a couple of slices of rye bread, spread them with good mustard, smash half of an avocado on one side, and pile sardines on the other. Sprinkle lemon zest or lemon juice on both halves and salt and pepper, if you desire. The key ingredient is good sardines, he said.

All ingredients in this recipe are available at Stewart’s Food Store. Bon Appetit! Suggested Ingredients (per sandwich): 2 slices rye or wheat bread 1 ripe avocado 1 tin sardines 1 lemon Dijon mustard Salt and pepper to taste Preparation:

Step 1: Toast bread and spread with mustard.

Step 2: Slice avocado meat. Zest and/or juice lemon.

Step 3: Pile avocados on one toast slice. Pile sardines on second toast slice.

Step 4: Sprinkle lemon zest and/or lemon juice on avocado and sardines, and salt and pepper, if using.

Step 5: Smash slices together and enjoy!