Brisling

John is going through a phase right now where he watches a lot of episodes of Good Eats. An episode about nutrition prompted him to try eating a can of brisling, which are basically like high-end sardines. They're mostly very good for you, and their bones are so small and soft that you can eat the whole fish (minus the head).

While they're not really my taste, brisling are definitely not as gross as they sound. John took Alton Brown's suggestion and ate them on toasted bread, spread with avocado. The flavor is similar to canned tuna, and it made for a delightful lunch for John.


Then, this weekend we went to the Pinery, a provincial park on Lake Huron. We hiked and then had a picnic on the beach (more on that later). John brought along a can of actual sardines (which are cheaper than brisling) and decided to give them a try during our picnic. He can testify that brisling are different and, in fact, much better than sardines. The sardines were bigger and kind of falling apart. Their size led us to wonder what other types of sea critters they might have eaten during their lifetime. John quickly became disenchanted and decided to bury the contents of the can in the sand.











Here he is, dumping the fish into a sandy grave.
















There wasn't really anybody around to witness it, and you wouldn't even know they were there if I hadn't taken so many pictures to document it.



























Meanwhile, I was trying to tell this seagull, who kept a close eye on us the whole time we were eating, that there were fish just waiting to be eaten, a mere ten feet from where he was hanging out.