A panel of experts concluded that fish and shellfish from some cans opened well past their expiry dates looked and tasted as good as if the cans had just been manufactured.
Should you throw away that can of clams because the label says it expired last year? Will the clams be a glob? Will tuna be jellied over, better for stew than a salad (if at all safe to eat)? Not according to the results of an impromptu taste-test carried out recently at La Taberna Los Asturianos in Madrid, with, among others, afficionados Luis Gutiérrez, critical wine taster from the Robert Parker Wine Advocate team; the Galician canner José Peña, the champagne expert Omar Bravo, and the host and owner of the premises, Alberto Fernández. The team sampled and evaluated the quality and taste of an array of canned products, ranging from clams and other molluscs to bonito and other finfish, all many years old.
The assembled experts looked at the products one by one. José Peña folding back the lids of some cans of clams exclaimed, “look how white they are, they look freshly made, 24 pieces in amazing condition after 13 years!” Luis Gutiérrez opened a can of sardines aged a decade beyond the label advisory. He noted the fantastic appearance of its whitish and golden loins, and wonderful aroma and flavor. Not only can canned fish be like the day it was canned, but in fact, like a bottle of Tempranillo in a Spanish nobleman’s wine cellar, it can mature with age. The fish or shellfish merges over the years with the medium in which it was packed.
Thus, while not like a 200-year-old bottle of fine wine, a can of fish or shellfish—even clams—can be delightful, even after it has been sitting behind everything else in the cupboard for a few decades.