Four silvery, firm-textured sardines in extra virgin olive oil with a slice of green and red chilli pepper for warmth and a refreshing zip of lemon. The sardines balance fruity flavours with a subtle chilli kick and the lemon brings some zing.
Recipe tip: enjoy from the tin, warm through and add to a linguine or smash on toast. Alternatively, la belle-iloise recommends softening some onions in olive oil from the tinned sardines, adding spices, herbs and some nuac mam, and then spreading the mixture over a puff pastry-lined pizza dish, then arranging the sardines and some olives on top, covering the fish with slices of tomato and finally cooking in the oven for 20 minutes.
La belle-iloise was founded in the fishing port of Quiberon, Brittany in 1932 by Georges Hilliet, when he was 22 years old. Quiberon was one of France’s key sardine canning hubs, with 14 canneries located there.
Hilliet was a firm believer in quality, artisanal production from the outset and resisted the emergence of mass retailing in the 60s, keeping faith with his own production values. He vowed he’d sooner sell his sardines from a basket on the beach than compromise on quality. The company was eventually re-named la belle-iloise, a tribute to the people of Belle-Ile - the island opposite Quiberon where the sardines are caught.
Today Hilliet’s granddaughter Caroline Hilliet Le Branchu helms the company, continuing her grandfather’s ethos of quality, sustainable production and tinned fish that melds traditional recipes with innovative flair.
