A Perfect Storm

Two unrelated circumstances came together recently to form what is currently the practice to call a perfect storm. It is hard to predict what a storm might leave in its wake; it depends on too many variable factors to be done with much accuracy. The nature of the storm; its strength and direction, and what lays in its path are a few that come readily to mind. My storm, when it came, could easily have been mistaken for a light breeze, and I certainly could not have predicted what it would leave behind.

Sardines are what it left behind. That -I think- illustrates very well my point about the unpredictability of the consequences of storms; as does this blog: Who could have predicted that something entitled “A Perfect Storm” would turn out to be about sardines?

The first circumstance to manifest was my diminishing interest in putting any effort into preparing meals. The second was the uncertainty of being able to rely on the availability of any particular item in the supermarket, because of the panic buying the virus crisis has prompted in many of us. It occurred to me that a possible solution to both these problems may well come in the form of cans. Had I been more discriminating in my choice of cans when I set about stocking up on them it is more than likely that sardines would not have been included, but my guard was down and they were.

I opened the sardines one lunch time when I found I had nothing else that didn’t need heating up. There were three of them lying there in the can, and they were not as tightly packed as their reputation had led me to expect. Nor did I expect how tasty they would be, and a world of possibilities opened up.

I was suddenly thinking of sardines in white wine sauce and sardines au vin: imagining sardines a la creme and sardines on a bed of couscous with roasted Mediterranean vegetables, and even sardines and mash, or sardines in the hole.

After a while, immediately after my disappointment at the infeasibility of sardine Kiev, I remembered why I had bought the sardines in the first place, so I just eat them straight from the can.