Who is this option for?

Organisers preparing cooked savoury bites

You’re making a savoury recipe for a school fair or community fundraiser and can store the fish in a freezer, transport it chilled and cook it thoroughly before serving.

Teams looking to minimise bones

You’d rather start with fillets than whole sardines, while still checking for any remaining bones before adding the fish to your recipe.

Organisers who may struggle with chilling or allergen information

You can’t keep the fish chilled throughout preparation or clearly tell families what the recipe contains. For a school fair for children, a recipe without fish avoids these sardine-specific challenges.

What should you check?

If you’re planning to serve a savoury fish dish, choose between fillets and whole sardines based on how much preparation you can manage, then check the storage and serving requirements. Sardines aren’t suitable for a sweet bake sale.

Criterion What to check Consumers concerned
Chilling and cooking The storage and defrosting instructions on the pack, and whether you can cook the fish thoroughly before serving. If I can’t keep the fish chilled until preparation, I’d rather rule out sardines than rely on cooking to make up for poor storage. For around 33% of the consumers concerned, maintaining the cold chain and cooking the fish properly would be the main priority.
Allergens Whether the batch contains fish and any warnings about crustaceans or molluscs; the recipe ingredients that you’ll need to tell families about. Before offering bites to families, I need to be able to tell them what they contain, including relevant allergens. This would be the main concern for around 33% of the consumers concerned.
Bones and preparation Whether the pack says “not deboned” or notes that bones may naturally be present, and how much time it takes to prepare fillets or whole fish. When serving children, I want to be able to check the fish carefully: buying fillets doesn’t mean you can skip checking for bones. Around 20% of the consumers concerned would make this preparation work their top priority.
Pack size The weight of the packs, how much you actually need and how much freezer space you have. If I’m making only a few portions, I don’t want to open or defrost more fish than I can use. The quantity needed would be the main criterion for around 14% of the consumers concerned.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Assuming “fillet” means “boneless”

    Picard says its fillets haven’t been deboned, while Maison Thiriet notes that bones may naturally be present. This is particularly important to bear in mind when preparing food for children.

    Check the information on the pack and make time to inspect the fillets before adding them to your recipe. If you can’t carry out this check, choose a different option.

  • Relying on cooking after the cold chain has been broken

    According to Anses, poor storage of sardines can encourage histamine to form, and neither cooking nor freezing destroys it.

    Follow the product’s transport and storage instructions. If you can’t keep it chilled on the day of the fair, don’t use sardines in this recipe.

  • Leaving fish out of the information you give families

    Fish is an allergen; warnings about crustaceans and molluscs vary between products. In France, the DGCCRF says that allergens in prepacked food must be highlighted on the label.

    Keep the packaging from the batch you use and tell families what the recipe contains. Don’t describe a recipe as free from an allergen unless you have relevant information about all its ingredients.

  • Choosing a large pack without planning how you’ll use it

    A 10 kg pack, such as the one offered by écomiam, needs more storage space and a preparation plan that suits the number of portions you’ll be making.

    Work out how much you need and check your freezer capacity before choosing between individual packs and a bulk pack.

    Picard and Maison Thiriet product pages say not to refreeze a defrosted product, so plan to use the quantity you take out of the freezer.

Brands to know for frozen sardines

Picard

Picard offers frozen sardine fillets with the skin on in a 500 g pack. Its product page says they are sourced from French fisheries.

  • The product page says they can be cooked without defrosting, which is useful if you’re preparing the recipe shortly before serving.
  • The fillets haven’t been deboned; the product page also warns that traces of crustaceans and molluscs may be present.

Maison Thiriet

Maison Thiriet offers frozen sardine fillets with the skin on in a 500 g pack. Its product page says they are sourced from France.

  • The product page includes defrosting and cooking instructions to help you plan your preparation.
  • The fillets need to be defrosted first, and the product isn’t guaranteed to be free of bones.

écomiam

écomiam offers frozen sardine fillets in a 500 g pack, as well as a 10 kg bulk pack containing 20 individual packs.

  • These two pack sizes make it easier to match the amount you buy to the quantity you plan to prepare.
  • The product page recommends defrosting for around two hours in the fridge and says it is packed in a facility that handles crustaceans and molluscs. You should also check for bones.

Joybuy products related to this topic

Related products coming soon.

Frequently asked questions

Can you serve raw or lightly cooked sardines at a school fair?

Not if young children are among the people you’re serving: Anses says they shouldn’t eat raw, smoked or undercooked fish. Make sure the fish is cooked thoroughly before serving.

How should you tell families that a recipe contains fish?

Clearly share the recipe ingredients and keep the packaging from the ingredients you use. For prepacked food sold in France, the DGCCRF says allergens must be highlighted on the label. Check with the organiser how best to share this information at the fair.

Are frozen sardine fillets boneless?

Not necessarily: Picard says its fillets haven’t been deboned, while Maison Thiriet notes that bones may be present. Check the pack you’ve chosen and inspect the fillets as you prepare them.

Can you refreeze fillets after defrosting them?

Picard and Maison Thiriet product pages say not to refreeze a defrosted product. Plan how much you’ll prepare and follow the instructions on the pack you buy.