NURI Small Mackerels in Spicy Olive Oil. Whole small mackerels with chili, gherkin, and bay leaf – NURI's boldest spicy tin.
NURI Small Mackerels in Spicy Olive Oil are whole young Atlantic mackerels, steam-cooked and packed by hand in olive oil, accompanied by two percent chili, gherkin, carrot, clove, pepper, and bay leaf – 125g tin with 90g of fish. No fillets, no chili extract: small whole mackerels with skin and soft bones, and the heat comes from the chili pod included in the tin.
Small Mackerels in Spicy Olive Oil by NURI is the tin where the boldest fish in the range meets chili. Mackerel is naturally darker and oilier than sardines, and the piri-piri sits on top – the result is the most intense tin from NURI, even though the extra spicy sardine contains more chili. For us, this is the variety for customers who already know our spicy sardines and have tried all the other varieties in their pantry.
Bold fish, warm heat, bay leaf in the background
The small mackerels taste darker and sweeter than sardines, with the oily aroma that defines mackerel. The chili follows – warm, fruity, felt at the back of the throat, warming rather than burning. Clove and bay leaf give the oil a spicy depth, while gherkin and carrot are included as pickled vegetables in the tin. Together, this creates a tin that tastes more like a marinade than a canned product.
The fish is firm, the skin has silvery-blue stripes, and the bones are soft from steam-cooking and are eaten along with the fish. The oil is reddish from the chili and absorbs the aroma of the mackerel during storage – with this variety, the oil itself becomes an ingredient that can season a pan of fried potatoes.
This spicy version is not suitable for anyone who finds mackerel alone too intense – the boneless Mackerel Fillets in Spicy Olive Oil are a milder choice with the same level of heat. And for those who want the small mackerel plain, choose the Small Mackerels in Olive Oil.
On bread with onion, with fried potatoes, in potato salad
The spicy small mackerel pairs well with robust flavors and needs fat to balance it: bread, butter, mackerel, red onion – the butter catches the heat, the onion adds acidity. Add a piece of the gherkin from the tin; it is seasoned vegetable and belongs on the bread.
When warm, this is the perfect tin for the frying pan. Fry some potatoes in the chili oil from the tin, add onions, and let the mackerels warm through at the end – a dinner for two from one tin and three potatoes. In a potato salad with vinegar, oil, and gherkins, it replaces both the fish and the heat. On toast with tomato and pepper, it makes for a late supper; in a pasta dish with fennel and breadcrumbs, it serves as the most intense version of the Southern Italian classic.
Do not boil – only warm it up, otherwise the fish will fall apart and the chili will turn bitter. And use the oil sparingly: it is the spiciest element in the tin.
Our tip: Mash the mackerels and mix with cream cheese, lemon, and dill – a spicy mackerel spread for bread and flatbread that has more character than any store-bought chili cream.
From Matosinhos, from the same net as the sardines
NURI is produced by Pinhais & C.ª in Matosinhos, the fishing port of Porto, 500 meters from the Atlantic. The factory has been operating with the same method since 1920: only fresh fish, placed in brine, arranged by hand on racks, steam-cooked, and then placed individually into the tin by hand. In the spicy version, the chili pod, gherkin, carrot, bay leaf, and clove are added by hand before the olive oil is poured in.
Young mackerels are often caught in the same nets as sardines off the Portuguese coast and are processed in Matosinhos in exactly the same way – whole, with skin and bones. The recipe for the spicy version is the same as for the spicy sardines, only the fish is different. And because the chili pod continues to infuse in the tin, the contents tend to get spicier rather than milder over time.
Finally, this tin is also wrapped by hand in paper featuring a design from the 1930s. The tins reach Germany via the importer Maritime Zeitkapseln from Hanau.
The tin for those who want it bold and spicy
The spicy small mackerel is the tin for people who like smoked mackerel, enjoy spicy food, and are looking for a canned product that actually tastes like something. It is the tin for an evening with bread and beer, for a vacation apartment, for Sunday fried potatoes. And like all NURI tins, it keeps for years in the pantry, becoming even more intense with time.
As a gift, it is the tin for sardine connoisseurs who are already familiar with NURI – the variety that is most rarely found on the shelf. You can find all varieties on our NURI page.
This tin is not suitable as an introduction to canned fish, for children, or for those who avoid chili – both the fish and the heat are bold here. For a gentle start, choose the Sardines in Tomato Sauce.
Whole small mackerels with chili, gherkin, and bay leaf from Matosinhos – NURI's boldest spicy tin, for bread, the frying pan, and potato salad.
