Why only occasional? It’s not high mercury, AFAIK.
purines?
Not mercury in the case of whitefish, but organic (in the chemistry sense) pollutants (dioxins, PCBs, PFAS/PFOS), which are a concern for practically all freshwater fish in the US. I don’t know where the whitefish were caught, but Lake Huron whitefish do contain dioxins. That said, they are probably safer to eat than fish higher up the food chain.
As far as tinned fish goes, mostly I eat mackerel, sardines, herring, and shellfish, just to stay low on the food chain. We have great local saltwater seafood in my town, especially scallops which is I think the biggest local commercial fishery. Speaking of delicious things we don’t eat in the US, I’m always sad that local scallops are sold without the roe attached.
Fortunately not something I have to worry about!
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Thanks and understood. I didn’t think about that.
Yes, it’s sad that scallops with the roe are basically not allowed in the US.
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Love fresh and marinated mackerel
But I have less than wonderful memories on canned - it was my poverty food when I was going through college on my own. 49 cents a can when tuna was 79 cents. Only mackerel for a few days in a row (plus veg). These were huge mackerels, 2 to a big can.
5 lbs. tins? Beats 25 cent ramen noodles.
15 oz.
Love smoked mackerel! Grew up on it.
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I grew up eating tinned smoked clams. Yummy.
Tinned Ventresca in olive oil is my favorite, but health and overfishing issues limit my consumption. Unfortunately.
Were these in water/brine or oil? I’ve seen some big tins of mackerel from Korea. I’ve not bought one yet as I wasn’t sure what to do with such a big tin (and I generally like tinned seafood in olive oil), but a Korean American friend of mine says these are used in a popular stew with kimchi, so I might try that.
There are these boiled fish cakes that you can get as a street food in Korea and Japan. I would get them as a late night snack after drinking and fill up on the hot broth that comes with it.
The kimchi stew with mackerel was also a lifesaver the following morning.
Another thing that I tried once and have ever since craved for is kangaroo. I had the most tender kangaroo meat at a Chinese restaurant in Sydney many moons ago.
Brine
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If you like tinned fish, you can get a great assortment at Rainbow Tomato Gardens. 
Great personalized service, too!
If you are in France keep an eye out for these tins. They have boutique shops all over France, but don’t ship to the US.
https://www.labelleiloise.fr
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I can’t believe I’m only seeing this thread now!
I think I went through all 230+ posts but sorry if I missed a few.
Before we left for Africa, when i was a wee man, my parents were struggling to make ends meet. My grandfather on my mom’s side was a butcher in the country. So we’d go see them on a regular basis and get whatever he couldn’t sell from his shop. So I basically grew up on kidneys, liver (and not veal which he could sell), ox tail and beef cheeks (before it was hip), pig’s feet, tripe, etc. My granddad would also make his own boudin noir (blood pudding) in a huge terrine and would serve it with a ladle.
That was after my dad declared bankruptcy in Gaspésie where he would go see the fisherman before market at the harbor to get cod liver and heads on the cheap. I remember that my mom and dad would take the tongues out of the cod heads and sautée them in butter. I remember loving those but never had them since then!
In Africa, deep “brousse” of Niger, we were treated like esteemed guests (like El Hadj) and were always offered the delicacies (amourettes, sheep eyes, etc,). That’s also where I developed my taste for ultra spicy foods.
All that to say, I’ve been exposed to a lot of foods and now look for anything I’ve never tried before on any menu while vacationing.
The one big fail: my wife and I drove from Lyon to Santiago de Compostela to attend a friend’s wedding. On the way back, we stopped in Isla de la Toja (Illa da Toxa). We were in a restaurant one evening and I noticed, with my limited Spanish, something I did not know on the menu: ortiguillas de mar. Of course, I had to order it. Well lo and behold, a huge plate of fried “stuff” appeared in front of me. I tried one little sucker who exploded briny iodine in my mouth and I knew I would be struggling to finish the plate. I’m still hoping to find a better prepared version at some point down the road!
Bouille in Niger (millet or sorgho) surprised me as well, but i grew to love it. Even with dried camel meat! Zebu (xebu?) penis soup was pretty out there as well (Madagascar) but I don’t have an issue with chewiness.
I also remember my first live sea urchin served on a plate, cut in half and still squirming, in Dakar.
As a hunter, I’ve had raw moose liver and heart but that was more like a rite of passage than anything else.
I’ve never been a huge fan of beef tendons but in Pho, it works. Grilled cow aorta is actually pretty good.
I guess crocodile and snake meat is common in the US (at least some parts, I had some great dishes in NOLA).
But my absolute favorite which I haven’t seen mentioned is Andouillette!! Love it. Since I’ve been in France, it’s one of those can’t miss orders in “routiers” restaurants when we do road trips!
Great thread!
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Not just the tins, the island is pretty nice as well 
.
Thread drift alert: The ferry leaves from Quiberon on the Côte Sauvage of Bretagne. I think la Belle Îloise was founded there. You can see Belle-Île from Quiberon.
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I introduced a friend’s teenaged son to andouillette in Lyon. I don’t think he ever forgave me.
But I prefer (in fact, adore) boudin noir.
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