﻿10 The Philippine Journal of Science isu 



bung is driven in or the cans sealed up. An excellent account 

 of the method of marinating eels as practiced in Italy is given 

 by James Hornell. 8 



CANNING SARDINES AND OTHER FISHES IN THE PHILIPPINES 



I believe that there is a good opening for a moderate amount 

 of capital in the canned fish industry in the Philippines. This 

 is especially true if the fish cannery is operated in conjunction 

 with some allied industry; for instance, a tomato-catsup fac- 

 tory. These two could easily be combined. Excellent tomatoes 

 are grown in the vicinity of Manila, and a good market would 

 stimulate additional planting. Oriental people prefer sardines 

 put up in tomato sauce, so a portion of the output could be used 

 for that purpose. The refuse of the fish cannery could readily 

 be ground and pressed for chicken feed or fertilizer. There- 

 fore, in a properly organized cannery there would be three prod- 

 ucts to put on the market — sardines, tomato catsup, and "bone 

 meal" or fertilizer. Satisfactory labor at a reasonable rate could 

 be readily secured. Taking into consideration the large quanti- 

 ties of fresh sardines landed each morning at Tondo beach, it is 

 surprising that some local capitalist has not opened a cannery. 



In brief outline, the method of preparing sardines is as fol- 

 lows: 



Catch the fish. 



Rinse the fish well in salt or fresh water. 



Spread on tables or a clean floor and sprinkle with a little salt. 



Clean by removing heads and entrails. 



Place the fish in brine of sufficient strength to float a potato, where they 



should remain until the salt "strikes in." This will take from one-half 



to one hour. 

 Rinse rapidly in two waters to remove scales, dirt, and excess of salt. 

 Dry in the open air by placing the fish, tails up, in shallow wire baskets, 



so that water will run out of the abdominal cavity. In good weather 



one hour or even less is sufficient for drying. In bad weather, dry 



indoors. The wire baskets full of fish should be hung up so the air may 



circulate freely through them. 

 Cook the fish in oil by immersing these wire baskets with the fish in them 



in boiling peanut or olive oil. They should remain in the oil about two 



minutes or until the tail fin breaks easily. 

 Hang up the baskets so that the oil will drain off, and leave until the fish 



are cool. 

 Pack the fish in tins. 

 Fill the packed tins with olive oil, tomato catsup, or whatever is desired; 



a few cloves, small peppers, or thyme may be used. 

 Solder or clamp the covers so that they are absolutely air-tight. 



'Bull. Madras Fisheries Bureau (1911), 2. No. 6, 50. 



