Recipes for Creativity - Sardines on Toast
February 18, 2008
In July 2007 we told you we’d bring you some recipes for creativity; snacks and meals that get the creative juices running hot.
This is a recipe my father taught me and I just love it because it’s quick and easy to put together and it gives me an intense creative burst, especially for late night sessions.
What you need
- 1 tin of sardines in oil or water. I prefer Brunswick sardines because they have enough fish in each tin to make a decent sized snack for one sitting.
- 2 - 4 pieces of toasted bread.
- 1 tomato sliced in 4 pieces (one for each bit of toast)
- Black pepper (ground)
- Half a finely chopped onion (depending on size of onion)
- 1 tablespoon of malt vinegar
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 fork
Instructions
Open the sardines and put them all into the mixing bowl. Add the vinegar, finely chopped onion, and mash the sardines, onion and vinegar together. Add pepper to taste. The mashed sardines should be a bit sloppy.
Toast the bread. Spread the sardine mash onto the toasted bread (with or without spread as you wish). Garnish with sliced tomato and a little more black pepper, perhaps with a little salt on the tomato only. Adding a little parsley is also tasty.
Serve and enjoy.
This snack is high in energy and fish oil that gets the mind working optimally in a very short time. I generally will prepare this late at night and consume it while I work. It gives me a high energy creative boost for about 3 - 4 hours. The same recipe can be adapted substituting tinned salmon. Joel Falconer would probably do it with tuna. But then he’s a bit like peppercorns placed between the hard jaws of a nut cracker that is closed with force. You don’t need to use all the sardine mix at once. If you have some left over for the next night that’s great. Just toast your bread, spread and garnish with tomato.
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Is this true or are you trying to trying to see how many people are going to try it? I have never heard of this before. Wild, I am almost tempted to try it.
http://www.ministrybestpractices.com/2008/02/5-ways-to-spark-creativity.html
It’s a “loaves and fishes” recipe, Bill, so what do you think?
I can tell you this, it works for me and is one of my staple meals and I am almost never lost for words and find my energy is sustained by this particularly tasty snack.
There is a lot of truth behind this recipe, Bill.
Omega-3 is a nutrient that helps the brain function. It’s added into breakfast cereals for kids so that by the time they get to school in the morning their brains can work at optimum capacity.
Fish oil is a good source of Omega-3 and sardines are considered to be oily fish, therefore more fish oil. I recall being in a doctor’s surgery and reading a poster that said that older folks should take cod liver oil capsules to help prevent against the on set of ailments such as Alzheimer’s.
Fish and seafood is a good source of protein, and protein is great for energy – that’s why people on fitness programs have protein shakes.
For keeping you awake at night or that energy boost this would probably be healthier than say, caffeinated coffee.
You have the tomato and pepper, in the recipe, which are good sources of antioxidant. You’re probably aware of their cancer preventing qualities. Some antioxidants help the body absorb and process oxygen more effectively which, in turn, helps the brain out.
The salt, if iodized, contains iodine which is something a lot of people lack – lacking iodine is said to hamper brain function.
So in general this is a healthy, energy filled snack/meal and could be considered brain food. We can assume when the brain is functioning well, your creativity functions well also.
Sorry NDK, this sounds great but you won’t see me helping myself to five thousand anytime soon. I don’t like sardines at all.
I’m in the same boat as Branwen, I’m not a fan of seafood/fish.
It seems such a shame, especially with all that oily goodness going on!
Yup, that’s pretty much how it is. “fishes”? My goodness where did that come from? Can’t really agree with all of your take on creativity though Bill most especially Point 1. Though 99.9% of what you’re saying is otherwise workable.