Other awkward moments ensued inside the sardine can-like carriages.

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If it were to appear on an official map, it would look like a sardine sandwiched between Ukraine in the east and Moldova to the west.

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Up and down the D-2 wine road wobbled minivans and rented Renaults sardine-packed like clown cars with blue-suited wine luminaries.

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There is not one case of transmission on our sardine-packed public-transport system or through the air-conditioning systems in office buildings.

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My father pulled a scavenger's wagon and my mother worked at a sardine factory where she sprinkled sugar, vinegar, and sesame seeds on the fish to be dried.

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The dish's briny-sweet-rich flavor also recalls a classic Venetian sardine preparation, sarde in saor, whereby fried sardines are preserved in a piquant mixture of vinegar, onions, herbs, currants and pine nuts.

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His firefly squid sashimi and carpaccio were tasty (and less squishy than the whole squid), but the standouts were the luscious beni-zuwaigani (red queen crab), velvety shiroebi (white shrimp), maiwashi (sardine), mejimaguro, (fatty tuna), and as a bonus, a bit of uni (sea urchin), imported from Hokkaido but as good as anything local.

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