Trader Joe’s Calamari in Olive Oil Review Pt. 1

I managed to receive a generous shipment the other day from family and decided to crack open a can. Here is my preliminary review of the product, as is, unaided by other flavours or preparations. I want to preface by saying that I plan to do another review of how I used the product later. This is simple a straight-out-of-the-can review.

Appearance: This tin boasts a generous amount of squid, uniform in size with good variety of body and tentacle pieces. The oil is mixed olive, and pours very clear with little debris from the squid itself.

Smell: the aroma from the can was mildy fishy, much like opening a package of dried squid, with a clear bite of ammonia. This was not a red flag for me, but some may find it off-putting if unfamiliar.

Taste: upon draining the can, I ate the entire amount and was generally impressed. The squid pieces themselves were bouncy and tender, not at all tough, and they ate well. Again, there is a clear aroma of squid and after eating a fair amount, the ammonia smell at the back of my mouth got a bit overwhelming, so I would not recommend this as a tin you eat sans accoutrements. For the price point, $3.99 USD, it is a very fair product and would be a good ingredient to cook with. I will say that a few hard, bony protrusions from the skeleton were present, so be careful when chewing.

Texture: soft, tender, and meaty. Good chew and nice body overall.

Final thoughts: glad I finally got to try this tin! On the whole, I was impressed. I would not recommend eating this the way I just did as it is not the nicest to down by itself. But clearly there is a great base product to work with to add to salads, pastas, chowders, whatever your fishy heart desires! I would give this tin an average rating with pros being the price point, uniformity, and texture.