Sardines

Sardines, or pilchards, are several types of small, oily fish related to herrings, family Clupeidae. The term sardine was first used in English during the early 15th century, and may come from the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, around which sardines were once abundant.

The terms sardine and pilchard are not precise, and what is meant depends on the region. The United Kingdom's Sea Fish Industry Authority, for example, classifies sardines as young pilchards. One criterion suggests fish shorter in length than 6 inches (15 cm) are sardines, and larger ones pilchards. The FAO/WHO Codex standard for canned sardines cites 21 species that may be classed as sardines;FishBase, a comprehensive database of information about fish, calls at least six species "pilchard", over a dozen just "sardine", and many more with the two basic names qualified by various adjectives.

Sardines occur in several genera

^† There are four distinct stocks in the genus Sardinops, widely separated by geography. The FAO treats these stocks as though they are separate species, whereas FishBase treats them as though they are the same species, Sardinops sagax.

Mark Bittman (born c.1950) is an American food journalist and author. He is a columnist for The New York Times.

Bittman is a graduate of Stuyvesant High School Class of 1967 and of Clark University.

Bittman is a prolific author on the topic of food and cooking. Three of his books, including Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef, have been given the IACP/Julia Child and/or James Beard awards.

Bittman published his book Leafy Greens in 1995, How to Cook Everything in 1998, Fish - The Complete Guide to Buying and Cooking in 1999 and Simple to Spectacular in 2000.

In 2005 he published the book, The Best Recipes in the World and Bittman Takes On America's Chefs and hosted the Public Television series Bittman Takes on America's Chefs which won the James Beard Award for best cooking series.

In 2007 he published How to Cook Everything Vegetarian and created the film "What's wrong with what we eat?".

Bittman appeared with Gwyneth Paltrow and Mario Batali, in a PBS series called Spain... on the road Again in 2008.