The Worst Winning Head Coaches in Super Bowl History

      I sometimes like to explore the negative, so I've done a few sports-related posts about the worsts.  As in the worst MLB Rookies of the Year, worst MLB Cy Young award winners, and worst Super Bowl winning starting quarterbacks.  Today I'd like to do the same for the head coaches who have won Super Bowls.  Just to get this out of the way, clearly all of the 36 guys who have won Super Bowls were at least competent, if not good, or very good, or even excellent.  So this is trying to determine the worst of the still best, or at least worst of the at least good for one year coaches.  Also, determining ability for head coaches isn't as cut and dried as for the players themselves (which also can be controversial, but less so, in my opinion).  Because, obviously, coaches don't play.  If they have a roster of bad players, even the best coach in the universe won't be able to win much.  And, conversely, with a squad of great players, even a mediocre coach will probably win quite a few games, almost despite themselves.  So it's kind of a chicken or the egg conundrum.  So, picking the worst coaches has more than the usual subjectivity to it.  To try to add some objectivity to this problem, I'm going to use some statistics.  For judging head coach effectiveness, I think the best metrics are wins and losses.  So I'll have some charts on these, in various forms.  At the end I'll throw out my, at least somewhat subjective picks for the worst head coaches to win a Super Bowl.  As usual, NFL fans will probably disagree with some, or maybe most of my picks.  Feel free to comment with the reasons why.  Anyway, let's get started.

     Let's start with the coaches with the fewest regular season wins for a Super Bowl winning head coach.  Several of these guys are still active, meaning they'll almost certainly add to their career win totals.  I'll mark these with asterisks (*).  Also, of course, some guys didn't coach that long, which obviously means they'll have fewer wins.  So these numbers need to be taken with a huge grain of salt, so to speak.  I'm starting out with the weakest stat.  Finally, both of the coaches for the Super Bowl being played tomorrow, Mike Vrabel of the Patriots and Mike MacDonald of the Seahawks, will qualify for this list--I'll update it when I can with whoever is the winner.  Coaches elected to the Hall of Fame will have this noted as well, with the abbreviation HOF.

11)    96  Vince Lombardi, Green Bay Packers, Washington Redskins, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 2 Super Bowl wins, also 3 NFL titles in the pre-Super Bowls time in the NFL coached from 1959-67, and 1969.  HOF.

9) (tie)  *92 Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2017-25 (still active).

9)   92  Bill Walsh, San Francisco 49ers, 3 Super Bowl appearances, 3 Super Bowl wins, coached from 1979-88.  HOF

8)   82  Gary Kubiak, Houston Texans, Denver Broncos, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2006-13, and 2015-16.

5) (tie)  80  Bruce Arians, Indianapolis Colts, Arizona Cardinals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1 Super Bowl appearance, I Super Bowl win, coached from 2013-21.

5)       80  Jimmie Johnson, Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 2 Super Bowl wins, coached from 1989-93, and 1996-99.  HOF.

5)       80  Brian Billick, Baltimore Ravens, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1999-2007.

4)      64 Doug Pederson, Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville Jaguars, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2016-20, and 2022-24.

3)     *59 Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia Eagles, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2021-25, still active.

2)     40  Barry Switzer, Dallas Cowboys, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1994-97.

1)    28  Don McCafferty, Baltimore Colts, Detroit Lions, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1970-73.

     Let's turn now to winning percentage, for the playoffs.  Again, we'll go least worst to most worst.  Also, like before active coaches will be marked with an asterisk (*), since their records might change.

13)  .563  John Madden, Oakland Raiders, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1969-78, with a playoff record of 9-7.  HOF.

11) (tie) .556  Tom Landry, Dallas Cowboys, 5 Super Bowl appearances, 2 Super Bowl wins, coached from 1960-88, with a playoff record of 20-16.  HOF

11)    .556  Jon Gruden, Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1998-08, and 2018-21, with a playoff record of 5-4.

10)    .545  Dick Vermeil, Philadelphia Eagles, St. Louis Rams, Kansas City Chiefs, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1976-82, 1997-99, and 2001-05, with a playoff record of 6-5.  HOF.

8) (tie)  .542  Mike Holmgren, Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks, 3 Super Bowl appearances, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1992-2008, with a playoff record of 13-11.

8)    *.542  John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens, New York Giants, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2008-25 (still active), with a playoff record of 13-11.

7)   .528  Don Shula, Baltimore Colts, Miami Dolphins, 6 Super Bowl appearances, 2 Super Bowl wins, coached from 1963-95, with a playoff record of 19-17.  HOF.

3) (tie)  .500  Pete Carroll, New York Jets, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, Las Vegas Raiders, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1994, 1997-99, 2010-23, and 2025, with a playoff record of 11-11.

3)    *.500 Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints, Denver Broncos, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2006-21, and 2023-25 (still active), with a playoff record of 10-10.

3)   *.500  Mike McCarthy,  Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2006-18, 2020-24, and 2026-.  (still active), with a playoff record of 11-11.

3)   .500  Mike Ditka, Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1982-92, and 1997-99, with a playoff record of 6-6.  HOF as a player, but not as a coach.

2)  .474  Tony Dungy, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Indianapolis Colts, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1996-2008, with a playoff record of 9-10.  HOF.

1)   .400 Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2007-25, with a playoff record of 8-12.

     Okay, let's get to the statistic that is arguably the best indicator of a head coach's ability--their overall regular season won-loss record.  The following will be the ones with the lowest winning percentage, again, listed least worst to most worst.

9) (tie) .556 Jimmie Johnson, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 2 Super Bowl wins, regular season record of 80-64.  HOF.

9)   .556  Brian Billick, Baltimore Ravens, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, regular season record of 80-64.

8)   .552  Mike Shanahan, Raiders, Denver Broncos, Washington Redskins, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 2 Super Bowl wins, coached from 1988-89, 1995-08, and 2010-13, with a regular season record of 170-138.

7)   .531  Tom Coughlin, Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 2 Super Bowl wins, coached from 1995-2002, and 2004-15, with a regular season record of 170-150.

6)   .527  Tom Flores, Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, Seattle Seahawks, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 2 Super Bowl wins, coached from 1979-87, and then 1992-94, with a regular season record of 97-87.

5)   .524  Dick Vermeil, Philadelphia Eagles, St. Louis Rams, Kansas City Chiefs, 2 Super Bowl appearances, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1976-82, 1997-99, and 2001-2005, with a regular season record of 120-109.

4)   .522 Gary Kubiak, Houston Texans, Denver Broncos, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2006-13, and 2015-16, with a regular season record of 82-75. 

3)   .511  Jon Gruden, Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1998-08, and 2018-21, with a regular season record of 117-112.

2)   .502  Weeb Ewbank, Baltimore Colts, New York Jets, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win (plus 2 NFL titles in 1958 and 1959), coached from 1954-73, with a regular season record of 130-129-7.

1)   .492  Doug Pederson, Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville Jaguars, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2016-20, and 2022-24, with a regular season record of 64-66-1.

     Okay so there's some background about head coaching statistics for the men who won Super Bowls.  So, who do I think are the worst coaches to win?  With all the subjectivity admitted, let's get to my candidates.  I think regular season winning percentage is the strongest statistic for a head coach, so that's going to be my main decider.  With a few caveats, as I'll get into.

5)  Brian Billick, Baltimore Ravens, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1999-07, with a regular season record of 80-64 (.556), and a playoff record of 5-3 (.625).  He's on here because he had a lackluster winning regular season winning percentage, and only the 1 Super Bowl appearance and win.  Essentially he had one great year, and then mediocrity.  The fact that he wasn't given any jobs after the Ravens fired him seems damning, too.

4)  Gary Kubiak, Houston Texans, Denver Broncos, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2006-13, and 2015-16 with a regular season record of 82-75 (.522), and a playoff record of 5-2 (.714).  Like Billick, he basically had one great year.  His 4th worst regular season winning percentage is telling, to me.

3)  Jon Gruden, Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1998-08, and 2018-21, with a regular season record of 117-112 (.511), and a playoff record of 5-4 (.556).  Or the 3rd worst regular season winning percentage, and a mediocre playoff record, too.

2)  Doug Pederson, Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville Jaguars, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 2016-20, and 2022-24, with a regular season record of 64-66-1 (.492), and a playoff record of 5-3 (.625).  This one kills me to admit, since as an Eagles fan I'll forever be grateful for Pederson's win for the 2017 season, the first NFL title I got to witness, as their last one had been in 1960, in the pre-Super Bowl days.  But, I have to acknowledge his stature compared to his peers, and he is the only Super Bowl winner with a losing regular season record.  Add that to his alleged inability to get along with management and the owner in Philadelphia (leading to his abrupt departure), and his lackluster time with the Jaguars, and that's why he's listed here.

1)   Barry Switzer, Dallas Cowboys, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 1 Super Bowl win, coached from 1994-97, with a regular season record of 40-24 (.625), and a playoff record of 5-2 (.714).  Some readers might be scratching their heads at this, since his winning percentage is fine, as is his playoff record.  But there's more to it.  Switzer was given control of a team that had just won the last 2 Super Bowls, since owner Jerry Jones' ego and (alleged) drunken bragging caused previous coach Jimmie Johnson to resign.  So, Switzer's Super Bowl win wasn't really due to his efforts--Johnson built and organized that team into a juggernaut, and Switzer just got lucky.  The fact that Switzer resigned so quickly, and was never hired by another NFL team as head coach gives credence to this opinion, I think.

     If you're wondering why Jimmie Johnson, Mike Shanahan, Tom Coughlin, Tom Flores, Dick Vermeil, and Weeb Ewbank aren't in this overall worst 5, despite relatively low regular season winning percentages, it's because Johnson, Shanahan, Coughlin, and Flores all won 2 Super Bowls, Ewbank won the 2 additional NFL titles in pre-Super Bowl days, and Vermeil at least went to a 2nd Super Bowl, even if he lost it.  Finally, Don McCafferty might have qualified for a position on this list, since his coaching career was so brief, but this shortness was due to his sudden death from a heart attack in the off season before the 1974 season.  So we don't know how his coaching would have turned out, obviously.

     Once again, this post is a bit of a departure from my normal "worst of" lists, since it's more subjective due to the nature of judging head coaches' ability.  If you disagree, that's okay--these are just my opinions.

 

  

Relax and Chat Episode 45 with Rod Gilley

     The interview I referenced in the past month or so is available.  It's Episode #45 of the Relax and Chat series, hosted by RDG Books founder and publisher Rod Gilley.  Rod put out the horror anthology series "It's Dark in Their Minds," which featured one of my stories, "Wet Nightmare," in Volume #2.  I've been posting on this blog since 2012, and have participated in several interviews during that time, both as the interviewer, and the interviewee.  But this is the first time I've done an interview via video, a Zoom call.  The interview is just shy of 28 minutes, and covers a bit of my archaeological experiences, the origin of my story "Wet Nightmare," and other writing-related topics.  So if this sounds interesting, follow the link and check it out!  And also check out the other episodes of the "Relax and Chat" series, which feature interviews with other authors.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DR8hoP7qHw

     If I messed up and this link doesn't work, you can get the interview by typing in "Rod Gilley Relax and Chat Episode 45 Paul Stansfield" in the search bar on YouTube.  Also, regular readers may recall that I usually post on Saturdays.  Today's post is the one for the week.  So there will be no post on Saturday, January 31st--the next one will be on the following Saturday, February 7th, 2026.

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--An Israeli Pseudo Matzo

      A while ago I had a bit of a brush from the past.  As a child, my family and I would occasionally eat matzah.  I liked it, but didn't love it, as I recall.  So I kind of forgot about it, mostly.  It is sometimes part of gefilte fish (see my post on April 6, 2013), which I've enjoyed frequently as an adult.  But I haven't had it separate from the ground up gefilte fish in decades.  Anyway, I saw some on the shelf, and decided to revisit it.  The fact that it was made in Israel sealed the deal.  However, there is a big caveat.  What I tried here was not technically matzah--it was a gluten-free approximation of it.  Or, as the box put it, "Matz-style squares."  From the Yehuda Matzos company, out of Jerusalem.

     The reason the company was so adamant about calling their product "matzo-style" instead of "matzo" is because the food is very strictly defined.  Most notably, almost all Jewish groups agree that matzah must be made using one of five accepted grains--wheat, spelt, barley, rye, or oats.  Along with water that's usually it, for the ingredients.  Some sects allow the addition of egg, and/or fruit juices, but that's about it as far as variants go.  Also, if you're confused about the spellings I've used so far, accepted renderings for this food are "matzah," "matzo," and "mazzah."  Looking at the allowable grain bases used for matzah, you might have noticed a huge problem for those with celiac disease or gluten allergies.  Wheat, spelt, rye, and barley all contain gluten.  Oats do not, but there's still potential snags.  Some Jewish groups don't think that oats are permissible as a grain base for matzah, and claim that their inclusion is based on a mistranslation of holy texts.  And, even if oats are allowed, they're often made into matzah in facilities that also process gluten-containing grains, so there's a strong potential of contamination.  And since even miniscule amounts of gluten can cause misery for celiac and gluten-allergy sufferers, they're in quite a dilemma.  So, gluten-free versions like the Yehuda Matzos type I tried seek to solve this problem.  (Although some rabbis don't accept them.  So depending on how strict you are, this product might not qualify as being acceptable.)  It's complicated, as you can see.  For the record, the matzo I ate for this post was made from tapioca starch, water, potato starch, potato flakes, palm oil, honey, egg yolks, natural vinegar, and salt.  And the box notes that it's "not a replacement for matzo at the Seder."  As for the information about the manufacturer's origins, there's not much.  Yehuda Matzos dates back to 1921, when the Ludmir family started making it in the Israeli town of Safed.  In 1949 the business moved its headquarters to Jerusalem.  Aside from the gluten-free matzo-style squares, the company also makes real matzo, matzo flour, cookies, biscuits, and coated biscuits (coated in chocolate).  And the importing company was the Kenover Marketing Group, out of New Jersey.

Yehuda Matzos original gluten-free matzo-style squares:  These pieces measured about 6 inches by 5.5 inches, or about 15.5 cm. by 14 cm.  (So they weren't technically squares, but they were close, to be nitpicky.)  They looked like the typical matzah I recall, like a whitish cracker with many small holes in it and rib like ridges, with brownish marks near the edges from the cooking.  The texture was dry and crunchy.  Again, it was quite some time ago, but these tasted pretty much like I remember the official matzah tasting--a bit bland plain, with some saltiness.  Kind of similar to a saltine cracker.  Some ketchup on it improved the taste, and with cheese on it the matzah was a proper canape, and very good.  It was a little more crumbly than most canape bases, but still effective.  So, to my mind this is a very credible and nice substitute for those folks who can't have gluten but want to eat matzah, or something very similar to it, to be technical.  I would definitely recommend it, and I'll try to sample this company's "real" matzah and cookies/biscuits if/when I encounter them.

     A few days ago I recorded a Zoom video interview with Rod Gilley, who is the owner and publisher of RDG Books and served as the host.  As regular readers hopefully recall, RDG put out "It's Dark in Their Minds Vol. II" back in October of 2025, and this horror anthology contains one of my stories, "Wet Nightmare."  As soon as this segment is edited and available for viewing I'll post the link here.  I'm hoping this will be soon, perhaps by next Saturday, or even before.  Stay tuned!

 

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--A French Cookie

      Today we'll be discussing a cookie, or to some, a biscuit, from a French company.  Specifically a raspberry tartlet from the Bonne Maman brand, which in turn was manufactured by the St Michel company.

     Normally I strive not to repeat myself, when it comes to brands and companies.  As in, once I cover one brand and/or company, I won't do another post about it.  Instead, if I have another product from this original company, I'll go back to the original post and add to it. This post in an exception.  Way back on May 22nd, 2015 I reviewed a fruit preserve made by Bonne Maman.  However, back in those days, over a decade ago, I didn't usually mention much detail about the manufacturing company.  As such, in the 2015 post, I didn't go into detail about the company at all.  So, this will be new information when I do so now.  Plus, technically the preserves of the 2015 post were made by Bonne Maman, while the tartlets today were made by another company, St Michel, in a partnership with Bonne Maman.  So I think it's different enough, and appropriate for my purposes.

     As it turns out, there is very little detail about the history of the Bonne Maman brand and company.  Fortunately, there is some about St Michel.  (In case you're wondering, I'm not misspelling this--St Michel does not include a period after the "St", for reasons not commented upon,)  Back in 1905 a pastry chef named Joseph Grellier created a new kind of pastry, the galette.  Reportedly the people of the village where Josepf made them, Saint-Michel-Chef-Chef, really enjoyed them.  In 1908 Joseph's wife Constance had the idea of selling these galettes on the nearby beach, to visiting women.  This was a huge boon to their popularity.  In 1919 a biscuit factory was started, and production amped up.  In addition to cookies St Michel also makes other kinds of cakes, pastries, and appetizers.  In 1994 the company was sold to the German company Bahlsen.  Then in 2006 Bahlsen sold St Michel to Monna Baie Biscuits, who then promptly changed their company name to St Michel Biscuits.  But for now let's review the actual cookie itself.  A section about an ugly controversy concerning this company will follow.

Bonne Maman raspberry tartlets:  These were oval shaped, about 6 cm. by 5 cm. (about 2.25 inches by 2 inches).  They were also formed like a dish, with an outer rim enclosing an inner "cup."  The outer part was yellowish-brown in color, while the inner part was a red gel.  The outer pastry part was good, a very decent example of the genre.  And the inner raspberry filling part was also tasty, with a nice sweet and tart flavor.  So, unlike a lot of European biscuits I've had, this one was not bland.  It had a full, bold flavor.  I really like these, and would heartily recommend them.

     I'll preface this next account by stating I got this information from online sources, including Wikipedia, so for legal reasons I'll say all of this is "alleged."  But, that said, back in the 1990's, St Michel did a curious, and to many (hopefully most) people an offensive thing.  They partnered up with a zoo, which was then called Safari Africain, to recreate an Ivory Coast (an African country) village, which they named Bamboula's Village.  To accomplish this, they hired a couple of dozen Ivory Coast citizens to serve as actors.  So, essentially a human exhibit in a zoo.  However, "Bamboula" is an old colonial term, which by the late 20th century was considered a racial slur.  But it gets worse.  The Ivory Coast employees were paid less than minimum wage, and were forced to appear bare-chested even in foul and cold weather conditions.  Their children received no schooling or tutoring during this time.  And their passports were confiscated so they couldn't leave the zoo premises, forced to live in tiny hut replicas.  Obviously, for many reasons, various civil rights organizations and labor unions were appalled by this, and look legal action against the zoo.  It was closed after less than a year, in September of 1994, and the zoo/St Michel were fined a token one Franc fine, plus legal expenses.  (Which may have well been expensive, but I didn't see any exact amounts.)  So this was weird promotion, huh?  "Enjoy this racist exhibit, put on by oppressed employees, and then be sure to buy our pastries."  Hopefully whoever decided that this was an acceptable idea was fired long ago.  And to be fair, it was over 30 years ago.  But still, even for the time it was pretty messed up.  Sorry to get all depressing in this blog post about a cookie, but sometimes that's where the complete story takes us.

     

  

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Two Canadian Dried Cranberry Snacks

      I found these randomly in the grocery store a while ago.  When I saw they were cranberry based, I was intrigued, since I like this fruit.  When I discovered that these products were Canadian in origin, that clinched it.  These were the raspberry flavored sour dried cranberries, and the watermelon flavored sour dried cranberries, both from the Patience brand.

     Patience is a brand of the Fruit d'Or company.  This company's roots go back to 2000, when three families, including the Le Moines, started to organically farm cranberries in the Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes area in Quebec, Canada.  Reportedly, they were one of the first organic cranberry farmers at this time.  Later, in 2015, this collective began the Patience brand, which consisted of cranberries, and to a lesser extent blueberries, in quite a few of their forms.  Most are dried, but some are organically grown, while others are traditionally grown, and some have sugar added, while others don't, and others have non-sugar sweeteners added.  Additionally, some are sour versions of these fruits.  For the record, the co-founders name I could locate were Martin Le Moine (who is the current company president) and Sylvain Dufour (who is the current VP of business development).  Aside from the Patience brand, Fruit D'Or also markets other cranberry and blueberry products, such as juice concentrates, and also nutraceuticals, meaning supplements and cosmetic/personal care products, again which are either based on cranberries or blueberries.

Patience sour cranberries, raspberry flavored:  These looked like typical dried cranberries, or tiny, red, wrinkled cranberries.  They had a cranberry-like odor, not shockingly. And a chewy texture.  The taste was very tart, but in a good way.  I could detect the raspberry additives.  Overall I liked these quite a bit.  I enjoy cranberries, and cranberry-flavored products in general, and these dried ones, with a raspberry flavor added, were also tasty.  I would strongly recommend these, unless you really hate cranberries.

Patience sour cranberries, watermelon flavored:  These looked and smelled like the previous kind, and had an identical texture.  The taste was similar as well.  Maybe slightly less tart.  I don't usually like watermelon, or watermelon-flavored products, but this one was still good.  Not as good as the raspberry ones, but still better than average.  I'm guessing the fact that they're sour certainly helped.  I would recommend these, too.

     As so often happens when I sample a new product, I'm amused by the company's obsession with one, or a limited few, food types.  In this case, cranberries and blueberries.  I wonder if the Fruit D'Or company is offended by the scene in "The Departed" when characters make certain sex-based assumptions about those who enjoy cranberry juice.  I'm guessing, probably.

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Still Yet Another Spanish Cheese

      Happy new year!  I thought I'd start off 2026 with an example of my favorite food type ever--cheese.  Today's offering is the black garlic infused sheep's milk cheese from the Solera brand.  Which, as the title informs, is based out of Spain.

     I couldn't find an official website for Solera.  However, there was one for its American importer and distributer, Specialties, Inc., out of New Jersey.  Alas, it provided no real information on Solera's origins.  But, after Googling it I was able to learn a bit.  Solera was founded in 1967, by the husband and wife team of Mariano Verdeju Solera, and Generosa Monfort Orti.  And their factory was based in---oops.  That's what the AI explanation was.  However, a little more online checking indicated that this was for another company of the same name.  One which appears to be involved with connectors, mounting, breakers, and other electronic products.  I've heard that AI is often questionable with its accuracy, and this seems to be the case here.  Anyway, I couldn't find out much of anything about the cheese-making Solera company.  So, moving up the chain, the incredibly generically-named Specialties, Inc. company began in 1991, and its focus is on importing and distributing European cheeses and cured meats.  Aside from the Spanish Solera, which includes both cheeses and meats, the brands handled are Bellentani (Italian meats), Hotos (Greek cheese), and two French brands--Ermitage (cheese), and La Bistro (meats).  Other Solera products include Manchego cheese, Iberica cheese, Mahon cheese, and two infused goat cheeses--Winey Goat and Rosey Goat.  Plus more cheese made from three different animals' milk--one infused with chili, one with red berry, and one with truffles.  Also, if you're curious, "solera" is Spanish for "on the ground," but it refers to "a process for aging liquids, by fractional blending," chiefly used with wines, brandies, beers, sherries, and vinegars.  (The "on the ground" part indicates the lowest level of barrels used for the mixing.)  So either this cheese company wanted to associate its cheeses with fine mixed wines and spirits, as some of its cheeses are also mixed and blended, or maybe the founder's name was Solera, just like the other company named Solera.

Solera black garlic infused sheep's milk cheese:  This had a pale yellow color, with streaks and edges of black.  It had a mild cheese odor.  The texture was semisoft.  The flavor was mild, with the garlic taste evident but not overpowering.  I had some of this plain, and some as part of a sandwich.  Overall it wasn't among the best cheeses I've had, but it also wasn't among the worst.  And, as I've stated many, many times, even the "worst" cheeses are still pretty good--none that I've tasted are actually bad.  But this one was a more mild cheese, without a strong, distinctive flavor.

     I should be doing a video interview with the publisher of my last anthology, "It's Dark in Their Minds," soon.  Details forthcoming.  

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Two Moroccan/American Canned Seafoods

      I've been on a canned seafood phase lately, so when I saw a new brand on the shelves in Shop-Rite recently, I checked them out.  Specifically, the sardine fillets, and the mackerel fillets from the Season Brand LLC company, out of New Jersey.  However, both types of these fish were actually caught in Moroccan waters.  And there are other Moroccan connections, too, which I'll get into.

     The official company website history of Seasons is one of the more terse ones.  A Polish man named Isaac Epstein immigrated to the U.S. in an unspecified year.  (But presumably in the late 1910's or early 1920's.)  He started the Seasons company in 1921, and it was designed to "sell specialty fish to grocers in the Northeast (U.S.)."  At some unnoted date the company was acquired by RAB Food.  Then in mid 2021 the business was sold to a Moroccan company named Mutandis.  Aside from sardines and mackerel Seasons also offers yellowfin tuna, anchovies, kippers (which are herring of a certain age), and mock caviar made from seaweed.  (If this last product sounds familiar, it's because I covered "CaviArt" in my post on March 11th, 2023.  CaviArt is made by the Jens Moller Products company, based in Denmark, which clearly has a partnership with Seasons to sell the pseudo caviar in addition to their regular fish products.)  The Seasons official company website is also proud that their fish are free of GMOs and their packaging lacks BPA.  They also use sea creatures that are fished in sustainable ways.  But, the focus of Seasons seems to be about how healthy their fish is.  The website goes into some detail about how protein-rich their fish is, and how some are low in salt.  Plus, most notably, how their products are so high in Omega 3 fatty acids.  (Seriously, the Omega 3 notation is on the front of their boxes, even.)  Otherwise, the labels on the boxes of their seafood mention the exact species that customers are eating--in my case the Scomber Colias (aka Atlantic chub mackerel) and Sardina Pilchardus (aka European Pilchardus, and more commonly, one of the many species called "sardines").  (As I think I mentioned before, "sardines" aren't an actual individual species of fish--they're a catchall term used for over a dozen small fish commonly used as human food.  In this case young Pilchardus are called "sardines," while older members of the species are known as Pilchardus.)

Seasons mackerel fillets, in water:  Had a tuna-like odor.  The color of the fish itself was light brown.  The texture was soft and chewy.  The flavor was a little dry and blandish.  Not as good as the oily mackerel I've had as sushi or pickled.  To be fair, I did eat this plain, not as a sandwich or anything.  But, in the past I usually eat canned fish plain, and it tastes better than this.  Overall it wasn't bad, but it was disappointing, since I typically enjoy canned fish significantly more.

Seasons sardine fillets, in water:  These fillets, like the previous one, filled the can, or were about 3 inches long (about 7.5 cm.), with a brown and off-whitish color, and a fishy odor.  The texture was chewy and soft.  These tasted like typical sardines, or good.  They were blander than sardines packed in oil, or with seasoning or a sauce, but still, they were pretty good.  If you like sardines in general, you'll probably like these.  In closing then, I would recommend the Seasons sardines, but probably not the mackerel.  But I will look for other Seasons offerings--maybe the packed-in-water mackerel are a kind of negative anomaly.