I admittedly eat a lot more canned seafood than most people, given my disdain for cooking, and tolerance of cold, processed meat. A few months ago I spied some new brands on the shelf. It probably goes without saying that I immediately snapped some up. Then when I saw that they were from Spain, I decided to do a post about them. These were from the Delsol brand, and I tried the jumbo squid in marinara sauce, and their squid pieces in their own ink.
I think that I might have a new champion in the Completely Anonymous Company category. Googling "Delsol company" brought up several websites, but they were all different businesses that didn't make my squid. Typing in what was written on the label--"Conservas Del Sol, S.L." didn't help either. All I was able to learn was that the company is based in the Spanish city of Vigo, as well as its street address. Otherwise there were plenty of grocery websites advertising that they sold certain Delsol seafood choices. But nothing else of merit. One alleged link to a website for the correct Delsol company led to the problem screen that read, "Hmmm....can't reach this page." Del Sol means "of the sun" in Spanish, so that explains why many other businesses chose it as their name. In conclusion, I'm stumped. Maybe part of the issue is a language barrier? (Although that doesn't really wash, either, since I didn't see any Spanish language Del Sol seafood websites.)
I went into some detail about squids in my post on June 26, 2021. But I did learn a bit more about them recently, and about their animal type, the cephalopods, in general. There are several different strategies of "inking," if that's a word. Some species just squirt out a large amorphous cloud of it, and then they escape in another direction. Some ink expellings actually resemble the animal that created them, a kind of false twin. So a predator attacks the nonsolid mimic instead of the real animal. Some cephalopods release the ink as ropy strings, that look like sea grass leaves. Additionally, the ink itself even helps its creator, as it has chemical properties that can interfere with predators' sense receptors temporarily. And some species spray their ink on their eggs, to camouflage them from predators. Also, in the past some people used cephalopod ink as writing ink. Finally, some scientific studies indicate that certain inks might actually attack tumor cells. Which could have obvious medical uses, if further testing confirms this.
Delsol jumbo squid in marinara sauce: The pieces of squid flesh were mostly pinkish, with black "rinds" of skin on some sides. The sauce was oily and orange. There was a slight fishy/oily smell. I ate some of this plain, and some mixed in with seasoned potatoes. The texture was moist and chewy. The flavor was nice--kind of fishy, in a good way. This squid isn't as tasty as fresh versions, as it is as sushi, but it was still pretty good. If you like squid in general I think you'll enjoy it. Definite recommend, as I've already bought and eaten over 10 cans of this.
Delsol squid pieces in their own ink: The ink was black, and so the meat chunks were as well. The odor was once again slightly fishy. The texture was the same as the previous, or moist and chewy. The flavor was a little different, as the ink-based sauce was a bit spicy and zesty. Overall this was good, too. I think I like it a little better than the marinara one, but it's close. I would recommend this one as well, especially to those that like squid, or octopus.
The city of Vigo is fairly sizable, as it has a population of nearly 300,000. It's the largest city in the Galicia region of Spain, and is a center for the canned and processed fish industry. So it's not surprising that Delsol' operates out of this place. Vigo is known as "The Olive City" as well, so evidently that food was/is heavily grown there. Some of the notable folks associated with Vigo include Dores Andre (Rodriguez), who was born here but is now a star ballet dancer in San Francisco, California. Concepcion Picciotta led an interesting life. Vigo-born, she relocated to Washington D.C. and became a noted peace activist, especially focused against nuclear weapons. She also was essentially homeless, living in camps in Lafayette Square. Finally, Manuela Velasco Diez was born in Madrid, but at some point relocated to Vigo. An actress, she's probably best known (at least to an international audience) for starring in 3 of the movies in the "REC" horror series, in 2007, 2009, and 2014.
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