Passport to the Sea: Tinned Fish and Pennsylvania Cheese Tasting

About this event

Passport to the Sea

A Global Tinned Fish & Pennsylvania Cheese Tasting Experience

Curious about tinned fish, but not quite sure where to start?

Maybe you’ve picked up a beautifully packaged tin and wondered what you’re supposed to do with it. Maybe sardines still make you think of something your grandfather ate over the kitchen sink. Or maybe you’re already firmly aboard the conservas train and looking for your next favorite.

Passport to the Sea is for all of you.

Join Central Wedge for a self-guided tasting experience featuring eight carefully selected tinned seafoods from four standout producers: Nuri, Luças, Fishwife, and FANGST.

You’ll travel from Portugal to the Nordic coast and beyond, tasting sardines, mackerel, tuna belly, octopus, trout, mussels, and sprats along the way.

But this isn’t simply eight open tins on a table.

Each seafood will be served as a small composed bite inspired by the food traditions surrounding it. You might encounter Portuguese tuna with black-eyed peas, octopus with potato and garlic, smoked Nordic fish with apple and crispbread, or mussels paired with Pennsylvania cheese.

The goal isn’t to test how adventurous you are. It’s to help you discover what you actually like and give you ideas for enjoying it again at home.

How the evening works

When you arrive, you’ll receive your own Passport to the Sea tasting passport and a starting destination.

Four tasting tables will take you through eight different conservas at your own pace. Your passport will tell you:

• what you’re tasting

• where the inspiration comes from

• what it’s paired with

• flavors to look for

• and a little of the story behind the tin

Rate each stop as you travel, mark the ones you’d buy again, and cast your vote for the Tin of the Night before you leave.

No previous tinned-fish knowledge required. No pop quiz. No need to pretend you love anchovies if you don’t. Taste is not a test.

And yes, there will be cheese.

Central Wedge is still a cheese shop, after all.

A few of the evening’s tastings will bring our favorite Pennsylvania cheeses into the conversation, including fresh and smoked cheeses chosen specifically to complement the seafood.

Not every fish needs cheese, though. Some tastings will stay close to the way the food is traditionally enjoyed in its home culture.

That contrast is part of the fun.

This experience is for you if…

• You love discovering foods with a story.

• You want something different to do for an evening without committing to a formal dinner.

• You’ve been curious about conservas but feel completely lost standing in front of the tins.

• You already love tinned fish and would happily spend an evening comparing eight of them.

Or you simply enjoy sitting around a table, trying something new, and saying, “Okay, I did NOT expect to like that.”

Come curious. Leave knowing what to put on the table.

By the end of the evening, you won’t need to become a tinned-fish expert.

You’ll know which styles you enjoy, how a few cultures traditionally serve them, what to pair them with, and how to turn a beautiful little tin into an easy snack, dinner, or gathering board at home.

Eight tins. Four makers. One very good excuse to taste your way around the sea.

Early Bird Ticket $65.00 (Ends 11:59pm on Friday, November 21st)

Regular Ticket $75.00 (Begins Saturday, November 22nd)

Ticket sales end Thursday, December 3rd.

Space is limited to 40 guests . Your ticket includes all eight tasting portions, accompaniments, Pennsylvania cheese pairings, and your Passport to the Sea tasting guide. Event is BYOB.