Growing up we had tin fish a lot. sardines, herring, and mackerel. It was a good weekly food to stretch the food budget. I preferred herring in the tins but did eat a lot of sardines. Mackerel was used to make fish patties. We never had a recipe for sardines, just ate them out of the tin with crackers, pickles, tomatoes, or toast. We were told we needed the fish oils so eat it. I started giving my kids bites of herring and sardines when they were toddlers. They didn't take but a bite of it when small but as they grew they developed a taste for it, maybe not eat them often but won't turn their noses up at it either.