I never thought I'd see gourmet and tuyo together on a food label which is sort of an oxymoron. Tuyo is a Filipino heavily salted and dried herring which used to be a poor man's ulam (viand) but apparently Filipinos have converted them into gourmet food, whatever that means. The last time I ate tuyo was when I was still in elementary school, and although I liked them specially with hot pepper and vinegar dipping sauce I haven't had for most of my adult life. They made me want to throw up right after eating, I don't know why. Maybe because the tuyo of yesteryear were processed from not-too-fresh fish.
When I saw the jar of gourmet tuyo with garlic and packed in olive oil I just had to get it to find out what's gourmet about it. I was surprised to find I really love it; the familiar tuyo flavor is present without the imagined rotten quality and I now prefer them to Spanish sardines because they're not as fishy tasting as sardines. Indeed they are gourmet tuyo.
