Hello my friends! They say there are defining moments in our lives, days which we will never forget. For some, it was the death of John F Kennedy, Princess Diana or 9 -11. Today, 6th February, way back in 1989 was such a day for Harold and Deborah Degan. Who? I hear you ask. We’ll get to that in a minute. For the moment, just know that we are celebrating the event with a dish of satanic sardines!
Something Fishy This Way Comes
Imagine you are Harold Degan, resident of the small inland Queensland country town of Rosewood. If nowhere had a middle, this might not be it exactly it but it’s certainly within shouting distance. It is about 11:30 in the morning on the 6 of February 1989 and you are pottering around your garden shed. You are starting to feel a bit peckish and are hoping that your wife, Deborah, will shortly call out that lunch is ready.
Suddenly you hear a tap-tap, tap-tap-tap on the tin roof of the shed. This sound signals the rains have come and judging from the noise of the drops on the roof it is a heavy downpour. You wonder if you should try to make a dash for the house. Or, would it be better to sit the shower out in the comfort of the shed and have another sneaky ciggie while you wait?
You open the shed door to better assess your options and…
Jesus H Christ on a cracker!!!!!
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
Between the shed and the house, a distance of some 80 feet, there are hundreds and hundreds of small fish flapping on the ground. The sound of the “rain” has also alerted Deborah. As you stand at the shed door staring at the fish wondering where on earth they’ve come from, you register the sound of the back door opening.
Deborah’s startled exclamation of “Where the f*** have all these fish come from Harold?”* shows that even she, ever the prankster, is in no way responsible for the fishy situation in your backyard.
Where indeed have all the fish come from? They have either sprouted from the ground like feisty flapping fishy seedlings sent from the Devil himself or they have dropped from the sky like a Piscine offering from God. Harold looks up. He looks down. He looks across the 80-foot expanse of dirt and fish to his wife and shrugs “F***ed if I know Deb.”
The Rosewood Sardine Shower
It did indeed rain fish in Rosewood on 6 February 1989.
The official explanation for the shower was that:
In a matter of extremely peculiar circumstances, a violent storm updraught drew fish from shallow waters into the atmosphere; only to be dumped on, of all places, an inland town.
– Sunshine Coast Daily
Yup, Rosewood had a Sardine-ado!
Whilst the event is commonly known as a sardine shower due to the small size of the fish, they were actually found to be bream.
Breamnado and Sardineado were considered as the names for a movie franchise many years later. These were discounted for the more scary sounding shark*
The dialogue between Harold and Deborah Degan above is totally contrived for creative purposes. Having said that, I know a number of people from country Queensland and they all swear like howsyourfather. It is probably closer to the mark than either one of them describing the sardine shower as “A bit of a phenomenon”.
I also cannot 100% verify that Harold Degan used to sneak cigarettes in his shed. However, popular culture has lead me to believe that sheds are almost entirely used for sneaking cigarettes, porn or dead bodies. I’m giving Harold the benefit of the doubt on this one.
I’m a Coal Train, Fast Lane, Caught up in the Dirty Rain
(Jamie T – Zombie)
Little fish have also supposedly rained from the sky in Mexico, England, Thailand and Honduras.
Other weird things reported to have fallen from the sky are frogs, alligators hermit crabs, blood, fungal spores, corn kernels and cows! 
Satanic Sardines – The Recipe
I am aware that some people find any form of sardine to be Satanic. And I get that. They are very fishy fish. Personally, I love them. They were also part of one of my favourite meals ever which happened in a tiny little restaurant in Zagreb. The recipe for the Satanic Sardines comes from The Party Cookbook from 1976 which I have cooked from previously.
My changes to the Satanic Sardines recipe
- I added some chopped tomatoes in homage to the dish I had at Heritage in Zagreb.
- I did not chop the crusts off the bread because I am no longer five. And neither are you. Eat your crusts like a grown-up. It will make your hair grow curly**
- I used a multigrain sourdough not brown bread
Have a great week! As Harold and Deborah would say, so long and thanks for all the fish!
*This is not true
**This is also very likely not true. But I’m not calling my mum a liar. And neither should you.
