I know for the most part foods that come out of a can, tin or a jar, do not have great reputation, but in defense of well made preserved foods, not all of those foods are overly salty, smelly, and terrible.
I always keep a stock of certain preserved goodies in my food cupboard and not only are they delicious, they make great appetizers, small plates or even toppings for sandwiches. For instance you can find good quality canned wild caught seafood products like sardines, mackerel and kippers from countries like Spain, Portugal, Canada and no, they are also not fishy! Other seafood tins I like to stock up on are tinned octopus or calamari from Spain. I found a great tinned calamari from Spain cooked in its own ink and it was so tender and delicious. I ate it with some toasted baguette and glass of chilled wine.
Smoked oysters also make yummy appetizers. I have a thing for smoked seafood and I have to say I can polish off a tin of these smoked oysters no problem by myself.
If you’re not into seafood, try Dolmas. My all time go to snack is Trader Joe’s canned Dolmas from Hungary. These plump stuffed grape leaves soaked in olive oil and lemon juice is so good. They are more lemony and plumb than some dolmas I had at some Greek restaurants. It’s perfect with some Hummus or Baba Ganoush.
For the most part many preserved foods even from Europe are inexpensive with an exception of jarred tuna fillets from Italy or Spain. Less than 8oz of jarred tuna fillet from Ortiz can be $16 or more depending on a retailer. Italian jarred tuna fillets can be even more expensive at $30 or $40 for a small jar. That said, these tuna marinated in olive oil is not the same as your regular canned tuna. It’s of course tender, but there is absolutely none of the fishy tuna smell. You can just enjoy it directly out of the jar, there’s no need for any condiments.
You can find preserved foods like this in most grocery stores or specialty food stores but there are some retailers like Cost Plus World Market that have more variety and selection than others.