Fresh Tips to Build an Easy and Stylish Seacuterie Board
Looking for a delicious way to avoid cooking dinner? Just go fish.
Tinned fish started swimming onto menus during the pandemic, and it’s not going anywhere — our guests are still obsessed with little fish. These days, the shelves run deep at the Markets, stacked with cute and colorful tins of anchovies, sardines, mackerel, and more. While the fish counter is full of fresh and cured options on glistening ice, including cold-smoked steelhead, hot-smoked trout, and whitefish salad. If you’re looking for a delicious way to avoid cooking dinner, snag a few and style them into an easy-breezy “seacuterie” board. “One of the most popular use cases for tinned fish is on a plate or board,” explains Becca Millstein of Fishwife. “So you might be swapping out charcuterie, or serving it side by side, with your tinned fish of choice.”
Inspired by her travels in Spain and Portugal, Millstein launched Fishwife out of Los Angeles in 2020, bringing sustainable and delicious seafood home to California. Bi-Rite has long been her favorite sandwich and ice cream spot in SF, so she reached out many times to the Markets, and was thrilled to land Bi-Rite as her first official customer. Millstein knew our team would appreciate her sourcing, working with responsibly caught wild fish or raised farmed options, and partnering with mostly family-owned canneries in Spain, Denmark, Scotland, and Washington, who have been handling little fish with care for decades or even centuries. And she hoped that Bi-Rite customers — who she considers tastemakers — would savor the difference in quality and depth of flavor.
Since then Fishwife and tinned fish as a category have exploded in popularity. Fishwife even published an entire cookbook this spring, so it’s the perfect moment to ask for a few fresh serving tips. Whether you’re enjoying a solo snack dinner, doing a home date night, or having a few friends over for a chill time, here’s how to build an easy and stylish seacuterie board.
Pick Out Your Fish
Start by snagging a couple of tins. Millstein loves to pair smoky with spicy, like Fishwife’s smoked rainbow trout and sardines with hot pepper. But there’s a whole world of fish in the sea, and you could sample sardines from Spain, trout from Denmark, or squid, octopus, and more. If you’re new to the tinned fish party, sometimes it can be a little firmer and meatier in texture, and it’s often packed in oil for rich flavor. And even if you’re slightly suspicious of “fishy” fish, mild-mannered tuna, trout, and mackerel can be a lovely way to wade in.
Feel free to mix and match with fresh and cured options. A fun party trick is a smoked fish dip, and you could mash it up yourself, or grab a deli container of smoked whitefish salad. Then fold in a few slices of cold-smoked steelhead or flakes of hot-smoked trout.
Ren Fuller for the Fishwife Cookbook
Dollop With a Dip
You’ll want something for spreading, which could be as simple as a swipe of cultured butter or drizzle of good olive oil. Millstein digs thick and creamy labne, “that’s a really easy, elegant way to elevate your board a little bit.” Or have fun with a zippy lemon aioli or vibrant red pepper romesco.
Ren Fuller for the Fishwife Cookbook
Slice Seasonal Produce
Add a fresh element with peak of season produce. For simple suppers, thickly slice a big heirloom tomato, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with flaky salt, before peeling open a tin. During the summer, you could also consider crunchy cucumbers, tart stone fruit like peaches and nectarines, and sweet bunches of red grapes.
Style It Up Pretty
Arrange it all on your prettiest platter. Hard plastic is great for wiping off oil slicks and tossing in the dishwasher, but of course, your favorite wooden or ceramic serving piece works just as well. Set out a few small ramekins for dips, and assemble your cutest collection of tiny spoons. Millstein has an entire drawer full of mini forks, and you haven’t lived until you’ve stabbed one into a smoked oyster. For the finishing touches, scatter with fresh dill fronds, tuck in a few lemon wedges, and sprinkle with flaky salt and freshly ground pepper.
Pop a Bottle of Bubbles
Millstein recommends pairing a seacuterie spread with bubbles, of course, from sparkling water to dry cava. She loves a blood orange spritz with a splash of Mommenpop aperitif. Or recommends a tinto de verano, a citrusy red wine cocktail from Spain.
For more fresh inspiration, feel free to check out the Fishwife Cookbook. “Our summertime chapter in our cookbook is the longest one,” Millstein promises. “It’s so much fun to eat in the summertime.” Plus, “Don’t be afraid of eating tinned fish and fruit together, it tastes amazing.”
Ready to go fishing? We can’t wait to see how you like to style a seacuterie board! If you snap a photo to share on social media, don’t forget to tag us at @biritesf on Instagram.
Becky Duffett is a food writer living and eating in San Francisco. Follow her on Instagram at @beckyduffett.
