How to Make a Tinned Fish Board
A tinned fish board — or seacuterie, the name that has been circulating in food media for the past couple of years — is one of the most effortless ways to feed a table well. No cooking required, no timing to manage, and nothing that needs to be eaten warm. Just good tins, good bread, and the right accompaniments arranged with some intention. The result looks considerably more considered than the effort involved.
Here is how to do it properly.
How many tins
One tin per person is the right starting point for a board that functions as a light lunch or a substantial starter. For a table of four, three to four tins gives enough variety to be interesting without overwhelming the board. For a larger gathering where the board is one of several things on the table, two tins serves three to four people if the accompaniments are generous.
Three or four varieties is the sweet spot — enough contrast to make the board worth exploring, not so many that nothing gets properly appreciated.
Which tins to choose
Variety across three dimensions is what makes a board work: species, preparation, and intensity. You want something oily and mild, something with some heat or spice, and something from the shellfish end of the range. The following combination covers all three and works well together:
A sardine — the anchor of any tinned fish board. José Gourmet's Azores sardines in butter are the tin to reach for here: rich, rounded, and immediately approachable even for guests who are new to the category. Lay them whole on the board rather than breaking them up.
An anchovy — Yurrita's Cantabrian anchovies are the correct choice for a board where you want to show people what a great anchovy actually tastes like. A few fillets draped over good bread with a scrape of butter is the eating experience most people have been missing.
A mackerel — Rockfish or José Gourmet mackerel brings a meatier, more substantial element to the board. The oiliness of mackerel suits the bread-based eating of a board particularly well.
A mussel or shellfish tin — Açor's spiced mussels or Rockfish's squid in ink adds a dramatic visual and a completely different texture. The spiced mussels are the more accessible choice; the squid in ink is the one that starts conversations.
Browse the [full collection] to build your selection.
The bread
Sourdough, sliced thickly and toasted. This is not negotiable — soft bread collapses under the oil and weight of the fish. Toast it properly, with colour, and cut it into pieces small enough to eat in two bites. Baguette sliced on the diagonal works equally well. Have more than you think you need; it will run out first.
Good crackers alongside give guests a lighter option and add texture contrast to the board. Water crackers or a plain sourdough cracker suit the fish better than anything heavily flavoured.
The accompaniments
The role of accompaniments on a tinned fish board is acid and contrast — cutting through the richness of the oil and providing something sharp between bites. Keep them simple and do not overcrowd the board.
Essential:
- Cornichons — the single most important accompaniment on a tinned fish board. Their sharpness does more for a rich sardine or mackerel than anything else alongside.
- Lemon wedges — one per two guests minimum. Used on everything.
- Unsalted butter — for spreading before the anchovy fillets, and for anyone who wants to temper the intensity of a particularly bold tin.
Worth adding:
- Small capers, ideally non-pareil, served in a small bowl with a spoon
- Thinly sliced red onion, rinsed under cold water to take the edge off the raw bite
- A few good olives — Nocellara or Castelvetrano, not the mixed pitted variety
- Flat-leaf parsley, roughly torn and scattered at the end
- Dijon mustard in a small pot, for anyone eating the mackerel
Leave off:
- Cheese. The French and Spanish board tradition includes it; most British tinned fish does not benefit from it. It competes with rather than supports the fish.
- Anything sweet. Honey, fig jam, and chutney are natural companions on a cheese board but have no place here.
- Smoked salmon. It pulls focus and sits in a completely different category from conservas.
How to arrange it
Start with the tins — leave two or three of them on the board in their open tins, since the packaging is part of the visual. Pour or spoon the others into small bowls or onto the board directly. The tins themselves, stacked or propped, also work well as decoration.
Place the bread around the outside, overlapping slightly. Put the cornichons and capers in small ramekins or bowls so they can be spooned rather than grabbed. Scatter the parsley at the end.
Leave space between elements — a crowded board looks rushed. Negative space is not waste; it is what makes the board look intentional rather than assembled.
What to drink
A crisp, dry white wine is the natural companion — something with enough acidity to match the saltiness of the fish. Albariño from Galicia is the most fitting choice given its geographic connection to the conservas tradition. A good Muscadet or a dry Fino sherry both work equally well. Cold lager is an honest, entirely correct alternative.
Avoid anything oaky or heavily tannic. Red wine and tinned fish rarely work, and oaked whites dull the fish rather than lifting it.
The point of it
A tinned fish board is not a compromise between cooking and not cooking — it is a format in its own right, with its own logic and its own pleasures. Guests open tins, build their own bites, and eat at their own pace. The conversation it generates around the table — which tin, which combination, what works alongside what — is part of what makes it worth doing.
Browse the full collection to find the tins that suit your table, or see the sardines collection, anchovy collection, and shellfish collection for more on the specific species worth building a board around.