Monkfish in a Tin: The Hevva Product Nobody Expects
Open most tinned fish ranges and you will find sardines, mackerel, tuna, and anchovies — the four species the entire conservas tradition was built around. Monkfish does not belong on that list, and that is exactly why it is worth paying attention to.
Why monkfish is almost never tinned
Monkfish is a restaurant fish. Firm, meaty, often compared to lobster for its texture, it commands a price and a treatment that has historically kept it well away from the tin. It does not behave like an oily fish — there is no long tradition of curing it, no established method passed down through generations of canneries the way there is for sardines or anchovies. Putting monkfish in a tin is closer to an experiment than a continuation of existing practice.
What Hevva does differently
Hevva, the Cornish brand built on a tradition of unexpected British seafood, tins monkfish with Aleppo pepper — a Syrian chilli known for its moderate heat and slightly sweet, fruity undertone rather than aggressive spice. The pairing makes sense once you taste it: monkfish's dense, clean flesh holds up to the pepper rather than being overwhelmed by it, in a way a more delicate fish could not manage.
The fish itself is sourced from Cornish waters, in keeping with Hevva's broader approach of working with British catch rather than importing a more traditional conservas fish to fit an established format.
What it tastes like
Firmer and more substantial than anything else in a typical tinned fish collection. Where sardines and mackerel are soft enough to flake with a fork, monkfish holds its shape and has a genuine bite to it. The Aleppo pepper sits in the background rather than dominating — warmth rather than heat, with a faint sweetness that complements the fish rather than masking it.
How to eat it
Treat it more like a delicacy than a pantry staple. Good on its own with bread, but it also stands up well in a simple salad with good leaves and a sharp dressing — the firmness of the fish means it will not break down the way a softer tin would. It is not the tin to reach for in a fifteen-minute pasta dish; it rewards being eaten with attention, on its own terms.
Why it is worth trying
Most tinned fish, however good, sits within a tradition you can compare it against — this sardine versus that one, this curing method against another. Hevva's monkfish has almost nothing to be compared to. It is one of the few genuinely novel things happening in British tinned fish right now, and trying it is less about finding a new favourite weeknight tin and more about seeing what the category is capable of when a producer is willing to do something nobody else has.
Browse the rest of the Hevva collection for more of the same spirit, or the shellfish collection for other unusual tins worth knowing.