How to Build a Seacuterie Board | The Five-Component Method

A seacuterie board is a charcuterie board where tinned fish replaces the cured meat. It has become one of the most-searched entertaining formats of the past two years, and most guides to it stop at "buy some nice tins." This one goes further: what to actually put on the board, in what proportion, and why each element earns its place.

The Five-Component Rule

A board that works has five components. Skip one and the board feels thin; add a sixth of the same type and it feels cluttered.

1. Two to three tins — one oily and rich, one smoked, one with heat
2. One firm cheese — something you can shave or cube, not spread
3. One sweet, sliceable element — this is where most boards fail
4. Two olive varieties — one briny, one marinated or spiced
5. A neutral carrier — crackers or good bread, nothing flavoured

Component 1: The Tins

Vary texture and intensity rather than buying three versions of the same fish. A working trio:

• Fishwife Cantabrian anchovies — wild-caught from the Cantabrian Sea, hand-filleted, salt-cured 6 to 12 months, and packed with 60% less salt than standard anchovies. The salt-forward anchor of the board.
• Fishwife smoked rainbow trout — beechwood-smoked in small batches at a micro-cannery outside Copenhagen. Flaky and mild; the one guests who say they don't like tinned fish will eat.
• Fishwife smoked salmon with Fly By Jing Sichuan chili crisp — wild Alaskan salmon brined in garlic salt and brown sugar. The heat element, and the tin people photograph.

For chili heat without the collaboration price point, the slow-smoked mackerel with chili flakes does similar work.

Component 2: The Cheese

Soft cheese and oily fish compete. You want something firm enough to shave.

Roussas Graviera is made from 100% sheep's milk at the Roussas family dairy in Almyros, Thessaly, founded in 1952 by a family of Sarakatsani heritage. Worth saying plainly: this is not a PDO graviera. PDO graviera can legally come only from Crete, Naxos, or Agrafa, and Almyros is in none of those zones. What it is instead is a nutty, salty-sweet aged sheep's-milk cheese from a dairy that has been making it for seven decades. Shave it thin with a vegetable peeler rather than cubing it.

Component 3: The Sweet Element (Where Most Boards Fail)

The standard move is a bowl of jam, which goes watery next to fish oil and makes the crackers soggy. A sliceable sweet element solves this.

Hellenic Farms fig salami is exactly that — raw Greek figs pressed into a log you slice like salami, from a woman-owned producer with Chios family heritage. Three versions, each doing different work on a board:

• Pistachio & cinnamon — no added sugar; the warmest and most dessert-adjacent
• Almonds & black pepper — the savoury one; best next to the anchovies
• Orange zest — citrus-forward and nut-free, which matters if you're serving a crowd

Component 4: Two Olive Varieties

Olives packed in brine leak onto everything. Liquid-free pouches solve the structural problem of a board that has to sit out for two hours.

• Freestyle Kalamata olives in EVOO — pitted, packed in olive oil rather than brine
• Hot & spicy green olives — chili-marinated, and the second heat source on the board
• Mediterranean herb medley — oregano, thyme, and rosemary marinade if you'd rather keep heat to one element

Assembly Order

1. Open tins last, but place them first — they anchor the layout. Leave them in the tin; the oil is part of the dish.
2. Shave the graviera into loose piles rather than fanning slices. Piles read as abundance.
3. Slice the fig salami into coins about 3mm thick and overlap them in a line between two tins.
4. Scatter olives into gaps rather than bowls — the liquid-free packing is what makes this possible.
5. Crackers on the outside edge, replenished from the kitchen rather than pre-loaded.

If You'd Rather Not Assemble It Yourself

Three pre-built versions of this board, each weighted differently:

• The Minimalist's Catch — anchovies and smoked trout; the restrained version
• The Mediterranean Host Curation — two tins plus Kalamata olives, built for aperitivo hour
• The Viral Heatwave Kit — built around the Fly By Jing salmon and spicy snacks

For a Greek-leaning board rather than a seacuterie one, the Greek Board Builder Gift Set pairs the Roussas Graviera with Hellenic Farms fig salami, stuffed olives, and a roasted aubergine and red pepper spread.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is a seacuterie board? A charcuterie board that uses tinned fish instead of cured meat as the protein centre. The format keeps the same structure — protein, cheese, something sweet, something briny, a carrier — but swaps in conservas.
• How many tins do I need for a seacuterie board? Two to three tins serves four to six people as an appetiser. Vary them by texture and intensity — one oily, one smoked, one with heat — rather than buying three of the same style.
• Do you leave tinned fish in the tin on the board? Yes. The packing oil is part of the dish and guests use it for dipping. Open the tins immediately before serving so the oil stays glossy.
• What cheese goes with tinned fish? A firm, shaveable cheese rather than a soft one — soft cheese competes with the oil. An aged sheep's-milk cheese like Roussas Graviera from Almyros, Thessaly works well shaved thin.
• Is Roussas Graviera a PDO cheese? No. PDO graviera can only come from Crete, Naxos, or Agrafa. Roussas Graviera is made in Almyros, Thessaly, outside those zones, from 100% sheep's milk at a dairy founded in 1952.
• How far ahead can I build a seacuterie board? Build the cheese, fig salami, and olives up to two hours ahead and refrigerate. Open the tins at serving time.

Browse the full tinned seafood and conservas collection or the newest Mediterranean arrivals — free shipping on US orders over $85.