During the pandemic, the way we collectively thought about the procurement and consumption of food evolved from weekly shops to maximising efficiency with every venture into the menacing outside world. Storing easily perishable produce was no longer feasible—or safe. It all seems a bit post-apocalyptic in retrospect, but we placed more value on mundane tinned fare for their affordability, nutritional value, and convenience.

It was in this era that TikTok underpinned culinary culture. While the world came to a halt, TikTok doom-scrolling and an endless outflux of content gave rise to short-form video recipes, the cottagecore movement, and various experimental food hacks. Instant coffee was frothed till it mimicked an inverted cappuccino. Gone were the days of sliced bread, and in came sourdough, made from starters grown in reused jam jars. These TikToks repurposed household items into socially distanced entertainment—they transformed the seemingly banal into experimental means of evoking joy. As playfulness and nourishment melded together, tinned fish entered this newfound realm of lockdown experimentation and gave itself a rebrand.

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The products sold by Fishwife are not your mother’s tinned fish. From smoked rainbow trout to sweet cured chilli mackerel, tins are instead thoughtfully packaged, responsibly sourced, and cleverly named. Borne out of the pandemic, founder Caroline Goldfarb began a direct-to-consumer online tinned fish retailer and called it Fishwife. Attributing her undying love for tinned fish to Portuguese conservas, it became Goldfarb’s mission to expose Americans to an unfamiliar side of canned seafood. Since its inception, Fishwife has also become a lifestyle brand dedicated to fish, turning a taste for tinned seafood into a personality trait. 

Their online store houses embroidered fish-themed baseball caps, fish-shaped serving platters and beautifully designed tinned candles. They even publish original recipes featuring, you guessed it, tinned fish. Fishwife almost single-handedly redefined tinned fish as an effortless luxury and must-have lifestyle item. Dubbed a future-facing food by Goldfarb, the tinned fish trend was also a result of a conscious shift towards sustainability and reducing carbon emissions. The small, oily filets packed into cans leave a much smaller carbon footprint than traditionally farmed seafood.

Before the introduction of tinned fish to the mainstream last year, in 2022, tinned fish date nights began trending on TikTok. Originating from self-proclaimed tin-fluencer, Ali Hooke, the stay-in date night entailed curating an immaculately presented charcuterie board of tinned fish and cuddling up on the couch with a bottle of wine. Following Fishwife’s beginnings, this was internet culture’s first taste of what would soon take over food TikTok. Other individuals soon followed suit and began incorporating tinned fish into intimate celebratory evenings, supplanting cheese selections with a variety of canned seafood. 

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While tinned fish was gradually making waves on TikTok, its most significant moment proved the series Tinned Fish Talk. Founded by content creator Mei Liao, the videos delved into the nuances of each tin, discussing canneries’ philosophies, varieties of fish, marinades, and complementary pairings. Garnering over 250,000 followers and 6.6 million likes on TikTok alone, Liao solidified her digital identity as a godparent of the tinned fish trend. Instead of just presenting tins on serving platters and eating seafood straight from its oil-filled vessel, Liao began sharing recipe ideas on her social media platforms and blog.

Tinned seafood experienced yet another transformation, fulfilling the role of versatile ingredients instead of trendy cheeseboard fixing. Each recipe is tailored to the accords of each tin, ranging in complexity from tinned fish vinaigrette to vanilla panna cotta topped with anchovy laced granola. Liao’s recipes inspired TikTok users to start treating tinned fish like any fresh seafood instead of a last resort or unusual accoutrement. Enough people began eating tinned fish atop rice bowls or stirred into homemade pasta sauces, saturating the internet with the tinned fish trend.

To some, the tinned fish explosion is yet another contemporary fad that will peak and fade out of cultural imaginings. To this writer, the phenomenon has sparked discourse about the appropriation of affordability. When tinned fish at one point encompassed the pinnacle of a romantic night in, this clearly indicated a well-branded economic downturn.

Some millennials and Gen Zs, who statistically have the lowest disposable incomes of any generation, were resorting to cupboard fillers and homegrown redefinitions of luxury because of how expensive going out became. With housing crises plaguing big cities and necessities breaking the bank, younger crowds have forfeited nights out and lavish meals for quiet luxury in the comfort of their own homes. At the same time, entrepreneurs looking to capitalise off TikTok trends and the engagement of content creators set their sights on canned goods. The once accessible, cost-effective food that many lower socio-economic brackets depended on was repackaged, moved into high-end grocers, and doubled in price. This trend as a whole exoticised a pantry staple, isolating entire sectors of consumers in the process.

That being said, a portion of gourmet tinned fish remains relatively affordable and offers explorations of other cuisines, allowing people snack-sized samples of the flavours and preservation techniques of different cultures without the looming anxiety of expiration. Thanks to the surge in popularity, marinades of every imaginable variety are now commercially available.

While we can never definitively pinpoint the cause of virality, it’s safe to say that the tinned fish trend has gone global, with local cafés, grocers, and delis offering a selection of gourmet cans. The most prevalent imported tins in Malaysia are from Jose, a Portuguese tinned fish supplier who fuses conservas with contemporary art which can easily be found in local upscale grocers like Qra or online. Some variations that have caught this writer’s eye are spiced octopus in olive oil, spiced calamari in ragout sauce, and stuffed squid in ink. 

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