Fishwife’s Cookbook Earns Culinary Cred in WSJ’s Latest Food Brand Roundup
Fishwife offers ethically sourced, premium tinned seafood, celebrating sustainability and quality while revitalizing the traditional canned fish experience.
When The Wall Street Journal rounded up its favorite new cookbooks from food brands, The Fishwife Cookbook stood out—not just for what’s in the tin, but for what it brings to the table. Co-authored by Fishwife co-founder Becca Millstein and chef Vilda Gonzalez, the book offers recipes that are simple, personal, and deeply usable. It’s not a catalog disguised as a cookbook. It’s a reflection of the brand’s breezy, joyful approach to food.
“What I wanted the cookbook to be is what I wanted the company to be: easy, fast, simple, approachable, delightful fun,” Millstein told WSJ. That spirit comes through in the details: recipes that use Fishwife’s products without being rigidly tied to them, and others that openly suggest tinned fish from brands Fishwife doesn’t even sell. It’s less about product placement and more about building a culture of accessible, delicious tinned seafood.
Sardines, Whipped Feta, and a New Era of Branded Cookbooks
The featured recipe—a Sardine and Marinated Zucchini Sandwich—is everything the cookbook sets out to be: low-effort, high-impact, and wildly satisfying. It layers whipped feta with za’atar-marinated zucchini and a tin of Fishwife sardines, wrapped between slices of sourdough. It’s a perfect example of how Fishwife continues to reframe tinned fish from pantry afterthought to main-character energy.
Fishwife isn’t alone in this wave. Other brands featured in the article include Fly By Jing, Seed + Mill, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, and Our Place—each putting out cookbooks that blend brand identity with genuine culinary perspective. But while some lean heavily into marketing, Fishwife’s entry feels the most confident in letting the food and story speak for themselves.
From Pantry Staple to Cultural Icon
For a company that made its name by elevating everyday tinned fish, publishing a cookbook was a natural next step—but not an obvious one. Where many brand cookbooks feel like glossy add-ons, The Fishwife Cookbook comes off as a standalone contribution to home cooking. It’s not just how to use the product; it’s how to enjoy it, share it, and reimagine it.
As the WSJ article suggests, this new genre of branded cookbooks works best when it’s personal. In Fishwife’s case, that means letting readers in on the fun, the flavor, and the flexibility that made the brand beloved in the first place.
Read more on Wall Street Journal
Listen to Becca Millstein with Alex Abelin on the Venture Everywhere podcast: Uncanny Products. Now on Apple & Spotify and check out all our past episodes here!
