Marcus Samuelsson’s Quarantine Cooking Hack: Canned Fish

“I’ve cooked much more at home for my family during this pandemic,” Marcus Samuelsson says, from his home kitchen, nearly seven months into the event that’s led him to cooking more often with his wife and young son, “It’s been one of the silver linings, spending more time in the kitchen and eating together,” the James Beard Award winning chef adds.

Growing up on an island in Sweden, Samuelsson ate seafood four or five days a week, in all ways, in all forms — fresh, raw, cured, preserved, salted. “Everybody participated in the seafood trade,” he recalls. For him, seafood is personal — it evokes memories of entering his grandmother’s home, throwing on an apron and cooking some type of fish.

“I don’t have playing memories with my grandmother. I have eating memories, cooking memories, like her speaking to me about the mortar and pestle, touching the dough with your hands, trying for very specific taste.”

Now, Samuelsson can replicate that taste for himself and his family, even when we’re all stuck inside. Particularly, he’s interested in mackerel, a fish he grew up with. “It’s all about the texture,” he says. He prefers King Oscar mackerel fillets in olive oil, which can be used in a wide range of Mediterranean-style recipes. “Preserved ingredients can be super flavor enhancers,” he says, noting preserved lemons and calabrian peppers are also fantastic additions to canned fish.

In addition to preserved seafood, Samuelsson recommends stocking good balsamic vinegar, fish sauce, and piquillo peppers in a winter pantry, all of which which can amp up the flavors of cold weather produce. Pasta, of course, is another essential in Samuelsson’s pandemic pantry, particularly dried bucatini, which he likes for the the texture, particularly with mackerel. Now, he’s partnered with King Oscar to celebrate how incorporating premium seafood can easily elevate home cooking, sharing a recipe for bucatini with mackerel and swiss chard, that anyone can make in minutes.

“It’s such a weird time for grocery shopping,” Samuelsson says. “It’s important to have brands you trust.