Birmingham chefs leading the seafood revival
Mar 27 2009 by Richard McComb, Birmingham Post
exports and the countries it sources from reflects our traditional tastes in seafood, which can be summarised as:
* cod, haddock and other white fish from Iceland and the Faroe Islands;
* salmon from Norway and the USA;
* cold water prawns from Denmark;
* tuna from Mauritius;
* warm water prawns from Thailand.
Cod, tuna and salmon remain the big three for imports but tastes are changing as fleets come under pressure to adhere to sustainable fishing practices. The new kid on the block is pollock. Last year the UK imported 32,071 tonnes of the fish – an annual increase of almost 500 per cent.
Nikki Hawkins, food services and events manager for Seafish, said the nation’s hunger for fish and shellfish was continuing unabated. Both the obesity epidemic and the health benefits of eating seafood were having a major impact on rising consumption.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) advises eating at least two portions of fish a week, one of which should be oily fish. (A portion is defined as 140g.) The FSA is currently carrying out a nationwide consultation into the recommendations and is looking into the possible environmental impact of its dietary advice on fish stocks.
Nikki said demand for fish in the restaurant business could be attributed to the fact consumers were prepared to be more adventurous in their choices when dining out. “If you go out for a meal you are more likely to trust the chef to do John Dory than give it a try yourself at home,” said Nikki.
“There is no doubt eating out is helping to widen people’s knowledge of fish varieties. We have more than 100 fish on our borders but most people could probably only name half a dozen. That is set to change.”
Nikki said the chefs’ competition demonstrated the enduring popularity of seafood among diners, regardless of their geographic distance from the sea. “You cannot be more landlocked than Birmingham and to have restaurants such as the Bucklemaker doing great seafood is fantastic. And eating seafood is always going to do you good in health terms,” she added.
Robert Robbins, of Openshaws in Birmingham, said consumers were becoming increasingly concerned about the provenance of fish and he was delighted to see chefs rising to the challenge with exciting new creations as well as a dedication to the classics.
Latest figures show there are a 548 million servings of fish/seafood in commercial restaurants per year in Great Britain – with fried fish making up almost three-quarters of servings. In fact, the credit crunch has led to an unexpected boom in fish and chips, with sales of the nation’s favourite takeaway up by two per cent on last year.
