I’ve always been a firm believer that things happen for a reason. Call it fate, serendipity or whatever you will, I knew that from my first meeting at Cafe Spice Namaste, the journey I was about to embark on, with Cyrus Todiwala OBE DL, would be fueled by a passion and zest for a sustainable, traceable story of food provenance.
Having been a lifelong and obsessive consumer of native seafood and advocate of the UK fishing industry, it has long been my intention to combine these two key elements of my life and put something back into this particular theatre of food production, where, although often much maligned and misunderstood, the last of the true wild hunters, operate in one of the harshest and most dangerous of working environments.
From my first conversation with him, I knew that this much loved and highly respected patron of British food producers, was intent on bringing the story of our seafood into sharper focus for the UK consumer.
No mere coincidence either, that around the time of our first meeting, I’d recently been engaged by the Shellfish Association of Great Britain (SAGB) to run a two year marketing project, designed to convey the very messages Cyrus and I had just discussed, to key influencers in the catering, retail and media sectors, with the ultimate intention of driving up domestic sales of our own sustainable, abundant native shellfish and raising awareness of the multifarious health, dietary and well-being benefits associated with its nutrition.
Mr Todiwala, when not in his kitchen, supports an array of charities and good causes within the catering and food production spheres. His wealth of knowledge and experience and connections from around the world equip him well, not only to produce stunningly good food, but to educate, inspire and inform countless folk on the merits of eating well and responsibly.
This direct route from ‘producer to plate’ has long resounded with me and no more so than in the world of seafood. Sustainability of fish stocks is one thing, but with a somewhat beleaguered fishing industry the sustainability of its proponents, for me, is equally high on the agenda, with the focus on the prosperity of the communities that it supports of paramount importance to that doctrine.
As a collective ‘island nation” we’re surrounded by some of the most productive seas in the Northern Hemisphere and the rich harvest of seafood yielded is worth a staggering £1.5bn in exports alone annually. Shellfish, (crustaceans and molluscs), constitute 20% of total exports (90,000 tonnes) with Brown crab notably being the top product, vast quantities being shipped live to China.
Second in the UK shellfish export leaderboard come Nephrops norvegicus, more commonly known by its familiar monikers; langoustine, Norway lobster or Dublin Bay prawn. To the fishermen hunting the muddy-bottomed plains and ravines of the Northern North Sea, they’re simply known as ‘Prawns’.
Destined for the noisy, colourful fish markets of Spain, France and Italy and stalls and slabs across the shellfish-obsessed European consumer sector, these delicious little protein-packed, endorphin-pumping lobsters, rarely get a look in by the UK diner unless creel-caught top end product from the West Coast or breaded and packed as the pub staple, scampi.
But why? A wild product being harvested right on our door step. What’s not to like? And how do we address the fundamental issue of convincing the UK consumer, that these home-grown ‘fruits of the sea’ are available all year round, in many forms and that contrary to popular belief, they don’t have to be consumed only whilst on holiday, or at the higher end of haute cuisine?
The answer to that lies in the statistic that represents the UK’s addiction to imported warm water prawns. These make up one of the ‘big five’ seafood species that get consumed in such vast numbers compared to their home-grown cold water cousins. The intensively farmed ‘king’ prawns that arrive at UK airports by the plane load, generally exhibit neither the flavour nor the texture, afforded by our own lovely langos and of course price is invariably and sadly the main driver.
But challenges like this are not insurmountable, especially when you’re accompanied on your journey by the redoubtable Mr T and his insuppressible ardour. Within literally a few hours of our first meeting, we had shared ideas, conversed at length and explored the endless list of possibilities surrounding shellfish and the idea that quite conceivably, awareness of, confidence in and ultimately consumption could be increased with the right injection of passion and dosage of enthusiasm.
Our first test came in the kitchens of Cafe Spice, where, having been provided with delicious, samples of trawl-caught Scottish langoustine tails, (by none other than fêted trawler skipper Jimmy Buchan, of BBC’s ‘Trawlermen’ fame), Cyrus weaved his masala magic on them and we instantly recognised that a new talisman for homegrown UK shellfish had arrived.
Mr T’s delicately and deliciously spiced langoustines, in an equally aromatic masala sauce were just the start. They paved the way for cuttlefish and octopus pickle, brown (hen) crab curry and then having replaced regular menu items with these fully traceable crustaceans and molluscs, the scene was more than set for what was to become the showcase of our collaboration so far.
Having gained inspiration from his initial shellfish experiments, Cyrus decided it was time to up the ante and grandstand as many shellfish species as was possible at the 2018 Awards Dinner of his hugely successful and well-respected Zest Quest Asia competition, where aspiring teams of young UK catering students get to hone their culinary skills in a hotly contested display of Asian cuisine, all vying for the ultimate accolade and once-in-a-lifetime chance to travel, visit and study the very roots of Eastern cookery, in the very countries of origin.
Having set the scene at the London Heathrow T5 Hilton, in front of 300 honored guests, Chef Cyrus, after weeks of fastidious planning, revealed our simple shellfish starter course, that made provision, for eight different types, that we had sourced, countrywide from our members at SAGB.
An eclectic mix of crustaceans and bivalves from our shores, fused with the flavours and fragrances of the Far East in a subtle amalgam of provenance and taste. Fine oysters from Jersey, moreish brown shrimps from Lowestoft, creamy Devon crab, traditional cockles and whelks from the Essex coast, sparkling blue-black Cornish mussels from Fowey, tempting little South coast clams and of course our signature langoustines, landed to the Buchan port of Peterhead.
A veritable Fruits de Mer by anyone’s standards, but constructed here with a style and flair, that only a master could conjure up, a magnificent and original way of bringing superior seafood into the limelight.
The menu
- Oyster in Soy Ginger and chilli
- Piri-Piri Pickled Whelks
- Cockle Patia
- Langoustine & Hen Crab Mayonnaise A la Bombay
- Brown Shrimp & Peanut Chutney in Choux
- Marinated Mussel in Olive Oil Garlic, Choriso and paprika
- Clams in Fresh Coconut A la Marie Kiteria
An exceptional evening, in great company and surrounded by the culinary stars of tomorrow. No finer way of celebrating home-grown seasonal produce.
But what for the future?
Our Shellfish Promotions Project runs until September 2019. Two years is hardly any time in which to make a meaningful difference. What we can do though, is gain traction and then momentum. With the right people in place and with enough passion to fuel our quest, then anything is achievable. Yes, many challenges lie ahead, but likewise many opportunities. Opportunities are for recognising and for grabbing. Small steps, quickly taken. That’s the ethos behind what we doing and already significant progress has been made.
In May, Mr T and I travel to Newlyn in Cornwall to explore yet another hugely under-utilised seasonal shellfish resource, which once again, leaves our shores by the lorry load. Spider crab – (Maia squinado), for many in the UK, a seldom-seen denizen of South Western waters. For our Gallic cousins across the channel, the centrepiece of a weekend feast. What better beast to promote next, in our catalogue of must-be-tried species? For too long we’ve turned a blind eye to the abundance of ingredients that can be found in our shallow seas.
Time for a culture change and I think I’ve found the perfect partnership.
by Mike Warner from the Shellfish Association of Great Britain