Seafood - Be cyber seaside
Richard Fox looks at seafood and how the internet can help chefs make more from it on their menus.
There's a new buzzword in the bizarre world of menu speak, and it's "wild": wild mushrooms, wild boar and wild herbs to name but a few. Well, it makes me livid. For starters, wild mushrooms are mostly cultivated, and when did you last stumble across some snorting, tusk-bearing, angry pig on a countryside stroll? Such were the mutual musings of Grimbsy fish guru Peter Pinchbeck and myself, as we prepared to discuss a very fishy issue.
Peter is an entrepreneur who runs online seafood and a major fish wholesaling company and what really gets his goat - which incidentally aren't wild either - is the fact that the one truly wild foodstuff is fish. Yet it rarely gets more than a passing nod from the slow food campaigners (of which I count myself as one). Take a few populist, farmed fish out of the equation, and we are left with a few thousand sea-faring, edible species to choose from, which are pretty much ignored for reasons ranging from price to fashion. This is crazy on both counts: the former is a red herring and the latter borders on the ascetic.
Why have we not embraced this great natural resource with the same vigour as our coast-clad European neighbours? Can we, in our capacity as chefs, licensees and restaurateurs, stake our reputation and generate greater profits through fish? These were the questions I hoped to find answers to on a day when only the brave or the mad would go hunting for rabbits, let alone deep-sea dwellers. History, as always, is a good place to start. Apparently, in the days before refrigeration and rapid transport, fish would be pretty much inedible after the shortest of inland journeys (bear in mind they may have been on board ship for a few days before even arriving at shore). In order to kill off certain bacteria, and become remotely palatable, they would be coated in batter and deep-fried at a very high temperature.
Well, we've never looked back. But then again, maybe we haven't looked forward either. Now don't get me wrong here, I can enjoy a prize piece of white, fresh fillet, deep-fried in crispy batter as much as anyone, but it appears that this dish has become so entrenched in our national psyche that we can no longer see the coley for the cod. Indeed, if we are to take on board the current media frenzy associated with this Arnold Schwarzenegger of the sea, (it's big, meaty, and has become wrongly embroiled in the murky word of politics), one could be excused for believing it's the last living thing in the ocean. Putting forward the view that buying cod at the moment is about as PC as a weekend's seal-culling, I see that Peter's passion for his subject has not diminished over the years.
As I detect a sharp rise in the temperature of the room, he points out the fact that there's plenty of cod around, and while it may be true that there are depleted stocks in British waters, cod is in positive abundance in the well-managed waters of Denmark and Norway. And let's not forget what this "hoo-hah" has done to the price - which brings us back to coley. This cod lookalike is the Stars in your Eyes performer with a talent equal to the personality they're impersonating - looks and tastes identical, but is a fraction of the price. You see, the whole cod conundrum reflects our obsession with fashion-based diets in this country. We have to pay over the odds for "flavour of the month", and then we have to sell it for an inflated price.
The customer gets ripped off, we sell less kit, and the bottom line suffers. The thing is, fishing is an unpredictable old business: on some days there's loads of a certain catch and the next day, there's none. While this may be an inconvenience for menu consistency, it can be a positive if you're willing to exercise a little flexibility and get a reputation for "catch of the day". I discuss this concept with Peter, and he acknowledges that while the theory of this is great, time lapses in communicating the information - from fisherman to supplier to outlet and back again - render the catch obsolete before it can be purchased. However, Peter believes the way to solve this problem is through computer technology, and he's put his website where his mouth is to prove it.
Through daily updates, he can respond to changes in availability, so even traditionally expensive fish, such as monkfish, can be cheap on the day if there's a sudden glut of it. The commercial outlet, or indeed the private buyer, can then simply click on their requirements and it's in the bag. The only apparent drawback is, it's card payment upfront. But given the saving to be had and potential increase in profits, I would suggest that this is a benefit, not a hindrance. Web-based information is also very useful for gaining product confidence. Let's take that much-maligned cephalopod, the squid, for example. From bread-crumbed rings, to seared with a Thai marinade, it can be anything from melt-in-the-mouth tender, to jaw-achingly tough-as-old-boots. Apparently, this has as much to do with variety as cooking time.
If you have this sort of information available to you at the point of purchase, there's no excuse for serving anything but the juiciest, most succulent squid for the rest of your days. The catering industry always seems to be the last to embrace technological developments in any field, but I'm beginning to realise that there are, quite literally, golden opportunities to be had. Take scampi, for example: years of frozen, re-formed prawns chucked in the fryer and served up in a basket have made this dish about as contemporary as Val Doonican at the Palladium. But, with the cyber equivalent of Billingsgate at your fingertips, you just wait for a glut of Dublin bay prawns, buy the lot, and you can be serving the finest scampi that nature intended for weeks to come.
Of course, we must not lose sight of what the customer is asking for, and so the old favourites should be regular fixtures on the menu, like the seasoned captain of a great football team. But utilise the old specials board as its name suggests and we open up a sea of delicious, great-value possibilities. As customer trust builds through the delivery of consistency, new, cheap and flavour-rich varieties can gradually make their way into the menu of regular first-team players. As I leave behind the expanse of wholesale, packaging and processing plants that make up the landscape of the eponymouslynamed Grimsby, I reflect on the twisted logic that some bright spark in an underworked PR company has employed in displaying a load of tourist attraction signposts as you drive into the place.
A simple "Eat more fish" notice would be more appropriate, would not mislead and would generally do everyone a far bigger favour.
For more information on Peter's business visit www.onlineseafood.co.uk
Kids' corner Why not put fish on the menu for your younger customers? Young's Foodservice offers 100% fish fillet Young'uns - a fun range of fish for kids. Young'Uns fish-shaped Flipper Dippers are made from prime Alaskan Pollock fillet and coated in a light crispy batter. Young'Uns Rib Ticklers are shaped as fish skeletons and again made from Alaskan Pollock fillet this time coated in a light and crispy breadcrumb. Also in the range are Young'Uns Fillet Squares. All products are free from artificial colours and flavourings and come with a "controlled salt" guarantee. They can be deep-fried, grilled or oven baked.
Fishy facts Women eat more fish in pubs, research shows, with those aged 45 to 64 consuming the most. The total amount of fish and shellfish purchased in UK pubs in the year to March 2004 was 20,854 tonnes In the last year, UK consumers ate 4,761 tonnes of cod, 3,021 tonnes of scampi and 2,816 tonnes of cold-water prawns in pubs. Pubs account for 18% of total seafood sales in foodservice. In pubs, 47% of seafood meals are eaten at lunch, 53% at dinner.
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