Finalists in Seafood Scotland’s‘ Young Seafood Chef of the year competition’ landed in Peterhead on Monday 21st June to see at first hand, how fish gets from the sea to their kitchens.  They were joined by two regional winners from Scottish & Newcastle tied houses, who won a Seafood Scotland sponsored competition to find the best seafood recipes used in gastro pubs. 

The chefs enjoyed a seafood dinner and presentation from Jess Sparks, SFS Environmental and Technical Manager about sustainability initiatives being undertaken by the Scottish fleet, then joined an early morning trip to Peterhead market accompanied by Jimmy Buchan from the Amity.  All were impressed by the volume and variety of freshly landed fish and by the lively market atmosphere.

“We were delighted to welcome the chefs to Peterhead to showcase our sustainable industry, and pleased that they are now keen to use more fresh Scottish species on their menus,” said Jess Sparks.

The group admired the quality of cod and haddock landed by the Starlight Rays and were pleased to be shown over the vessel by owner/skipper James Thores.  He explained how short tows, careful onboard handling and use of slurry ice were vital to maintain quality.  John George Buchan, skipper of the pelagic vessel Lunar Pathway, showed the chefs over his boat, told them how herring and mackerel are caught and handled, and enabled them to understand the differences between the pelagic and whitefish fleet.

Tours of Select Shellfish, a local shellfish processing company specialising in Scottish langoustines, and Caley Fisheries, which processes whitefish, shellfish and mackerel, completed the chefs’ look at the supply chain. 

Adam Newth, from the Seafood Restaurant, St Andrews was amazed by the filleting skills he witnessed at Caley Fisheries and found the whole trip a real eye opener.  “Seeing the huge amount of fish landed at the market and hearing from the fishermen who catch it has given me a new respect for the seafood industry,” he stated. 

Martin Carabott from Gleneagles, Perthshire “The visit was very interesting and I was certainly impressed by the fish on the market.  At Select Shellfish we had a great discussion about why most of the langoustines go abroad and what we need to do to get more UK consumers eating them.”

The visit was topped off with a special lunch, created at the Buchan Braes hotel by the Scottish & Newcastle chefs, from fish and shellfish purchased on the morning market. 

The Young Chef competition, aimed at chefs under 23, is in its second year and was organised as part of a wider package of measures sponsored by the Scottish Government’s ‘Eat More Fish’ campaign, which is designed to encourage greater domestic consumption of Scottish seafood. 

The winner will be decided at a ‘cook off’, which takes place on 28^th June at the Edinburgh School of Food & Wine.  Top prize is a specially commissioned trophy, a visit to Lyon in January 2011 to attend the final of the Bocuse d’Or competition – a cook off between the world’s greatest chefs which is featuring Scottish crab, monkfish and langoustine, a week’s work experience at Roy Brett’s Edinburgh seafood restaurant Ondine, plus the opportunity to cook the winning dishes at a Scottish Ministerial dinner.