Five of the six finalists in Seafood Scotland’s ‘Young Seafood Chef of the year competition’ were in Peterhead today (Tuesday 7^th June) to see at first hand, how fish gets from the sea to their kitchens.    They were accompanied by Seafood Scotland Marketing Manager Clare Dixon.

The finalists were Adam Newth, No1 The Balmoral, Edinburgh; Orry Shand, Eat on the Green Restaurant, Udny Green, Ellon; Michael Clark, Elmwood College and Seafood Restaurant, St Andrews; Meagan Toye, Raploch Community Campus, Forth Valley College;  Anastasios Neofitos, Byzantium Restaurant, Dundee; and Barry Robertson, Turnberry Hotel, who was unable to make the trip.

Their tour began with an early morning visit to Peterhead market, to see one of the busiest sales of the year.  The young chefs were impressed by the volume and variety of freshly landed seafood and are keen to make better use of it in future.  

Jess Sparks, Seafood Scotland’s Environmental & Technical Manager, gave them a comprehensive briefing about the sustainability of the industry, and fielded many questions on seasonality, responsible fishing, and which species are best to use. 

Tours of Laeso Fish Ltd, a local shellfish processing company specialising in Scottish langoustines, and Lunar Processing, Aberdeen, which processes whitefish and salmon, completed the chefs’ look at the supply chain. 

“We were delighted to welcome the young chefs to Peterhead to showcase our seafood industry, and I was pleased to debunk several myths, and to show that all the species landed are good environmental choices on the menu,” explained Jess Sparks. 

Orry Shand, said: “My visit gave me a great insight into how fish is handled before it goes to chefs.  I was particularly interested to see how it is sold on the market, and was really impressed by the freshness of all the fish.”

The young chef competition is part of a wider package of measures sponsored by Scottish Government that are designed to encourage greater awareness of the quality and sustainability of Scottish seafood. 

The chefs are now preparing for the ‘cook off’, which takes place on June 27^th at the Edinburgh School of Food & Wine.  Top prize is a specially commissioned trophy, a week’s work experience at the Captain’s Galley Seafood Restaurant in Scrabster – one of the best in the UK - and the opportunity to cook the winning dishes at a Ministerial dinner. The chefs will be cooking a variety of Scottish species including Hake, Herring, Haddock, Megrim, Squid, Crab and Scallops. Judging will be overseen by the Federation of Chefs, Scotland.