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Peter Weeden, head chef at Newman Street Tavern
There is a certain amount of security that some restaurants feel in ordering from non-sustainable sources. You know the amount of fish you ordered will turn up, without having to check with the fishermen.
The fish we buy for Newman Street Tavern live in the sea off the Helford River down in Cornwall. Rather than just ordering on a spreadsheet every night I speak to the fishermen directly. I have a great relationship with them and I know them by name. Dylan is the fisherman, Chris is his dad – at 66 years old, he’s technically retired but he still fishes. And there’s Chino, the first mate. We talk about all the variables – the tides, the weather, what fish are in the sea this time of year – and then we try to predict what they’ll catch.
They go out every morning and I speak to Dylan throughout the day. They relay what they’re catching, what nets they’re shooting and what they’re hoping to see – then I’ll order. The fish arrives at shore about 2pm, come to us in London overnight, gets to the kitchen about 10am and is on the menu for lunch in less than 24 hours.
The restaurant is the vehicle by which I can peddle and perpetuate sustainability. It’s about being able to push forward the things we think do justice to the environment and it is a constant balancing act. Many things have to come together to make an environmentally sustainable business make sense. It’s not about making sustainability a tick box or a tag on to your business. It’s something that is completely integrated otherwise, why would you do it? You either believe it or you don’t. Juggling all of these things on a daily basis whilst trying to make your own bread, do your own butchery and prepare everything from scratch in house? It’s very challenging, but immensely satisfying when you have happy customers. Interview by Lucy Palmer
Ben Tish, chef and patron of the Salt Yard Group
I had always been aware of using the seasons correctly, of good sourcing practices, free range meats and happy animals. I went about my business – somewhat obliviously – following what I read in the press and what everyone else seemed to be doing, but I wasn’t actually thinking about it properly or understanding why I was doing it.
But then the plight of our dwindling fish stocks hit the news and End of the Line – a disturbing but compelling documentary about overfishing – was released, and I realised that we should stop taking our precious natural resources for granted.
As a chef, I understood that more than any other I was directly responsible for the decline and nigh on extinction of certain fish stocks. And that I also had the incredibly important opportunity to turn that around, both in terms of what I bought but also in educating my staff and customers.
Now sourcing sustainably is second nature. We have embraced the process of thoroughly investigating our fish – in terms of seasonality and whether it’s correct and ethical to use them.
Not living by the sea means we have to trust our suppliers to do the sourcing for us and to deliver the fish in prime condition. But we communicate on a daily basis and have to be flexible according to what’s happening out on the ocean waves.
We are happy to experiment with lesser known (or unknown) fish that have an excellent sustainability rating, as long as it’s delicious and relevant. The Marine Conservation Society’s FishOnline website is an invaluable resource for chefs, and as fish ratings can change on a monthly, sometimes weekly, basis, it keeps us on our toes and keeps things interesting. This process is challenging but ultimately rewarding.
Hake has emerged as a champion of sustainable fishing in Britain and I love using this beautiful, sweet, firm-fleshed white fish in our Spanish-influenced recipes. If you like cod, haddock or pollock then you’ll like hake. Relatively bone-free, able to stand up to big, bold flavours and incredibly versatile in terms of cooking; I like to pan roast it in brown butter or salt it lightly and then coat in flaky bread crumbs and fry in olive oil.
The Spanish and Portuguese know a thing or two about their fish; just pop into one of their fish markets to see the incredible display of weird and wonderful seafood available, and the throngs of professional chefs, housewives and everyone in between queuing to buy their daily catch. But it’s British hake that they hold in the highest esteem, and that’s surely the best endorsement you could wish for.
Ben Tish’s pan-fried hake on the bone, with extra virgin olive oil mash, mussels, chorizo and flat parsley
Serves 4 as a main course or 6-8 as tapas.
Fish
4x trimmed and cleaned darnes of hake – approximately 180g each
Olive oil for cooking
Sea salt and black pepper
Mash
2 large desiree potato, peeled and evenly diced
20g unsalted butter
120ml double cream
75ml extra virgin olive oil, preferably Arbequina
Chorizo and mussels
180g of hot cooking chorizo, peeled and diced
24 small rope grown mussels, bearded and washed well
1 small banana shallot, peeled and diced
1 tblsp chopped flat leaf parsley
100ml medium dry sherry
100ml white wine
30g unsalted butter
Squeeze of lemon
Place the potatoes in a pan of salted water and bring to the boil. Simmer until the potatoes are tender and then drain well and push through a ricer. Return to the pan over a low heat and then stir in the butter and cream. Season the potatoes well and then slowly whisk in the olive oil until emulsified. The potatoes will take on a rich yellow colour from the olive oil.
Heat a non-stick pan over a high heat and add a lug of olive oil. Season the hake darnes and place in the pan. Sear on one side for 2 minutes and then turn onto the other side.
When the fish is turned add the chorizo, shallots and mussels and cook for a further minute or two until the chorizo has started to release its natural paprika infused oil and the mussels have started to open. Drain off a little of the oil and then add the sherry and wine. Bring the liquids to the boil and reduce steadily over the hake.
After 2-3 minutes turn the hake again and then add the butter and parsley into the sauce. Stir through the sauce and ensure it has emulsified with the butter and scrape any sediment from the bottom of the pan to flavour the sauce. The sauce should have a syrupy consistency and the hake should be cooked through-check with a small knife near the bone-it will be opaque where the knife is pushed in.
Check the sauce for seasoning and add a squeeze of lemon juice to sharpen the sauce if you like.
Spoon some of the mash onto a serving plate and top with the hake. Spoon over the sauce and scatter around the mussels and chorizo. Serve with the rest of the sherry on the side.
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