![]() It’s not just the sustainable policy which impresses us during the visit, but the way the Norwegians quality control the labelling of Skrei. If you’re in charge of your own fishing policy you’ll look after it all.’ The fishing here is the best in the world and the most profitable, and you can see how healthy it is the moment you put a rod down you catch fish. ![]() ‘They control all their own waters and they take real pride in it. ‘We should all be taking a massive leaf out of the Norwegians’ books,’ he explained. Robin Gill, who grew up fishing off the coast of Dublin, was particularly impressed by what he saw on the boat. ‘It’s got this amazing firmness to it and it never feels pappy or fatty, which you can sometimes get with other big fish.’ ‘What I love about this fish is the texture of the flesh,’ he told me. Within a few minutes of stopping and dropping our lines, a few nautical miles west of the fjord of Malangen, Ollie Dabbous was reeling in his first fish – not bad going for a first time fisherman. Norway’s careful policing of its waters and sustainable fishing quotas was self evident as soon as we were thrillingly passed by feeding groups of orcas. It's important for us to fish it sustainably because this is what we will live off for years to come. ‘We have oil, which will run out, and then we have fish, which we've understood for years. It was a protein source the Vikings could keep when they were away and export to England.’Īmund is also adamant that Skrei is crucial to the country’s future. ‘There’s a Viking story dating back to 875 AD that talks about Vikings drying and shipping Skrei, and there was so much income from the fish around year the 1000 AD there were cathedrals built with the money. ‘Our country has been built on this fish,’ explained Amund Bråthen, a cod specialist from the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC). While Skrei is a reasonably new ingredient to these British chefs, the export has been a crucial part of Norway’s food culture and economy for thousands of years. Skrei has such a great story we love sharing it with our guests and explaining why it’s so special.’ ![]() These days people are much more interested in the provenance of their food – it’s not just about something being tasty, it’s about where it’s coming from and why it’s on the plate. ‘We call it Skrei cod so people understand that it’s a type of cod, but then we train our front of house staff to explain its story. ‘We put it on our lunch and à la carte during the season, and people respond really well,’ said Rachel Humphreys, head chef of Le Gavroche. We came to fish for a very special Norwegian delicacy known as Skrei: a mature migratory cod that swims thousands of miles each year from the Barents Sea off the north coast of Russia, back to its spawning ground in the crystal Norwegian waters.īetween January and April every year, Skrei season is a cause for celebration locally in Norway and it’s increasingly gaining traction on British restaurant menus, as chefs celebrate this prime cod and its clean, muscular flesh in their kitchens. Seasonality is the ultimate cook’s bait, and it’s what drew me, along with a group of the country’s top chefs to Sommarøy – a small, snow-cloaked fishing village in the northernmost reaches of Europe, 200-odd miles north of the Arctic Circle, in the blue grey haze of the polar night.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |