It’s Lent, and you know what that means? Fish, that’s what. Once, the point of the whole fast and abstinence thing was to eschew meat, which meant eating fish instead. Indeed, the fish-fasting association was so important for the fishing industry that when the Reformation came, much Catholic practice was jettisoned, but not the obligation to eat fish in Lent.
Now, there’s a further rationale, two in fact. Brexit, plus Covid, a double whammy for the industry. Post Brexit, there are endless impediments to exporting to the EU, formerly an enthusiastic taker of British fish and shellfish, unless suppliers are lucky enough to be part of a bigger consortium which handles the paperwork and even if you do the whole process is more expensive. Lorries which once could drop fish off in London en route to France can’t do so now. Then the enforced closure of restaurants and hotels, here and in the EU, took away fish producers’ main domestic market.
That, reader, is where the home cook and fish eater comes in. If you can’t go eat fish out, you can have it delivered to your door. There are a plethora of online suppliers who deliver fish right across the country and they rely on the individual customer to fill the gaps left by the collapse of their other markets. It’s more work for them, making up smaller orders for lots of customers, rather than big orders for fewer, but at least the fish is getting sold. Unlike much supermarket fish you know that it’ll be fresh and locally caught – though some suppliers specialise in frozen fish. You will probably be dealing with someone who knows not only the fishermen but the fishing ground the fish came from.
Inevitably, the delivery charge adds to the cost, perhaps £10 for an order, which means it makes sense not to order just a couple of plaice. Some suppliers offer a seasonal catch box. Because that’s the thing…fish is seasonal, like all good things, so it’s no use kicking up about lobster being unavailable whenever you want it because that’s the nature of the thing. Don’t expect a Monday delivery because fishermen don’t go out on Sunday. In bad weather, the boats won’t be out at all. The 24/7 availability of fish and shellfish in supermarkets is illusory. Get to know what’s in season, and gorge yourself then. The beauty of buying from a good producer is that when the fish comes, it’ll be nicely trimmed and perhaps filleted, and I can’t tell you what a relief it is to get mackerel without bones. Some crustacean suppliers send them live so do check in advance if you don’t want your dinner running around its box. Also check that the fish is local – some suppliers supplement local catch with products from elsewhere.
Many send out boxes on a Wednesday which means that you’ll have to eat your way through the lot on Thursday and Friday. But at least what you get you’ll want to eat. Last week, I tried frozen fish from a supermarket which contrived to be, after cooking, simultaneously wet and dry, a dispiriting experience. The fish from the suppliers I mention here are a different story. Obviously, this is only a very few from the plethora of excellent producers. To find one that suits you and is in your area, try websites such as Call4Fish.com which can direct you to an enormous range of suppliers. There’s a useful website for mobile fishmongers from Grimsby onnGrimsbyFishNearYou.co.uk, which puts you in touch with the Grimsby suppliers operating in your area.
There are a plethora of online suppliers who deliver fish right across the country and they rely on the individual customer to fill the gaps left by the collapse of their other markets
Also, fish is known make you cleverer. After the amount I’ve eaten, I’m bursting with brains.
Pesky Fish is an ingenious company that offers an online marketplace where fishermen can sell their catch as soon as it’s landed and customers can order really fresh fish and often get to know who caught it. The boats operate in inland waters up to 12 miles off the coast but there are other products, including farmed smoked salmon. The packaging is environmentally friendly and if you order live lobster it will arrive in style, bedded in seaweed. Availability depends on the weather. See the website for market opening hours Peskyfish.co.uk
Wright Brothers: Ben and Robin Wright get their fish chiefly from fishermen in Devon and Cornwall. The fish is nicely presented and trimmed; my selection included some lovely hake and whiting, and plaice on the bone. They do a Catch of the Day box for £55, which sounds expensive, but does have 12-16 portions. Minimum order £35. Delivery cost, £10. Thewrightbrothers.co.uk
Andy Race operates from the port of Mallaig and specialises in smoked and shellfish. His peat-smoked salmon is some of the best farmed product I’ve had – excellent colour and texture – and he assures me that they’re nicely reared in the farm up the road. His smoked mussels were fat and moreish – nicer, to my mind, than fresh. His kippers are excellent and his shellfish is delivered ready-cooked, for welfare reasons. He also does good fresh fish. And yes he does know almost the very bit of the sea where his fish comes from. His small taster pack is £36; the large is £95 (delivery of these is free); other fish available to order. Delivery £10. Andyrace.co.uk
Beer Fisheries is a family owned company whose shop on Beer beach is supplied in part by catch from the owner’s father. Its fish comes from the Lyme Bay marine reserve and Brixham and I can vouch for the excellent sole. Their catch of the day fish box – that’s what I’d go for – offers the best fish at a range of prices; as well as good deals on fish assortments and individual fish. Delivery is a very reasonable £5. Beerfisheries.co.uk
The Cornish Fishmonger offers fish from local fishermen, some of whom it has kept in business during the last difficult year; the website offers a sophisticated range of fish and shellfish, though 90 per cent comes from Cornwall. I’d go straight for the fish in season offer…right now, haddock fillets start at £5.50. Rob Wing, the founder, knows many of his skippers by name. He does very good mussels and clams, and excellent hake. Delivery is £7.95. thecornishfishmonger.co.uk
Boat2Door is a lovely small family company which offers fish from around Brixham; my selection included spanking fresh chunks of hake and lovely plaice on the bone, all beautifully presented. It offers an excellent Catch of the Day box for £25. £20 minimum order; £6.95 delivery. Boat2Door.co.uk
Keltic Seafare is a Highlands company that normally provides Michelin starred restaurants with live langoustine, lobster, oyster and scallops, but now that Covid has closed the restaurants here and in Paris, they can deliver to you instead, with the creatures kept at a comfortable temperature for the journey. You need to kill your lobster (not available just now) or langoustine yourself – I’d knock a lobster out with a sharp knife point in the spinal column myself, or you could adopt the supplier’s suggestion of stunning the creatures first with 1-3 hours in the freezer. The scallops are so good they need minimal cooking. And for the environmentally conscious gourmet, you can pay a little extra to have your fish delivered in wool-insulated boxes instead of polystyrene. Your call. £15 delivery. Oysters from £1; scallops from £2.50; langoustine from £11; lobster from £14.50. kelticseafare.com
Rick Stein is the best known supplier, on the back of his cookbooks and celebrity restaurants. His standard fish box – nice presentation – offers mackerel (on the bone), hake, Thai fish cakes (with some dipping sauce) and a (quite small) fish pieces pack. The latter is bland for a fish pie; I’d include a little smoked fish. You can also buy preprepared dishes that just need assembly. Fish boxes, £40 or £75. Delivery, £7.95. shop.rickstein.com
There are times when you might want frozen fish – for convenience, in bad weather or when what you want isn’t in season. Alistair Blair of The Fish Society maintains that if you freeze fish within 1-4 days of being caught it can be as good as fresh. Certainly he stocks some very classy British fish (the origins are clearly labelled), including turbot, and his plaice and shrimps are very good.www.thefishsociety.co.uk Delivery free over £40; otherwise, £7.50.
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