I love fish. I love shellfish too. That was why I was so delighted that Sharon and John from Fyne Fish here in Cockermouth won an award at the recent Cumbria Life Food and Drink awards. If you haven’t been yet, then go visit. Their big thing is sushi which they offer each Friday and Saturday. If you’re only experience of sushi is from one of those little plastic containers from a supermarket, be prepared to be amazed.
I grew up in Bolton which has a superb fish market, stocked each day from the fishing fleets of Fleetwood. I used to love wandering around and seeing all the different fish you could get. There was an energy to the place with all the fishmongers shouting out and across to each other. There was that certain fishy smell too, not that bad odour of rotten fish but a clean, scent that reminded you of the sea.
We don’t eat enough fish here in the UK which is ridiculous since the seas surrounding us are full of wonderful and amazing produce. We seem to like our fish either battered (no bad thing) or pushed through a factory system to emerge in the form of fish fingers. This is a shame. Fish can be really good for you. It’s full of vitamins and minerals and oily fish, in particular, contains omega-3 fatty acids which can help keep your heart healthy. Some health professionals reckon you should eat two portions of fish a week.
Fish is expensive. It’s ironic that we consider fish and chips a fairly cheap meal when the basic ingredients cost a lot, while we’re willing to pay a lot more for pizza, where the basic ingredients are much cheaper. I’m not sure how we turn this around. So much of the produce that lands in the UK is immediately packed in ice and sent off to other countries.
So until we change our eating habits, we’re going to have to rely on the likes of Sharon and John at Fyne Fish to keep the flag flying for Britain’s fish industry. They are doing a really good job.