Loch Fyne began supplying oysters 30 years ago, and through the gradual
expansion of their online ordering service and restaurants (with their fresh
fish counters), have become synonymous not only with oysters but with smoked
salmon. They have also built a strong reputation for sustainable,
responsible produce. Members of the Slow Food Movement, these days their
salmon is either organic or sourced from the Freedom Food certified Loch
Duart, and 3 per cent of the value of orders goes to the Loch Fyne Trust,
for the protection of marine life of the loch and its coastal communities.
Choose from the dark, sweet Bradan Orach, traditionally smoked for a minimum
of 24 hours, the more delicate “Classic” or the rich, moist and flaky Bradan
Rost, smoked and kiln roasted for slicing into wedges – wonderful for a
party (£35.10 for an unsliced side). Also smoked haddock, trout and kippers,
fresh salmon, king scallops, langoustines, Loch Fyne mussels,
fishcakes, smoked fish pates, soups and ready meals, such as mussel and
spicy chorizo stew.
A Relatively new addition to the produce menu is beef, lamb and pork from the
Highlands, along with wild venison. 01499 600470; www.lochfyne.com.
Michael Brown began catching eels in the late seventies, which he sold
to Dutch buyers for smoking. One day he decided he would have a go himself.
So he built his first smoker and tried smoking the eels. Not good. So he
went to Germany, where he learnt to hot smoke over beech and apple, and
immediately saw a “300 per cent difference”.
Now Brown and Forrest is rightly famous for its Somerset smoked eel –
in accordance with sustainability, Brown works with the various agencies and
conservation groups, exchanging ideas and information, in order to safeguard
the future of the eel population. Though his first wood-fired smoker has
been replaced by a (slightly!) larger one, everything that happens at
Bowdens Farm near Hambridge is the antithesis of large scale production.
“This is classic slow food, smoked in small batches”, says Michael. (From
£7.75 for a sample pack of 113g). They also smoke trout (marinaded first in
whisky and brown sugar), mackerel, haddock, herring, cod’s roe, duck,
chicken, lamb, venison, black pudding, sausages, bacon, cheese, heads of
garlic, etc. A new idea is oak-roasted, marinated tuna (char-grilled over a
fire). Much of the produce is also served simply in the adjoining
restaurant. 01458 250875; www.smokedeel.co.uk.
H. Forman & Son has been smoking salmon in London since the late
19th century, when Jewish immigrants introduced the skill. “Originally they
smoked Baltic fish, then they discovered Scottish salmon,” says Lance
Forman. “The Scots had their own history of smoking haddock and herrings,
but when they saw salmon being smoked in London they started doing it too,
and two types of cure grew up.
Ours, which we now call the London Cure, is very mild, with just a touch of
salt and smoke, so that you enhance the flavour of the fish without
obscuring it. The Scottish cure, on the other hand, is often more robust,
sometimes peaty, often using whisky.”
Wild salmon is
Forman’s speciality, but they also smoke salmon from selected farms. Look
out for their Vintage Russian Royal Fillet of smoked salmon, which
you can carve into wedges.
Buy through their food company, Forman &
Field, 0208 5252 352; www.formanandfield.com.
At the Organic Smokehouse, Michael and Debbie Leviseur, who swapped
London life for the Shropshire countryside, smoke award-winning salmon using
traditional “chimney smoking over oak. Nothing is rushed, everything is done
in small batches, relying on years of experience and seeing and touching,
rather than mechanical controls”, says Michael.
“As well as producing meltingly tasty smoked salmon, they smoke Halen Mon sea
salt, Welsh butter, cheese, and even olive oil. “We pour it into big open
trays and smoke it very gently, so that it absorbs the flavour, and then
bottle and label it by hand.” Organic smoked salmon £4.99 for
100g/unsliced side £38.50). 01588 660 206; www.organicsmokehouse.com
At the Ummera Irish Smokehouse in Co. Cork, Rep. Ireland, Anthony
Creswell made his name smoking wild salmon from local rivers in the
eighties, but now, as a member of the Slow Food Irish Smoked Wild Atlantic
Salmon Presidium he is concentrating on producing award-winning organic
farmed salmon from the Clare Island Seafarm, off the coast of Mayo, until
wild stocks recover. 00 353 23 46644; www.ummera.com
Fergus and Anne Granville of the Hebridean Smokehouse on the island of
North Uist, raise their salmon slowly in low-density fish farms out at sea,
before curing with sea salt and smoking in small batches over peat-fires
(£14.95 for 250g). Some of the salmon is then roasted. They also peat-smoke
and roast seatrout and scallops 01876 580 209; www.hebrideansmokehouse.com
Connoisseurs of oysters favour the Native which takes around five years
to grow to maturity, and is only available when there is an R in the month
(an ancient act of Parliament protects them from being fished during
spawning, from May to August), but are at their best from October onwards.
However the market is dominated by the faster growing, larger Pacific or
rock oyster which is cultivated all year round.
Philip Guy of the Whitstable Shellfish Company fishes wild native
oysters from beds on the Kentish Flats that date back to Roman times (£17.42
a dozen), “The Whitstable Native is highly sought after because it has a
much deeper shell than its counterparts in other waters, so it has a higher
meat content,” he says. He also sells rock oysters farmed on the West Coast
of Scotland (£11.42 per dozen). 01227 282375; www.whitstable-shellfish.co.uk.
The Colchester Oyster Fishery dates back to 1189, and its native
oysters are harvested on the Essex coast around Mersea island. You can also
order Pyefleet rock oysters (50p each), and cooked Scottish and Canadian
lobsters, dressed lobster (£11.95 for a small one, 400-600g live weight) and
crabs. 01206 384141; www.colchesteroysterfishery.com.
Graham and Sue Giles set up Fowey Fish in 1983 and the business is now
run by their daughter Karen. Most of the fish comes from local boats,
including Karen's brother Andy's boat, and from the fish market at Looe. "Sometimes
a particular fish isn't plentiful, or the weather is too bad for the boats
to out, so it's best to keep an open mind about alternatives," says
Karen.
"We'll phone our mail-order customers and say, 'No turbot today, but how
about some brill or John Dory?'" They offer everything from mussels
and crabs to razor clams, to smoked salmon and oak roast salmon
from the Tregida Smokehouse in Launceston, specialise in wine, and
also offer a range of local deli produce. 01726 832202/832422; www.foweyfish.com
To find an organic box scheme in your area use the Times
Organic Box Finder
For the best local produce in your area visit the Times
Real Food Directory
