Passionate About Fish's Sue Lucas, provider of the Newlyn Fish Festival annual mammoth fish display champions many varieties of Cornish fish in her Camberley fish shop:
“It’s lovely to be able to sell people not just a fish but a story,” she enthuses. “We’ve actively promoted hake, because it presents such a delicious and truly traceable alternative to the staples of cod and haddock. Since we opened, I can categorically state that sales of Cornish MSC hake now outsell cod by twice as much and by four times the haddock.”
“I’ve made a deliberate and concerted effort to include the fishermen in Newlyn in the whole promotion and Alan has been fantastic in assisting with our requirements, he’s always in contact and will message me even when he’s at sea, so I feel very connected to the whole process.”
“Social media now plays a huge part in how we promote the sea to plate journey. Fishermen like Alan are embracing the technology and the ability to communicate with a wider audience. This is vital in our portrayal of a vibrant and viable seafood sector, where confidence is beginning to return after decades of bad press and constant vilification.”
Sue engages as much as she can with the Cornish boys and procures most of her South-western fishery needs through Newlyn Fish. Every species sourced is tagged with the name of the boat that caught it and Sue reckons it doesn’t come a lot more traceable than that.
If you are lucky enough to get hold of some fresh hake - and both the Ajax and the Karen of Ladram are landing over 150 boxes between them on tomorrow morning's market in Newlyn - learn how to prepare the fish from Sue and Duncan Lewis in this video:
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