Producing the Goods

Fish and Seafood

A visit to the seaside can bring out the piscivore in even the most cautious of eaters, but it usually has to be covered in batter and served with chips. Some seaside places maintain their tradition of being fishing ports and there you can find the best fresh examples. Places like Newlyn, Cornwall, or Brixham in Devon, where restaurants serve fish meals prepared from the day's catch. Some fishmongers will send fish by post, so you can mail ahead your breakfast kippers. Not from Willy Fortune's, however. If you want some of the splendid kippers from this famous smokery in the heart of Whitby (Yorks), you will have to go there and buy some from the smokehouse door.

You might once have found Dover sole in the south-east, pilchards in Cornwall, haddock in the waters around Grimsby, herrings off east Anglia. Now, climate change, over-fishing, and the capriciousness of the creatures themselves have combined to reduce their numbers or take them to other waters. Also motorised fishing boats expand the range, so the fish found in a regional market might have come from waters some distance away. There remain some delicacies associated with particular places, however: if you holiday in the south-east and like oysters, try Whitstable (Kent) or Colchester (Essex), both of which remain proud of their oyster-fishing rights and open the season (between May & August) with municipal ceremonies and festivals. Whitstable Oyster Festival takes place around July 25th (St James' Day) - prime holiday time. Falmouth Oyster Festival sees the use of sail-powered oyster dredgers.

The fish and fishermen of Cornwall are featured in Carol Trewin & Adam Woolfitt's recent book Cornish Fishing and Seafood, along with local recipes.

Whitstable <www.oysta.fsnet.co.uk>