Master Chefs Sing the Praises of Shetland's Quality Seafood
Master Chefs George McIvor, chairman of the Master Chefs of Great Britain, and Donald Munro, regional business development chef at Nestlé, visited Shetland this weekend and were bowled over by the quality and freshness of Shetland’s seafood product. The chefs were providing cookery demonstrations at one of the island’s major events, Flavour of Shetland, which has now firmly established itself at the centre of the summer event calendar.
The chefs visit, co-ordinated by Shetland Aquaculture, included a visit to Blydoit Fish Shop and the NAFC Marine Centre in Scalloway, and the Lerwick Fish Market.
The seafood selection for the weekend included: boxes of white fish and scallops from Blydoit Fish Shop courtesy of Shetland Fish Producers’ Organisation; halibut from Shetland Halibut Company; salmon from Hjaltland Seafarms Ltd; cod from Johnson Seafarms Ltd; and mussels supplied by Blueshell Mussels Ltd.
Both chefs spoke extremely highly of the quality and freshness of the produce provided for the occasion. George McIvor said: “Having travelled the world, and lived in both New Zealand and Australia, I can honestly say that I have never seen such stunning quality seafood.
“The fish is so fantastically fresh, you can tell by the texture, colour and the fact that it doesn’t smell of anything but the sea.
“The Master Chefs of Great Britain are great ambassadors of Shetland and its products. We’ve used Shetland salmon and scallops for the past ten years at the Master Chefs of Great Britain Annual Luncheon. This is a prestigious event where we are serving around 350 of the top chefs in the UK, and a tremendous opportunity to raise the profile of Shetland seafood.
“It is an aim of the Master Chefs to promote the best produce we have available in the UK. As such, seafood of the quality available in Shetland will always be endorsed by us.”
Master Chef Donald Munro added: “The quality of the produce we’ve used over the weekend is both amazing and inspiring, and meant it was easy to cook up a selection of different dishes. If we had this quality of produce on our doorstep everyday our job would be so much easier. In my current position, I’m dealing with chefs throughout the UK on a weekly basis and I will certainly be spreading the word about Shetland seafood.”
George McIvor also praised Blydoit Fish Shop and commented: “Blydoit Fish Shop is absolutely superb what a selection of fish that is so well presented! I would say that they have the best selection of fish I’ve seen in a fish shop in Scotland. Anyone going into the shop couldn’t help but be inspired by the bounty of seafood that the seas around Shetland have to offer.”
Around 600 people attended the twelve seafood demonstrations held over the Flavour of Shetland weekend. The chefs produced a variety of seafood dishes including Shetland fish stew, Shetland mussel broth and spinach soup with Shetland scallops in pancetta offering tastings and answering questions from the audience.
A variety of other local ingredients were also used to prepare the tasty dishes including Valhalla Brewery’s new ‘Island Bere’ beer, herbs from Scoop Wholefoods, Blackwood Distiller’s white spirits range and Shetland butter.
Further information from:
Nicola Halcrow, Shetland Islands Council, tel 01595 744944, email nicola.halcrow@sic.shetland.gov.uk
Or Louise Rosie, Shaw Marketing and Design Ltd, tel 01595 692465, email louise.rosie@shaw-online.com