It was held at the recently opened Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre, which provides production ready units for new and growing food businesses and offers technical support and advice to local food and drink producers.
We were greeted on arrival with a glass of local apple juice and deep fried cockles:
Like many others, I didn't think I was a fan of cockles. But that was before today, so you won't be getting peanuts and crisps from now on, if you're invited to my house for a dinner party!
We were then shown how to open a scallop:
and then how to turn it into steamed scallops with ginger, sesame oil and spring onions:
We were then shown how to make posh fish fingers (as seen on Masterchef):
made with white bread and mackerel, and served with sweet chilli jelly:
Next was crispy lemon sardines with parmesan and oregano:
I learnt if you're having problems with bones in herrings and sardines, turn up the heat and cook them faster.
We were then shown how to prepare grilled tuna with guacamole:
Tuna's a bit like fillet steak, and shouldn't be over cooked.
Ed Warren made a nice fish dish and showed us how to sharpen knives:
Apparently a clip helps keep the angle right:
a whetstone should be wet, and top chefs seem to use ceramic sharpeners.
We were then shown how to transform fillets of gurnard
into fillets of gurnard wrapped in pancetta with a potato stack:
This could be served with drops of pea or broad bean puree and/or a black olive pate.
By now (despite the fact we'd tried everything that had been demonstrated) it was getting on for lunch time. I was a bit baffled why we'd all been issued with aprons, when (to my horror) I spotted that 16 Dover Sole required skinning - by us the audience!
There was, of course, a demonstration:
and then we all had a go:
It was made easy by lots of sharp knives and scissors, a pinch of salt (to stop the Dover Sole falling out of your fingers and Ed and Fiona's guidance. Here's my attempt:
They were then all cooked, and we finished them off with a nice salad.
I learnt a lot (like how to get the membrane of monkfish and how to recognise the better farmed salmon). The other delegates were all very pleasant and there was a nice convivial atmosphere.
There was a small display of gadgets and books on fish cookery:
I liked The Essential Seafood Cookbook, but I think Fiona's favourite was The River Cottage Fishbook.
Unfortunately you can't smell or taste these dishes, so I suggest that you book yourself on the next event. Details of future courses are available here.
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