First taste of fish farming for London students
Food ambassador introduces trainee chefs to salmon aquaculture
PATRICK Evans is Loch Duart’s food ambassador, a first in the Scottish salmon farming industry, and possibly the Scottish seafood sector. Appointed in 2017, he brings his chef’s experience to the company and builds on its already strong connection with the culinary world, in the UK and worldwide.
His role is certainly varied – and very busy. At the Brussels seafood show in May he was an indefatigable presence, in the kitchen preparing Loch Duart salmon for international visitors.
But he can also be found on the farm sites, introducing the next generation of chefs to finest Scottish salmon at its source.
He is well versed in all aspects of farming, including salmon husbandry, and has joined Loch Duart’s fish biologists in conducting fish health and flesh quality checks.
The group of six students he brought to Badcall Bay in June had never been to Scotland before, let alone to a fish farm, and their excitement was palpable.
From Greenwich College, part of LSEC (London South East Colleges), they were led by Lilian Martin, a chef lecturer, who said the youngsters were ‘gobsmacked by the scenery’.
The students, aged 16 to 22, had been able to see the salmon during their early stages in the cycle through the hatchery, all the way out to the sea sites – a unique opportunity given Loch Duart’s position as the last fully integrated Scottish salmon farmer.
During the visit they were also given the opportunity to get very hands on with some salmon and were able to prepare a few salmon dishes, splitting into two competing teams. The winning dish was Loch Duart salmon with black pudding and a cream and mushroom sauce
The trip was an eye opener for Martin too, she said: ‘As a chef who’s been in the industry
for 30 odd years, when I’m cutting large salmon I never thought they’d be three years old. It’s a lot of investment to get the fish to maturity and so much can go wrong – because they are out in the open, you’re against nature all the time.
‘I like the environmental issues here and how passionate they are ...making the fish farms cutting edge and sustainable, it’s so, so important.’
Martin said salmon is used a lot and people like it because it is a very versatile, ‘lazy fish’, meaty but with hardly any bones.
‘Even if you’re not a big fish fan, salmon is very easy to eat.’
“It’s a lot of investment to get the maturity” fish to