Wine Pairings

White wine is a popular choice for seafood, and for good reason. The lightness and acidity of white wine make it a perfect match for the delicate flavours of seafood. Here are some classic pairings to try:

Chardonnay:

This full-bodied white wine pairs well with rich, buttery seafood dishes like lobster or scallops. Look for a Chardonnay that has been aged in oak barrels for a hint of smokiness.

Sauvignon Blanc:

With its bright, citrusy flavour, Sauvignon Blanc is a great match for light seafood dishes like grilled fish.. Look for a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc for an extra burst of flavour.

Pinot Grigio:

This Italian white wine has a crisp, refreshing flavour that pairs well with delicate seafood like crab or clams. Look for a Pinot Grigio that has a slight minerality for added complexity.

Beer Pairings

Valentine's Day Fish Dishes

Valentine's Day is a special occasion that calls for a special meal. If you're planning to cook for your significant other, fish dishes can be a great option. Not only are they healthy and delicious, but they can also be elegant and romantic.

In this blog, we'll be discussing five fish dishes that you can prepare for Valentine's Day. These dishes include Smoked Haddock, Smoked Salmon, Cod Loin, Salmon Fillet, and Haddock fillet.

Let's get started!

Fish Dishes for Valentine's Day

1. Smoked Haddock Risotto

This dish is a creamy and flavourful risotto made with smoked haddock, leeks, and white wine.

How to prepare it:

1. In a large saucepan, sauté leeks and garlic in butter until softened.
2. Add the Arborio rice and stir to coat in the butter.
3. Pour in the white wine and stir until the liquid is absorbed.
4. Add the chicken stock, a ladleful at a time, stirring constantly and waiting for the liquid to be absorbed before adding more.
5. Once the rice is cooked and creamy, add the smoked haddock and stir through.
6. Serve hot, garnished with chopped parsley if desired.

2. Smoked Salmon Pasta

This dish is a simple yet delicious pasta dish made with smoked salmon, cream, and dill.

How to prepare it:

1. Cook pasta according to package instructions.
2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat the cream over medium heat.
3. Add the smoked salmon and dill and stir until the salmon is heated through and the sauce is creamy.
4. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce, tossing to coat.
5. Serve hot, garnished with extra dill if desired.

3. Cod Loin with Lemon and Capers

This dish is a simple yet elegant dish made with cod loin, lemon, and capers.

How to prepare it:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
2. In a small bowl, mix together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and capers.
3. Place the cod loin in a baking dish and pour the lemon mixture over it.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through.
5. Serve hot, garnished with lemon wedges if desired.

4. Salmon Fillet with Herb Butter

This dish is a simple yet flavourful dish made with salmon fillet, herb butter, and lemon.

How to prepare it:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
2. Mix together the butter, herbs, and lemon zest.
3. Place the salmon fillet in a baking dish and top with the herb butter.

Final thoughts on fish as a meal option for Valentine's Day

Fish is a great option for Valentine's Day, as it can be elegant and romantic. Not only it's healthy and delicious, but it also allows for a great variety of preparation options. Whether you're a master chef or just starting out in the kitchen, there's a fish dish for everyone. With the dishes discussed in this blog, you're sure to impress your Valentine and make it a night to remember.

As the nights are getting a little chillier now with Autumn setting in, we decided to help you out with a few ideas of how you can prepare a fish supper at home using our ingredients! 

We have been looking at a few fish supper recipes online and we have a few to share with you. Starting off with a Smoked Mackerel Fishcake from Nigel Slater. The plain smoked fillets you can buy from us, but if you wanted to change things up a bit, you can also get our Peppered or Chilli fillets and do your own take on the recipe!

For a real warming supper, you could go for a Thai Green Fish Curry This recipe uses Halibut, but you could use Cod or even some Salmon Fillet

This one would impress the family or a group of friends...why not try a Lobster Mac & Cheese? You can of course buy the Lobsters from us whole or dressed, and of course the dressed crabs. We have even heard of a Smoked Haddock Mac and Cheese if you were feeling adventurous...

Finally, a good old fashioned Seafood Chowder will always be a winner. You can get the Salmon, Haddock and Smoked Haddock  from us, or buy our Fish Pie Mix to use in the recipe.

There are many ideas out there, and you may of course have some of your own too. Happy cooking!

Well, we have finally done it! It has been a dream of ours to have our own restaurant for a while now, and we have been waiting for the right opportunity to come along. After months of hard work behind the scenes, we are now in a position to go public with our new venture.

Why have we gone in this direction?

As we said, it's been an idea that we have been toying with for some time. With the suppliers we have in place which supply some of the finest fish in the UK, and also the ability to catch our own fish, as well as working with a number of amazing local fishermen, it seemed like the perfect route to go down. All we needed was the right venue. The Dunstable Arms seemed like the perfect place as it is in Sheringham, is a wonderful building and something we can treat as a clean slate and put our own stamp on it. 

The building will no longer be called the Dunstable Arms. We have had many discussions on whether we keep the name or not and it was a tough decision to move away from it. The Dunstable Arms has a great deal of history behind it, and has had some fantastic landlords in the past. Many locals and visitors will have fond memories of when it was open previously, including ourselves as don't forget, we are locals too! However, we decided that in order for us to make it our own, we had to stay true to our vision of what we want the building to be. 

What will the Fishmonger’s Tavern be?

We want to appeal to locals as well as visitors, so we will be tailoring our offering with this in mind. We will be looking to use the entire ground floor as best we can to accommodate diners, which will consist of making use of the garden and old function room in the summer months, and using the inside all year round as a dining area for the most part. We will look to incorporate an area for those who want to pop in for just a drink, however we should make it clear from the outset that it will be a restaurant first and foremost. This may not please everyone, but again, we have to stay true to what we believe is the right thing to do for us. The town already has some brilliant pubs and bars, and there is much more variety for people than there was a few years ago. The hope is that we can add something else to the town, giving even more choice for locals and enhance the offering for our many visitors.

When will we be open?

The truth is, we don’t know at this point. We are aiming for 2023, it could be mid way through the year, could be at the end of the year. A lot depends on when we can get works done and completed, and make sure the offering is where we want it to be. As you can imagine, there is A LOT to do at this point, everything from choosing tables and chairs to recruitment, colour schemes, pretty much everything you can think of. So bear with us, and we will let everyone know when the time is right. 

Our other businesses

CA Seafoods will remain ours and will continue to run as normal. We have grown the shop in the 4 years that we have owned it from just two rooms to taking over the entire building to facilitate everything we do. From our own production facilities to our wholesale operation, not forgetting about resurrecting the Sheringham Smokehouse. We still want this to continue to grow and thrive, so this will be unaffected by our new venture.

We hope that this answers a few questions that you may about this, and we really hope that you are as excited as we are for the challenge we have ahead of us. The support we have had from the community so far has been humbling and overwhelming and we thank you all sincerely for all the feedback and good wishes. 

If you have any specific questions that we may have not answered, please drop us an email at enquiries@fishmongerstavern.co.uk and we will do our best to answer them.

Website - www.fishmongerstavern.co.uk

Our Smokehouse dates back to before the turn of the 19th century if not further. We are extremely proud of its history and have made every effort to preserve the building and to carry on the traditions of smoking fish. Sheringham Smokehouse is one of the last remaining traditional smokeries left on the North Norfolk coastline.

So How Do We Do It?
Fish can be smoked in a few different ways, and some are more complex than others in terms of the process and how much time you may need. There are several factors in play would could be the type of wood, temperature, and equipment needed.

At no point do we add any dyes to our fish. The colour of the finished product is a result of the smoking process.

Cold Smoking
In days gone by, cold smoking was used as a preservation method before the days of fridges and freezers. We cure our fish such as salmon or kippers before it goes into the cold smoke room, which ensures it lasts longer.

Dry Rub Or Brine
We use a dry rub or a brine to draw out the moisture from the fish. We use a salt rub for our cold smoked salmon. We apply this generously to the meatier side of the fish and leave it until it is ready to be cold smoked.
It is possible to add herbs and spices to the rub, such as dill which is used for our Gravlax. You can coat the fish with salt, or mix the salt into the water to make a brine and soak the fish in it.
For our brines, we mix salt and water together to make the solution, and then soak the fish. This method is used for Kippers, and for our Smoked Haddock.
For our dry salted fish, we store them in a dry and cool place for a period of time. The bigger the fish, the longer it is left.
Once the rub or brined process is finished we then clean the fish with cold water, which removes all the excess salt. We then pat it dry and then it's onto the next stage.

Curing
We hang all of the fish in a temperature controlled room to make sure the fish is completely dry before smoking. If there is any moisture left it can make a huge difference to the finished product, so this is a critical stage in the whole process.

Cold Smoking The Fish
Cold Smoking is called as such as it is done at a temperature below 70 degrees F. To achieve this we use boxes to burn the oak chips and dust on the floor of the smokehouse to ensure no excess heat gets to the fish.
The dust is burned slowly so the fish gets a gradual exposure to the smoke. We can have fish in the cold smoke for anything from a few hours to sometimes a few days.

Hot Smoking
This is a different process in terms of time compared to cold smoking in that it is much shorter time wise. Usually, fish is smoked for 3-4 hours, however for our Smoked Prawns and Crevettes it can be not even half this amount of time.
For Hot Smoking, we use a Kiln which is lit using Oak dust and raised to certain temperatures depending on the fish you are smoking. The fish is put onto racks and placed in the kiln. We keep a watchful eye on the temperature and the amount of smoke going through the kiln as any drastic changes can really affect the finished product.
Our hot smoked fish range includes Salmon, Trout and Mackerel. We have done some experiments too with Scallops which were a massive hit in our shop.

HEALTH BENEFITS
It is mainly fatty fish which is smoked, and this is a big factor when talking about the health benefits of it. Smoking the fish helps to enhance and retain the flavour, but has the added benefit of keeping the health benefits of it. As we know fish is a great source of protein, omega-3 acids and vitamin B. Another reason to give our smoked fish a try!
We hope you enjoyed this insight into our work in our dear old smokehouse. To keep up to date on our creations, why not follow us on Facebook and Instagram?

Hake is becoming a very popular fish with our shop customers, and is slowly making its way onto more and more restaurant menus.

Hake is a high quality and sustainable white fish similar in flavour to Cod, beloved in Spain and starting to make a name for itself here in Britain. High in protein with an exceptionally low fat content, lends itself very well to Spanish flavours. It is known as 'The King of Fish' in Spain, so a good idea would be to follow their lead in terms of recipes.

You can cook hake fillets in several ways. Either on the grill, baked in the oven of frying, Hake is very versatile and and they are all ways in which you can make a really great dish. It is versatile in the flavours that you can pair it with too, try it with acidic or spicy flavours, whatever takes your fancy!

You can also try it on the barbeque, see our blog post about cooking fish on the barbeque to find some inspiration.

However you prepare it, you must be careful to not over-season, and to not to over cook your Hake fillets. It can go from done to overdone very quickly because of its light consistency.

Cooking fish on the barbecue is a great way to bring out the unique tastes and textures of the fish, and in some ways can be more rewarding than the usual sausages and burgers. At CA Seafoods we serve fish in either whole or fillets, and we have a range of different fish on offer which suit the smoky flavour you get from barbecuing. Although if you take a lot of care over cooking, you will find that pretty much any fish can be cooked in this way.

Because of the wide range of fish available, its worth considering the way in which you cook the fish. It goes without saying that if you have a barbecue with wide-set grill bars, it wouldn’t be the best idea to cook small fish fillets, unless of course you wrap them in foil or put them in a fish basket. A general rule of thumb is to only cook fish on a very high heat and oil the fish before you start cooking. This will help ensure that the fish does not tear. Of course making sure the grill rack is nice and clean before cooking will also help prevent the fish sticking.

Cooking on the BBQ

If you choose to cook fillets directly on the grill, choose fish where the skin and flesh is fairly firm so it will stand up to the heat - here we would recommend Monkfish, Salmon or Halibut. 

A good tip for cooking on the grill is to oil the skin and season it with salt. Not only does it prevent sticking but it gives the skin a great crispy and tasty finish. For the more delicate fillets such as Sea Bass or Plaice, it is a good idea to wrap them in foil with a small splash of water and some fresh aromatic herbs. This will protect the flesh and lightly steam the fish, leaving the flesh moist and juicy.

For something a little more adventurous, you can use marinades. Once the fish has been marinated, you can dice it to put onto skewers for a fish kebab. You can use some of our Smoked Prawns or Crevettes on the skewers too if you really wanted to push the boat out.

A really simple way to barbeque fish is of course to leave them whole. A whole Bream for example would be a real showstopper. Because you leave the bones in, it helps to add some extra flavour and moisture to the fish.

Sardines, Mackerel, and Trout would be our recommendation as great fish for cooking whole. Preparing them in this way also is an opportunity to stuff the fish which can add even more flavour. Getting yourself a fish basket which can be placed directly on the barbeque is a really good tip, as this will help keep everything together. It also gives you the added bonus of creating char lines on the fish which come from the hot metal. 

Our seafood platters are also a great addition to any barbeque too, get a luxury platter to share or one of our Lobster or Crab platters to nibble from.

We have selected a few recipes to give you a bit of inspiration for the barbeque season. Here’s to a great summer!

Jerk Lobster With Coconut Rice - Credit Greatbritishchefs.com

Barbequed Trout In Newspaper - Credit Greatbritishchefs.com

BBQ Tandoori Fish - Credit https://www.krumpli.co.uk/