British Fish
Fish and shellfish caught off the South coast of Britain and Scotland, packed in extra virgin olive oils, escabeche, and other home cooked-style sauces. Each British cannery we work with has its own distinct way of doing things. Cornish cannery Hevva cans quality fish in novel and inspired sauces. Sound Seafood leans into the flavour of its seasonally-caught fish. Rockfish sources small batches of the best fish here and cans it in Asturias, calling on Spain’s canning expertise to capture British flavour.
Hevva, a cannery located on a seaside farm in Bude, North Cornwall, uses sustainably caught fish and preserves them in unique, flavourful sauces created by an on-site chef: coconut and lime with aleppo chilli complements its monkfish, lemon and agave its hake, and classic dill and fennel the Cotswolds trout. The Rockfish tinned fish project brings together the freshest, highest quality British fish with Spanish artisanal know-how. Rockfish CEO Mitch Tonks decided to look to Spain because he was impressed with the artistry still practised in the canneries there. The canneries he visited in Britain were high-volume and efficient but lacked the artisanal edge that he was looking for. The care and attention practised in the Spanish cannery means that the high quality of the fish is not only maintained but enhanced.
The Sound Seafood sardines are fished from late July to mid March and the mackerel in Autumn, when the oil levels in the fish are at their highest. The high oil content is a must, Sound Seafood say, as it results in a more delicious taste and texture when the fish is canned. It also means a higher omega-3 content.
More about the British fish
•Founder and CEO of Rockfish, Mitch Tonks, is an ambassador for the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).
•The ink sauce that the sustainably-caught South Coast squid is packed in is a recipe created by Mitch Tonks.
•Sound Seafood is a fifth-generation family fishing company, based in Plymouth, Devon.
•The Cornish sardines are caught by skipper Tom Pascoe on Sound Seafood's own small boat, the Charlotte Clare, one of two boats in their currently four-strong fleet named after members of the family.
•Hevva uses the Marine Conservation Society’s Good Fish Guide to decide which fish to work with. The cannery only cans fish with a good sustainability rating: between one and four.
•Hevva! - Cornish for "Here they are!" - was the cry raised by huers, the fishermen stationed at hillside lookouts above the Cornish coast, when a shoal of pilchards swam into view.
