About the cannery
Small-batch, British tinned fish from Cornish cannery, Hevva. The cannery 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 Hevva cannery is located in Norton Barton Artisan Food Village on the 350-acre Norton Barton farm, in Bude on the North Cornwall coast. Other artisanal food producers there include Cornish Charcuterie, a distillery, a dairy which produces small-batch cheeses, and a bakehouse. Much of Hevva's sustainably-caught fish is caught and landed nearby. The recipes are created by Hevva's chef and the fish is smoked and canned on-site by the small team.
Hevva uses small batches of fish caught sustainably in UK waters. It uses the Marine Conservation Society’s Good Fish Guide to determine which fish to work with. Hevva uses Cornish hake for instance because it is a sustainable alternative to cod, which has been overfished in UK waters. Hake is a more abundant white fish than cod or haddock, and can be fished in quantity here.
"Hevva!" means "Here they are!" in Cornish. It was the cry raised by Cornish huers (fishermen stationed on hillside lookouts above the Cornish coast) when a shoal of pilchards swam into view. This was the signal to down tools and head out to sea in small fishing boats. The boats remain; the other traditions have been supplanted by sonar and tech.
Serving tips
•Smoked mussel omelette with chilli and garlic. Sauté a chopped chilli in a little olive oil. Add minced garlic and sauté for a minute. Add the drained Cornish mussels. Shake the pan so that the mussels garlic and chilli spread out. Pour three whisked eggs into the pan and cook gently. Fold each side of the omelette in just before it's completely cooked and slide onto a plate. Garnish with some chopped herbs.
•Enjoy the hake with lemon on toast with some finely sliced red onion. Drizzle the lemony oil over and garnish with chopped flat leaf parsley.
•Monkfish and sticky rice. Try heating the monkfish through and plating with a side of sticky rice.
