Helen Peacocke meets students from Brookes University organising a ‘Supper to Save the Sea’

Meeting four enthusiastic young final year students studying Hospitality Management at Brookes University proved a great experience. Our meeting reminded me of how much we, the older generation, can gain by interacting with enthusiastic youngsters such as these.

Sarah James, Alex Nicholson, Lenka Ciencialova and Hana Smetanova met me at Oxford’s wholesale fish merchant Haymans Fisheries at Osney Mead, which is just off the Botley Road.

Haymans still operates in the Covered Market for those shopping in central Oxford, but these industrial estate premises offers them extra room and storage space not available in the Covered Market.

This state-of-the-art premises on Osney Mead, which was established just a few years ago, is a cash and carry open to both members of the public and businesses looking for sustainable British fish. The available parking at Osney Mead means it is an easy building to access. Large purchases can be carried comfortably to the car without having to fight your way through the Oxford crowds.

All the fish and seafood sold at Haymans is sourced from fishermen who use sustainable methods that can be maintained indefinitely without reducing the species’ ability to maintain its population, and without adversely impacting on other species within the ecosystem by removing their food sources, accidentally killing them, or damaging their physical environment.

The students were there to inspect Haymans stock in preparation for their Britain’s Forgotten Fish Supper that they are organising as one of the many practical final year exercises at Brookes. Their task, which they began planning in November, is to create a themed event for 60 customers, organise the menu, the staff, the publicity and the funding. In other words, to work together as they will be expected to work when they take up the managerial positions within the catering industry for which they are training.

The idea behind the supper is to invite members of the public to get to know Britain’s forgotten fish by taking a gastronomic tour around our shores to celebrate fish that has been long forgotten. Their poster suggests the evening will showcase a selection of mouth-watering, sustainable British fish and encourage us all to incorporate them into our diet.

Nick Evens, who is Rick Stein’s head chef at St Petroc’s Bistro in Padstow, will also attend the dinner to discuss the issues of over-fishing in British seas and suggest what we can do to make a change.

The event, which takes place next Tuesday, March 18, is one of many being arranged by Brookes students during their first Sustainability Week.

As they explained, the species of fish on offer at Haymans, particularly during winter, fluctuates considerably, so do the prices. To their delight, many of species that were not available during the winter storms were in stock again and their prices were falling due to milder weather conditions. Their ‘Supper to Save the Sea’ begins with a grapefruit fino fizz and a selection of both raw and cooked oysters. A splendid fish sharing platter will be served next. This will contain soaked mackerel pâté, prawn and crayfish scotch egg, cured bream salad, bottled brown shrimp, deep-fried cuttlefish, mussels in cider, rollmop herring, lemon mayonnaise and bread.

Pan-fried, line-caught Cornish ling fillet comes next. This will be served on crab, crushed new potatoes, sautéed greens and caper beurre noisette. Ling, a little-known fish, is normally found along the Cornish coast in wrecks or rough ground. It’s a long slender fish. The students are confident this dish will do much to persuade their customers that it is a fish worth taking seriously.

The pudding will be a seaside lemon sponge sandcastle created from rhubarb ice cream, seashell biscuits and lemon sauce. The menu choices were made after consulting Haymans staff, who are delighted to discuss their products and help customers make the right selection.

They also referred to the Marine Conservation Society’s list of fish to eat that come from sustainable stocks, also fish to avoid as they are overfished, vulnerable and/or from badly managed fisheries, or those that have high levels of by-catch – which is fish caught unintentionally whilst trying to catch other fish and then thrown back dead. Tickets to Britain’s Forgotten Fish – A Supper to Save the Sea next Tuesday (7pm) cost £27.50. They can be booked by calling Brookes Restaurant on 01865 483803. Although the meal is a celebra-tion of sustainable fish, vegetarian options are available on request.

While the students realise this event will not in itself solve the decline of fish stocks – with more than 80 per cent of fish stocks over-exploited and in serious decline – they are convinced we can at least reduce the strain on certain species by demanding fish that comes from sustainable stock.