A Sense of Plaice and other bad fish puns
by - 15:11 on 30 September 2008
Definition of a megrim? A dull throbbing haddock that won’t go away. OK, it’s better if you say it out loud. And you have to know a megrim is a kind of flatfish, as well as an archaic spelling of migraine. So, now that the weak joke has been completely filleted I really want to say that I live in a town that boasts a ‘piscatorial surgeon’. Actually, it’s a guy that works in a fish shop. But that’s what’s on the business card. And, ‘Fish in Crieff’ up on the main street is a mightily impressive shop. (My criterion here is partly that they usually have fresh scallops and prawns, or Nephrops or Norway lobster – call it what you will – for sale.)
I used to think that you had to be really near a fish market to ensure top quality – and I’m remembering here our old favourite
Downies of Whitehills, up on the Moray Firth coast. But in the Crieff, Perthshire, fish shop they are supplied at least in part from Scrabster, which is a long way from Crieff.
Scrabster is the ferry port for Stromness in Caithness on the north coast of Scotland. This is where you’ll find the
Captain’s Galley. Jim Cowie, its utterly dedicated chef/owner, has been gathering a loyal following for about six years now in this single-minded and not inexpensive seafood restaurant. (Don’t ask for a steak.) His latest award – and he wins ‘em all the time – is the only Scottish restaurant in the ten listed in the Which? Good Food Guide 2009 Editor's Choice Awards. He gets most of his fish from the quayside at Scrabster – about 50 paces away. And also, he dares to promote the issue of sustainability. In fact, he’s evangelistic on the subject. If it isn’t in season, or in poor condition, or supply is threatened by over-fishing, then you won’t see it on the menu..
Captain's Galley
I’m not certain how much talk of sustainability you find at the fish markets at Fraserburgh and Peterhead, on the north-east coast. Peterhead is sometimes described as the largest whitefish landing port in Europe. The coast between the two ports can fairly be described as off the beaten track. It’s a long, sandy shore, disappearing over the horizon into the haze of surf. One of these spaces that you might even get all to yourself.
View south from hotel to Rattray Head. The beach is deserted (and, in this case, badly photographed).
Overlooking one of its loneliest stretches is a hotel called the Tufted Duck, at St Combs. You don’t hear about it much. It just gets on with the job of serving the local folk their local fish, only a little more plainly than in the Captain’s Galley. Don’t let the 1960s brutal architecture of the exterior put you off (or the really irritating background of their website!).
There are lots and lots more places in Scotland where seafood is important. These are just a couple of venues off the beaten track!
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