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Now the dust has settled on London's glamorous awards ceremony for
the Fish and Chip Shop of the Year Competition an unlikely winner has
emerged from the annual search for Britain's top chippy.
Frozen at sea portions of cod was one of the stars of the award
ceremony held at the Riverbank Park Plaza Hotel overlooking the River
Thames. Frozen filleted cod was chosen as the main course for the
gala dinner and eight out of Britain's top ten fish and chip shops,
shortlisted for the competition, prepare frozen at sea filleted fish
for their discerning customers.
Tim Cartwright-Taylor, chairman of the Frozen at Sea Filleted Fish
Association (FASFA), says: "The results of this year's
competition and the fact that frozen at sea fish was used in the main
course for this top industry event is further proof that frozen at
sea fish beats wet fish when it comes to consistency, taste, quality
and sustainability."
FASFA is a trade organisation representing trawler owners and
distributors of frozen at sea filleted fish from Norway, Iceland,
Faroe Islands, Spain, Russia and Greenland, which supply 90% of the
UK's fish and chip shops.
Tim says: "Our trawler owner members fish in the carefully
managed North Atlantic and Barents Sea waters. When the fish is
caught it is cleaned, filleted and frozen on the trawlers within four
hours, which 'locks-in' the freshness to guarantee a beautiful taste
when it reaches the plate."
The award winning Metro Fish Bar uses frozen at sea filleted
fish and was recognised in this year's Fish and Chip Shop of the Year
Competition as the best eatery in the North West of England. David
Winfield, owner of the Metro Fish Bar based in Bury, says: "Here
at Metro we firmly believe in consistency in everything we do -
service, presentation, portion control and quality - and this of
course starts with the ingredients.
"It would not be possible for us to achieve the degree of
success we have had if we used a 'fresh' product. I would argue that
unless you are located on or near a landing port it is almost
impossible to source 'fresh' fish in any quantity or with consistent
quality. I'm told 'fresh is best' well 'frozen is fabulous'; for
quality and consistency it cannot be beaten. We sell nearly a tonne
of fish a week and it's all frozen."
To be short listed for the annual competition the Metro Fish Bar had
to get through a rigorous judging process which included a customer
vote, taste tests, two intense rounds of shop inspections and a
presentation to a panel of industry experts. The competition is
organised by the UK's authority on seafood, Seafish, and eateries are
strictly judged not only on the quality of their fish and chips, but
on all areas of the business including responsible seafood sourcing,
customer service, food hygiene, staff training and community spirit.
To learn more about Metro Fish Bar go to www.metrofishbar.co.uk or
even better visit the award winning fish and chip shop at 825
Manchester Road in Bury. |
