Crab jam. Fen Farm Dairy crab butter. Fish ‘charcuterie’. Crab scones. Scandi-style gravadlax.
If you have an insatiable appetite for seafood and shellfish, it’s time to explore one of the county’s most inventive fish counters.
A Passion For Seafood is exactly what it says on the tin. The specialist foodie store (at Grange Farm Shop in Haskeston, near Woodbridge) is a culmination of all the knowledge owner Mike Warner has gathered during more than a decade as a seafood expert.
As a blogger (under the A Passion For Seafood banner), over the past 10 years Mike has dedicated his life to demystifying the UK fishing industry – turning his encyclopaedic knowledge into palatable, exciting, engaging pieces of content aimed at encouraging readers to put more fish, better fish, sustainable fish, on their plates.
“My wife encouraged me to start the blog. She said ‘you’re always going on about seafood’,” Mike laughs.
The writer has been drawn to the water since he was knee-high to a grasshopper. Growing up in Felixstowe, he says his childhood was idyllic. A youth filled with sea-centred Famous Five-style adventures set against a backdrop of Suffolk’s coasts and creeks.
He had his own lobster pots as a lad, and says his father was a great fisherman. “I spent a lot of time by the water...but funnily enough never made it my career until recently. My other love was farming. I went down that route, spending 30 years in arable farming management and agronomy.”
But the seaside whispered relentlessly, and as interest in his blog grew, Mike found himself mentally moving away from the farming world, eventually setting up a consultancy business in 2015, going back to his first love.
In what he calls his ‘alternative career’, Mike has stretched his sea legs on trawlers around the British Isles.
“It was going terribly well. I started working with DEFRA, on a project to introduce British consumers to British shellfish. And then the pandemic started.”
Like many others, Mike had to pivot. Seeing a disconnect in the supply chain locally, he stepped in, bridging a gap to help bring prime Suffolk and British seafood to the county’s restaurants, pubs...and the public.
He was later invited to run a pop-up shop at Grange Farm, but never left. Today the shop is open five days a week, and Mike continues to source premium wholesale seafood, with some of Suffolk’s finest eateries putting their trust in him.
Few people know fish is seasonal. Nor that autumn is one of the finest times of year to enjoy the fruits of the sea.
“Especially flat fish,” Mike says. “They’ve fattened up over the summer – especially Suffolk flounders which are quite abundant. They’re often used as lobster pot bait, but we sell out of them when they come in. They’re an affordable alternative to things like plaice.
“On the counter today we’ve got locally landed fresh skate wings from the guys at Felixstowe Ferry, local bass (which we like to sell whole if we can) - that’s nice stuffed with fennel, lemon and leeks.
“There’s rock eel, and whiting, which is a lovely sweet white fish. A good alternative to cod.”
Other prime catches Mike reels off include succulent turbot from a day boat in Newlyn, plaice from Brighton, whole Cornish hake, hake fillets from Peterhead, monkfish, and brown shrimp from King’s Lynn.
“We always have smoked white fish and prawns too– we have a couple of guys smoking for us. The smoked bass won two Great Taste awards last year. And the hot smoked monkfish is just awesome!”
Everything is fully traceable, and supplied by folk Mike knows and trusts implicitly.
“Traceability is so important,” he says. “We need to be able to tell the story of our produce. Why it was caught. How and where. Why it’s in good condition now.”
What should we be eating more of?
“Rock eel. And herring. Herring has just come into season here. They’re almost a forgotten species, but they have a very special link to this part of the world. They migrate down the North Sea coast from Scotland, and, going back generations, workers would follow them down to East Anglia where there was a whole industry of curing and salting. It’s an incredible story.”
Natural herring, bloaters and smoky kippers all come highly recommended by Mike, who says they’re a nice ‘entry level’ fish for novices to cook – simply baked or grilled with a bit of lemon.
This is, actually, his recommendation for most fish. Part of Mike’s mission is to dispel those deeply ingrained fears many home cooks have about preparing seafood. “It IS easy to overcook fish. That’s what I think people are worried about. But the best way to cook it, to do it justice, is by simply flouring it, seasoning it, and pan frying. If you cook it on the bone, all the better for flavour. When the flesh comes away easily from the bones, it’s ready.
“The easiest thing to cook is mussels. Just clean, de-beard and pop in a pan with some chopped shallots, butter and white wine. Steam with a lid on for a few minutes until they all open.”
Most recently Mike has joined forces with Hannah Christensen, who has helped to expand A Passion For Seafood’s range exponentially.
It’s been a real meeting of minds, both of them say...also admitting they probably waste a little too much time talking about food.
“Hannah is an excellent chef,” says Mike. “While I love cooking seafood, I’m not a chef. I’m very much a home cook. But Hannah is so inventive and has this ability to be incredibly creative. She’s come on board so we can offer gourmet, bistro-style fish-based meals for customers to take home. It’s taking what we do to the next level.”
A chef, turned teacher, turned chef again, Hannah was all set to open a cookery school and private dining service in 2020, before Covid-19 reared its ugly head.
Despite the pandemic she has managed to poke her head above the parapet, becoming a sought-after name in east Suffolk – especially for her fresh pasta – under the moniker The Open Kitchen.
Teaming up with Mike has been serendipitous, she says. “I used to be a fishmonger actually. So I already had those skills. Mike was supplying me with fish. We got chatting. I asked if I could pop in a couple of days a week to hone in on those skills, but it snowballed into something more.”
A chiller counter has been cleared to make way for Hannah’s delectable creations, with the chef alternating between A Passion For Seafood, and developing recipes for new butcher Fodder at Melton.
“It’s amazing to be doing what I love every day. And to be able to switch between meat and fish. I’ve been working on things like a langoustine and monkfish pithivier with a bit of braised fennel, and a luxury fish pie filled with lobster, plaice and smoked haddock, topped with a St Jude’s dauphinoise. It’s proper rich and proper banging.
“Another favourite is my pickled herring. I’ve been potting that up in jars. And I’ve been working on a rosehip and Fishers Gin cured bass, potted shrimps and little smoked haddock and leek tartlets. This is all about taking the worry out of prep for customers. So they can just come in and buy something to heat in the oven.
“Mike loves food as much as I do and when we get talking all the ideas start flowing. This morning I was like ‘what about crab jam – like bacon jam – that would be gorgeous on toast’. There’s a constant buzz in the kitchen!”
Both Mike and Hannah are keen to offer regular pop-up dining events in the future. It’s a case of ‘watch this space’.
“We did run an oyster bar serving oysters and half lobster salads with bottles of fizz,” says Mike. “And we did a great event recently at the Station in Fram. That was packed, so we’d like to do more of those. But eventually the plan is to work up to a little tapas-type bar here, bringing out small plates of seasonal produce that demonstrate the simplicity of cooking fish and shellfish. There’s lots of cool stuff on the horizon.”
A Passion For Seafood at Grange Farm, Hasketon, is open 8.30am to 4.30pm Tuesday to Saturday.
Find out more at apassionforseafood.com
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