Would you eat something found in the River Thames? One chef believes that UK rivers are a goldmine for quality ingredients, and has designed a whole menu to prove his point.
#Riverfood, ‘a restaurant pop-up with a difference’, is the brainchild of Philip Cooper, a chef who has worked alongside the likes of Raymond Blanc and Michel Roux Jnr over the course of his 30-year career. Philip and colleagues from his consultancy service We Are Coopers set up #Riverfood to showcase the value of sourcing ingredients locally – the pop-up only uses produce found in UK rivers, especially the Thames Estuary.
Indeed, 125 different species of edible fish live in UK shores and Hollowshore Fisheries, which was established in the 1960s, is an example of a small, family outlet that fishes in the Thames Estuary. Their oysters, handpicked from the Swale Estuary, took pride of place at the launch of the #Riverfood menu on Sunday July 21, which was held on the deck of the MV Royalty, one of the oldest boats on the River Thames.
Meantime beer (from the award-winning Meantime brewery in Greenwich), mud crab, pike and zander were also vital ingredients used. Here’s a snapshot of the menu:
Starters
Mud crab and crayfish soup
Smoked eel with cucumber and fennel salad
Old Father Thames smoked pike with seashore vegetables (pictured here)
Mains
Blue trout with beetroot, pink apple and Dorset Blue Vinny
Jack pike sausage with green peppercorn and puy lentils
Lou’s steamed cockles with Meantime pale ale and samphire (pictured here)
Desserts
Hedgerow berries with crème fraiche
Rose water jelly with clotted cream ice cream
Iced soup of bitter chocolate, floating islands of yarrow meringue
For more information on future #Riverfood events, tweet @riverfoodldn
Would you eat fish caught from the Thames? How important is locality to you? Talk to us in the Comments box below.
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