Galway’s new cookery classes that take the mystery out of fishy tales !

Date Published: {J}

by Bernie Ni Fhlatharta

Cooking for pleasure – not the daily drudge – is one of my favourite pastimes and though I consider myself a good cook, fish dishes wouldn’t be my strong point.

But now cookery courses held on the premises of the Galway Bay Seafood shop at Galway Docks are helping to take the mystique out of cooking fish.

For some reason, many people are afraid of cooking fish as they don’t know enough about it or are too set in their eating habits. And there’s the strong oceanic smell and the gutting and cleaning.

But apparently more and more of us will be eating fish in the future as other food produce gets scarce or more expensive.

The Galway Bay Seafood Company, now run by brothers Noel and John Holland, have expanded their premises in recent years to make it into a very attractive shop where almost all edible produce of the sea are for sale.

Founded by their father in 1950, they have moved with the times to provide both wholesale and retail services. They most certainly want their customers to know as much about fish as they do and how it can be cooked.

Upstairs is a bright kitchen where up to ten people can be comfortably taught how to cook seafood.

Recently, I attended one of these Saturday two hour courses. Not only did I learn a thing or two, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and one I wouldn’t mind repeating as chef Vincent Corrigan varies his course content.

It makes perfect sense to provide these courses because for many reasons, we here in the West should be eating more fish. We have no excuse with the Corrib on one side of us and the Atlantic on the other.

On the day, all the ingredients for the starters and main course were laid out on a huge kitchen island. The fish, sea bream and sea bass, were gutted, cleaned, descaled and sitting in a bucket of ice.

The atmosphere was light-hearted as opposed to stuffy. The nine of us were offered a glass of wine and the first thing we did was learn how to make the tastiest spreads using barbecued salmon.

Working in pairs, we made different ones using dill, lemon, mayonnaise, creme fraiche, spring onion, horseradish, cream cheese and lime. Obviously not all those ingredients were used in the one bowl. Ours was a mix of crumbled fish, horseradish, mayo and cream cheese. It was to die for and quickly devoured on little toasts (you can buy them).

Then we moved onto our starter – Natural Smoked Haddock Fishcakes. Both the haddock and the salmon are treated and packaged on the premises.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.