The “forgotten fish” is a delicacy in France and Spain and is emerging in the UK restaurants, but is the tendency to eat chocolate sustainable?
It can be cooked slowly or grilled in an instant, covered with sauce and canned or mixed in a paella. Choco, a cephalopod related to Lula, is the offer of the day in the seafood menus.
British eat a limited range of seafood, mostly imported. Cod, Arinca, Salmon, Tuna and Shrimp represent 80% of consumption in the UK.
But in recent years, Choco has been growing in the preferences of the British – when they have knowledge with the delicacy, still little known in the UK.
According to the British newspaper, currently an average of about 4,000 tons of chocolate are currently landed every year in the UK.
Largely captured on the spot channel, very little, however, in the British dishes: Most are exportedsince it is a delicacy in France and Spain.
“It’s such a underestimated ingredient, full of flavor, versatile and, when treated well, can really shine on a plate,” says the boss Tommy Heaneythat generates a restaurant in Cardiff and has been using the chocolate for a long time.
Heaney describes him as “sweet, tender and fleshy, more than Lula. It’s incredibly delicate, but can stand very well in rich or broth dishes. ”
Dean ParkerCleantano’s head of cooking, cooks it for several years and purchases it seasonally from a “trusted gross who uses local daytime boats”. Your customers are increasingly curious And he says the dish is very popular.
Parker fishes the wings, tentacles and body to make a rague, the guts are cooked in broth and the paint bags are mixed to enrich the broth.
In a Mediterranean -inspired restaurant in Belgravia, in the center of London, has been in the menu since the fall, usually served in noodle or paellaboth Spanish dishes. Has been a success.
“People don’t know what it is“ Aaron Potter. “If they read squid or calamares, Asked us immediately. This decreases sales a little. But when they eat, they have a Gastronomic experience improvementr eating sauteed chocolate than Lula ”.
Usual customers always ask you again, Potter adds.
Nigel Haworth, head of a Lancashire restaurant, is organizing a series of jantares “Forgotten Fish”with sole, brown shrimp, cod and chocolate. Haworth considers that the British are increasingly “enthusiastic about diving to what I classify as The forgotten fish“.
Haworth likes him grilled and Pay half of what I would pay for Lulamore famous. “AND much more tasty than Lulait is so tender that it is unbelievable. ”
New black gold
However, there is concerns about sustainability of the chocolate. This week, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has published its, updated report annually.
The MCS report puts this year the population of drags in the category “Red” (“Avoid”)and warns of the sharp decline of horsetail populations. None of the populations analyzed is green.
Alice MooreMCS Guide Manager says interest in chocolate has increased a lot in the last five years. Concerns are the fact that it is often object of drag and there was no solid evaluation of population units.
“It seems that is decreasing and probably being fish in excessthe. The other problem is management. There is no limit to quantity That people can catch – it’s a free game for everyone. ”
Caroline Bennettfounder of, who advocates sustainable sea products from small -scale fishermen, has already sold chocos landed by a “pioneer fisherman”, who caught them sustainably and ensured that the eggs were returned at the bottom of the sea.
Bennett says that, about five years ago, foreign buyers began to opt for Choco as an alternative to Lula and, almost overnightthe product has become less sustainable, passing from amber to red in 2020.
“If the cooks can buy crumbs caught in the pan, that’s fine, but they are few and rare,” says Bennet. “But the big trawlers had removed so much biomass from the chocolate that They even called him black gold“.
