Lundy Beach Cooking Adventure

Another Lundy article - and why not? I am a fan of the island and the place is suffering from a lack of summer visitors this year because of the coronavirus - which is a shame because it costs the Landmark Trust an awful lot of money to keep it all going.

A Lundy seafood feast

Articles can sometimes be a bit evangelistic, as if we’re saying: “Look - here’s this thing - try it, do it, enjoy it…” Well, if you don’t like that sort of approach, best not read any further… Because this article is unashamedly about persuading you to experience the delights of preparing and eating the West Country’s amazing maritime harvest right next to the place where it was caught.

It’s a well known fact that, for some mysterious reason, food tastes better outdoors. It is also a fact that localness can help hugely with freshness, when means things are bound to be more delicious. 

Cookery scene to impress the skipper of the Oldenburgh

But the real reason we’re being evangelistic about buying and eating West Country seafood is that a huge percentage of it is exported abroad before it even has a chance to stop flapping straight from one of our trawlers.

When we journeyed out to Lundy this week to have a beach barbecue for this article, we were joined by a well known North Devon fish processing worker known to one and all as Birdseye - and he pointed from the decks of the MS Oldenburgh to five trawlers which were chugging endlessly up and down the mouth of the Bristol Channel. 

A Devon fisherman called Birdseye

“They’re after squid,” said Birdseye. “Right now they’ll be catching those tiny ones they love so much in countries like France and Greece. Later tonight a big artic’ lorry will come down to Appledore and the whole lot will go for export. Every single one.” 

Appledore from the Oldenburgh

Now, I don’t know about you, but this seems a terrible shame to me. The likes of Appledore ought to be groaning under the weight of permanent fresh fish-stalls selling delicious local catches.  Indeed, Appledore should be one of the West Country meccas for food lovers who turn up in droves drooling at the mouth. 

That’s what would happen if the estuarine town was located on French or Spanish shores. But instead of that, we Brits shrug our shoulders - then, after watching TV chefs extolling the delights of fresh local seafood, we try to go out and find it, fail, and return home via a supermarket where they sell seafood that is… Well, that is not exactly still flapping fresh. 

Lundy landing - Hesp enjoying lunch on the island

There is one man in North Devon who is desperate to change all this - and indeed who runs his own fish-stalls at local markets. I suppose we could have called him Desperate Dan, if his much better known name wasn’t Dan the Fishman.

Dan is an unashamed evangelist when it comes to West Country seafood, and as such he occasionally invites me to a beach barbecue or picnic where we get to cook the finest of fresh catches right next to the place where the stuff was taken from the sea. 

Dan the Fishman begins to prepare lunch

This week, it was the turn of Lundy - an island famed in fishery circles because it has, for a long time, been surrounded by a marine protection zone - originally put in place by fishermen rather than conservationists - which has helped increase the natural restocking ratios of various species. 

And here’s what Dan had to say about our seafood day out which began by us leaving Bideford aboard the Oldenburgh… “I used to be one of the lifeboat coxswains for the Clovelly lifeboat - and living in the village I’ve always considered Lundy to be one of my neighbours - so returning as Dan the Fishman is very special to me. It has a marine conservation zone, so cooking there will be an extra treat. 

“Not only are we going to be looking at the sea where the fish are caught, but travelling across it - so aboard today we are preparing a little breakfast of West Country kippers steeped in a hot pan of water, served with - believe it or not - coarse cut marmalade. The combo works! It’s a flavour thing. 

“You’ve got to get the sequence right - you’ve got to get the kipper in the mouth first, but you have to dab just a little bit of bitter marmalade on it just like a relish. We are serving that hand-held in a bap, with bread made by a local baker overnight.” 

In case you’re wondering if the kipper-and-marmalade combo worked, several passengers were handed baps and a Chinese woman said she believed the dish would go down very well in the north of her native country. Which could mean more of our precious fish will be exported rather than less…

Anyway, back to Dan and his Lundy adventure master-plan… “When everything has settled down on the voyage, we are going to feed Captain Jerry, and his eight-man crew, with an early lunch as a little thank-you. It’s going to be a selection of smoked fish from Dieter Wirtz at Plaistow Mills. We’ve got Exmoor smoked trout and a gravlax made of trout - and I’ve made our own smoked trout pate. It’s a really nice combination.”

Captain Jerry about to sample the Dan Fishman seafood platter

Halfway through the two-and-half hour crossing we took the splendid platter of smoked fish up to the bridge, much to the delight of skipper Jerry Waller. “This doesn’t happen often enough,” he beamed. “We normally have a four star lunch - in the winter it’s a roast and in summer it’s salad - but it is wonderful to taste some local fish. 

“The crab and the lobster here are definitely improving,” he said, scanning the unusually smooth blue sea that lay between the ship and the big green island. “The local fishermen have been telling us about a few problems that were caused by the winter storms, but this has been a great new season for us. 

“In fact, it’s been the best we’ve had since 2007 - and we are really hoping the summer will carry through August and September. At this time of year we are doing three Lundy sailings a week, and as we move into July that will go up to four.”

So that will give readers plenty of opportunity to try this island beach-cooking adventure for themselves… A statement which caused me to ask Dan Garnett (to give the Fishman his real name) what other treats he had lined up…

“If we are feeling peckish at any time I have prepared a few local lobsters for some simple straightforward lobster sandwiches - which will have a bit of mayo and Dijon mustard put together in some nice sourdough bread,” said the ever-ebullient purveyor of fish. 

“On the island we are setting up with some very simple, small-scale, camping stove equipment to show just how easy it is to get everything into just one rucksack. It allows you not only to just enjoy being by the sea - you can cook and eat outdoors which gives you the whole experience. 

“So we’re going to cook it, eat it - and taste the sea. We have the very first of this season’s large mackerel - I have picked out some very nice fish which we will fillet. The mackerel will be a main course - simply fried skin-side down, served with an elder-flower and gooseberry relish and a warm citrussy potato salad. 

“For a little starter we’re doing Lundy beach scallops in a simple marinade with Cornish chilli sea salt - served on a bed of small glass noodles - washed down with some beautiful wine which has been donated to us from Bray Valley Wines. The help I’ve had for this little expedition has come from quite a few family businesses - so this can be a fabulous day out that any of your readers can enjoy.”

As we prepared to land on Lundy, Dan concluded his bout of fishy evangelism: “The hi-tech lightweight kit you can buy now to cook on outdoors is amazing - so there’s no point in just taking sandwiches. Get adventurous and cook something out on the beach. That is the ultimate way of enjoying this North Devon coast.” 

As we went ashore we were met by my old friend Derek Green, Lundy’s general manager, and he welcomed our mission: “We have one main beach in the landing bay which stretches 300 yards, so there’s plenty of room for your readers to come and enjoy the seaside here and have a barbecue. 

“Lundy has been leading the way for marine conservation for over 40 years now,” said Derek. “Having a no-take zone here means that areas fully populate, then species spill out to other areas. And the fishermen are benefitting from that - the lobster, crab and scallop catch around Lundy is better now than it’s ever been. 

“So we are delighted - it just goes to show how sustainable fishing can actually work in partnership with conservation,” added the Lundy manager who told me his island plays host to more than 16,000 day-visitors a year. “We very much encourage people to come and enjoy the great outdoors which the island has to offer - and on a day like this we will often smell the aroma of barbecues - which is fantastic.”

How NOT to eat a whole uncooked mackerel

And indeed, it was fantastic. As Dan gutted, filleted and fried, local gulls enjoyed the cast off bits and bobs - and a great gang of human outdoor fish-consumption enthusiasts ate their fill. 

Washing up time

One guy who’d come along to help was a retired professional whose work for nearly 40 years had taken him to just about every country on the planet - and as we returned to Bideford quay after a long, long day he said: “On a day like this you couldn’t have a better day out anywhere. And I mean anywhere. The views, the food - the whole experience. I sometimes wonder if West Country people really realise just how lucky they are.”

Lundy  Beach Scallops

This tempting one pan dish is one of the fastest to prepare and cook. Serve as a generous starter or make larger for a main course. Best served as a summer beach picnic or as a garden treat.

Ingredients

Serves four

4 scallops per person (with corals)

Olive oil (4tbsps)

Good pinch of Cornish chilli sea salt 

Garlic paste (1tsp)

2 Finely chopped spring onions

Finely chopped Fresh ginger (1 tsp)

Ground black pepper

White wine ¼ glass

1 lemon

Small pack of glass or fine noodles

Method

Cook noodles for one minute in lightly salted boiling water. Drain and set aside, cover with foil to keep warm. 

Pour olive oil into small bowl, add pepper and sea salt.

Put the scallops into the seasoned oil

Heat the remaining oil, add the spring onions and cook gently without allowing to brown.

Add 1 teaspoon of the garlic paste and half a teaspoon of the chopped ginger,  cook for a further 2 minutes. Increase the heat and add the drained scallops. Sear for approximately 45 seconds each side. Add the wine followed by the warm noodles. Adjust the seasoning to taste. Heat through and serve with a fresh squeeze of lemon.

Enjoy the flavour and the view!