• Home
  • Travel UK
  • Travel Europe
    • Belgium
    • Croatia
    • Czech Republic
    • First Visit
      • Bulgaria
      • Netherlands
      • Poland
      • Romania
      • Slovenia
    • France
    • Germany
    • Greece
    • Italy
      • Sicily
    • Ireland
    • Portugal
    • Spain
    • UK
  • Travel General
    • Caribbean Travel
      • Antigua
      • Barbados
      • Grenada
      • St Lucia
    • Ecuador
    • Egypt
    • India
    • Qatar
    • Mexico
    • Oman
    • Rodrigues and Mauritius
    • Sri Lanka
    • USA
  • Recipes
    • Soups
    • Lunch
    • starter
    • Mains
    • side dish
    • Desserts
    • Cocktails and Drinks
    • Cakes and Sweets
    • 5:2 Diet Recipes
    • Vegetarian
    • Fish and Shellfish
    • Poultry
    • Meat
    • Balcony Gardening
  • Restaurants
    • Chelsea
    • Kings Cross
    • Knightsbridge
    • Marylebone
    • Mayfair
    • Oxford Circus
    • Soho
    • South London
    • North London
    • Victoria and Pimlico
    • West London
    • Out of London
  • Events
    • London Life
      • Foodie London
      • Visiting London – Five Must Do Sights
      • Visiting London – London Travel Tips
      • Miscellaneous
  • Giveaway
  • February 16, 2019

London Unattached - London Lifestyle Blog

Luxury London Lifestyle Blog for the over 40s with food, travel, diet and restaurant reviews - London Unattached

The English Riviera – Home to Brixham Fish Market, Devon

August 11, 2016 by Fiona Maclean 4 Comments

Tweet
Pin
Share
Flip
Share

Brixham Fish Market – A Fishy Proposition:

When the nice lady from the English Riviera tourism board accosted me on the Orient Express trip and suggested I came along to her event a week or so later, she mentioned a trip on a steam train, a visit to Agatha Christie’s holiday home Greenway and a tour of the Kent’s Caverns.  She MIGHT have whispered something under her breath about Brixham fish market, but she definitely didn’t mention a 5.30am start!

brixham harbour

Joking apart, I love fish and I’ve always been curious about how it is processed in the UK – how does what we eat in a restaurant or supermarket get there? So I was genuinely interested, despite the start.

Brixham fish market in Devon has benefited from massive investment over the last few years, around £20m has been spent developing the market and the accompanying services for local fishermen (the market also provides ice and fuel).  And, last year Brixham turned over around £24million of fish…

Brixham fish market auction
The fish market started in the late 1800’s with sailing smacks landing their catch on the Old Fish Market Quay before the present market was built in the early seventies and modernised in the last few years.  Now, I believe it has the highest value catch in the UK (though not the highest volume).

brixham fish market grader

Fish is graded on landing, each fishing boat’s catch is kept on ice by type and grade in their own containers carefully labelled up and waiting auction.

brixham fish market scallops

Within a few hours of landing, they will have been auctioned and be on their way to their next destination.  The process is quite straightforward and very quick, the auctioneers work around the room with the buyers, selling each container on the basis of price per kilo to the highest bidder.  Prices vary tremendously depending on the type of fish and the premium fish (Scallops, Dover Sole etc) is kept in a separate room to the majority of day catch.  There’s also a large refrigeration and processing facility for cuttlefish, which is separated to avoid the black ink spoiling other catches.

brixham fish market

Our host for the tour from Brixham fisheries was very keen to show us just how fresh the fish is.  Much of the fish being sold is from day trips so, when it’s sold it is in a state of rigour mortis and completely stiff.  By the time it reaches us, the fish has aged for five to ten days and lost that stiffness.

brixham fish market scallop

 

He was also keen to explain how West Country fishermen are working with the authorities to improve sustainable fishing.  We saw a couple of beam trawlers laid up to ensure the waters were not overfished.  It’s a very delicate balance between enabling fishermen to earn a living now and the seas to restock to ensure future supplies are not jeopardised.  And, I think we can all contribute by trying varieties of fish we may not have come across before, many of which are very similar to their better-known brothers.  Witch and Megrin (both sometimes labelled ‘Cornish Sole’ and with a similar flavour and texture), Ling (which tastes like a cross between monkfish and cod), Hake and Grey Mullet…both very popular on the continent but less well known here!  I’ll be posting some Hake dishes over the next few days.

brixham fish market - pollock

 

 

We saw a huge range of fish on sale and some shellfish (crab and scallops) before going on to the newly opened Crab House restaurant for a welcomed brunch (which was STILL earlier than my normal time for breakfast).

Thank you to Brixham fish market for an enlightening start to the day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related Post

A Cottage on the Coast
Adapting Recipes for the 5-2 Diet – Fish Tag...
A More Mindful Diet with the Mindful Chef
The Mindful Chef – Red Pesto Fish Skewers

Filed Under: Blogging, Travel, UK Tagged With: brixham, english riviera, fish

Comments

  1. Laura @Travelocafe says

    February 16, 2013 at 8:09 pm

    I couldn’t wake up at such n early hour.

    Reply
    • Fiona Maclean says

      February 16, 2013 at 8:58 pm

      LOL, nor could half our press trip;) But it was worth it!!!

      Reply
  2. Alison says

    August 16, 2012 at 2:04 pm

    It looks like you had an interesting, although early start to the day

    Reply
    • Fiona Maclean says

      August 16, 2012 at 5:54 pm

      HORRIBLY early…if anyone had told me I wouldn’t have gone!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Follow Me

  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter

Find Me

blogl

About London-Unattached

  • About Fiona Maclean
    • Writing for Other Publications
  • Enquiries/PR
  • Links to Other Sites
  • London Unattached Contributors
  • London Unattached Privacy Policy
  • Media Pack
  • Travel Bloggers Influencer Network

Recently Published

  • The White Horse Hotel, Dorking 
  • Win Baileys Chocolates for Mother’s Day
  • Review – Arthur Miller The Price, Wyndham’s Theatre
Find My 5:2 Diet Recipes quickly and easily

Search London Unattached



copyright © london-unattached.com