Fishing News Awards 2023: Gourmet awards menu revealed

A bespoke menu featuring locally sourced, top-quality seafood has been confirmed for this year’s Fishing News Awards gala dinner.

The gala dinner will start in style with an exquisite langoustine tart, which showcases top-quality prawns sourced from the SFO in Fraserburgh.

The ‘Best of Scottish Seafood’ menu has been developed by Seafood Scotland working in conjunction with the Scottish Fishermen’s Organisation (SFO) and North East skippers and seafood providers, the Chester Hotel and its renowned head chef Chris Gray.

Featuring a sublime starter of langoustine tart, dressed crab, compressed cucumber and dill emulsion, the menu showcases some of the very best produce Scotland’s seas have to offer.

Roasted cod loin is the star of the main course, which is served with bacon jam, pomme purée, tenderstem broccoli and butter sauce. Dessert follows in the form of vanilla pannacotta, which deliciously incorporates rhubarb, orange and champagne foam.

Chris Gray said: “We tried a number of different combinations of seafood during the development of the menu, and are pleased that we’ve hit the nail on the head. Seafood Scotland has brought in the very best quality seafood available from the local fleet.

The precisely crafted menu features a main of roasted cod loin, served with pomme purée, tenderstem broccoli, butter sauce – and an intriguing bacon jam.

“At the Chester Hotel we try to use local seafood wherever possible. It’s not often that larger events choose seafood for the menu, so the Fishing News Awards allows us to showcase the very best to a larger audience. We hope that everyone enjoys the dishes, and that the passion our kitchen team have for local seafood is expressed in both the langoustine tart and the cod main course.

“This is a great opportunity for us to demonstrate that carefully chosen seafood menus, combined with the very best in quality and freshness, can provide a gourmet dining experience even for large gatherings the size of the Fishing News Awards. All too often, chefs at such events ‘play safe’ with the menu. We are very excited to be taking the food to a higher level.”

Matthew Hurst, programme manager at Seafood Scotland, said: “We are really excited to be a supporter of the Fishing News Awards again this year, especially following the success of the Scottish langoustine starter at the 2022 awards dinner, which was sourced from the SFO in Fraserburgh.

“We are really pleased to be sourcing the same quality product again for 2023, but this year in a new guise, in a bespoke menu developed in partnership with the Chester Hotel.”

With thanks to the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation.

The 2023 Fishing News Awards will be taking place on 11 May 2023 in Aberdeen. Book your tickets here.