The lady wife has a knack for winning prizes in lotteries of all kinds, but her recent coup topped all the previous ones. And this one was in a contest she didn’t even know she had entered. Fish For Thought (www.fishforthought.co.uk) is an online fishmonger situated in Cornwall, and has been supplying us with seafood of all kinds, ranging from crabs and lobsters to smoked fish and prawns, for some time now. When the lady wife was asked to record her views on the quality and service, she waxed lyrical and was soon told she had won a prize which consisted of a night at The Scarlet, a chic, modern hotel overlooking the sea; a visit to the fish harbour at Looe; a tour of the National Lobster Hatchery; a cooking lesson from chef Adam at Fish For Thought; and a tour of the company’s facilities.

We decided to get to Cornwall a day earlier and stay in the Cormorant, a relatively modest hotel before going to the auction at the Looe fish harbour at seven the following morning. While comfortable, the Cormorant didn’t seem anything to write home about until we sat down in the restaurant. The menu was elegant and restrained, and we had one of the best meals we have had in a long time. The scallops were seared to perfection, and the roast rump and braised shins of 28-day matured Kittow’s beef was a revelation.

Early morning expeditions are something I normally avoid, but the prospect of watching a seafood auction is something I looked forward to. The last one I had been to was in Karachi many years ago, and I remember well the shouted bids and the buzz as huge piles of fish were inspected and sold. But the event at Looe was an entirely silent affair because buyers were bidding from home on their smart-phone apps as different lots were put on the (virtual) block, and the name of the boat was displayed, together with the kind and quality of the fish. While I suppose this is an efficient way of selling fish, it takes much of the drama out of the auction.

A visit to Cornwall had many treats in store for a foodie

The visit to the lobster hatchery was another revelation: it seems the babies enter life as cannibals, and begin eating each other from day one. A mother gives birth to some 30,000 to 40,000 larvae, and only around 0.05 percent survive. No wonder the adults have rubber bands around their pincers when displayed live in tanks. However, what we call lobsters in the Indian Ocean are actually langoustes as they don’t have the large pincers the Atlantic Ocean lobsters do.

Breakfast at the Cormorant came next, and chef Dane Watkins gave us another display of virtuosity when he produced easily the best Eggs Benedict I have ever had. These consist of poached eggs on toast, covered generously with Hollandaise sauce. I love my boiled, fried or scrambled eggs on toast in the morning, and while I may stretch to an omelette with onion, cumin, chilli and garlic on Sundays, I’m too lazy to produce Hollandaise. The version I was served at the Cormorant was perfectly cooked and beautifully presented.

Finally, on to Fish For Thought where we were given a guided tour by the affable owner, Paul Trudgian who, in a previous incarnation, had run an upmarket fish and chips operation. Now, as head of a large and successful online delivery service, he has built upon his knowledge of fish and his entrepreneurial abilities. His firm has won several awards, and has been acclaimed in several foodie publications.

The seafood is absolutely fresh, unlike the dead-eyed fish one sees in supermarkets.

With around 40 people, he buys, cleans, packs and dispatches his fish across Britain. We get our deliveries promptly, packed in ice inside white insulated polystyrene boxes. The seafood is absolutely fresh, unlike the dead-eyed fish one sees in supermarkets. The highlight of the visit was a cooking lesson from Chef Adam who boiled a lobster for us, and then used the shells and some of the meat to produce a velvety lobster bisque. The chef has worked in some of the finest restaurants in Britain, and now tests recipes for the firm’s website.

All in all, a memorable foodie road trip. I’m now waiting for the lady wife to win another prize.

Published in Dawn, EOS, June 11th, 2017