Annie Sibert, owner of My Fish Kitchen in Mawnan Smith, hosted a morning of practical skills sessions in fish preparation and cookery on March 5th at Truro High School to inspire the young chefs to work with high quality, locally sourced meat.
The girls were shown how to select, prepare and cook an array of local produce including mackerel, haddock, gurnard and lemon sole. Annie demonstrated a wide range of techniques including filleting, identifying the roe and soft roe and knife skills. The morning was concluded with a tasting session so that pupils could try the results for themselves.
Annie said: “Working as a Fishmonger for nearly 20 years, I am keen to pass on my knowledge of fish and fish cookery, which is the reason why I started My Fish Kitchen. I’ve found that so many people I meet love eating Cornish fish but have no idea how to cook it. My aim is to take the confusion away and give people the confidence to enjoy some of the finest fish in the world – which are here on their doorstep in Cornwall!”
Head of Food, Mrs van der Lem said: “It was a really interesting morning, it is so important for our girls to know where their ingredients come from. Living in Cornwall what could be more important than learning how to prepare fish? Annie was incredibly passionate about the subject and really informative. Preparing fish is a high level practical skill and this session provided the girls with an opportunity to see these skills in action.”
From 2016 there is a new GCSE in Food preparation and nutrition with a focus on food provenance, local ingredients and high level preparation skills. Truro High Food Department aims to follow up Annie’s session with range of practical lessons involving fish so that their students can make the most of the food on their doorstep.
