Oban – Langoustines

It was an early rise for my fishing trip with langoustine fisherman David Isaac.  It was my first time out on the waters around the Western Isles, and David showed me how he uses creel fishing to catch his langoustines – this ensures there’s no damage to the seabed and that any by-catch can be returned to the sea alive –meaning it’s an ecologically sound way to fish.

It’s always a challenge filming on the sea, and our crew were helped by Coastal Connections (www.coastal-connection.co.uk), who provide pleasure tours of the spectacular Western Isles.

The next stop was Easdale Foods (www.easdaleseafoods.co.uk), where I was fascinated to discover how, through years of passionate research, the Hill family had perfected a method to export the langoustines so that they arrived in Europe’s fish markets alive. My hat goes off to their hard work because it’s this kind of dedication that ensures Britain keeps its reputation as a world-class producer of seafood.

It’s such a shame that langoustine isn’t more popular on British restaurant menus. So it was wonderful to visit the LORN market (www.lorn.org.uk), which was set up with the sole intention of giving local Scottish producers a means of selling their fabulous produce. Unfortunately, the market didn’t have anybody selling (or cooking!) langoustine – so my barbequed langoustine with oriental dip went down a treat. We were also treated to a large bag of squat lobsters. I simply sautéed the tails in a little olive oil with a little salt and pepper, nothing else.

This blog gives me a great opportunity to thank the people who help off-screen. So thank you to Nicki Holmyard of Seafood Scotland (www.seafoodscotland.org), and Gaynr Dickson of Seafish (www.seafish.org)

And I felt fortunate to stay at the Isle of Eriska Hotel (www.eriska-hotel.co.uk), where I enjoyed some fantastic local Scottish seafood – including the best langoustine I have ever tasted! Coupled with amazing service, brilliantly run and relaxing.