“Simply Scallops” is a new initiative, organised by the Fish in Schools Hero programme and funded by the Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust, enabling 5000 students in 50 schools across the country to cook and taste freshly cooked dishes made with British scallops. The Food Teacher’s Centre’s Fish In Schools Hero programme aims to ensure that every child gets a chance to prepare, cook and eat fish before they leave school, and trains food teachers to be confident in preparing and cooking fish with students.
Scallops are an excellent food source for students to discover and learn about, as they are low in sodium and saturated fats and are more than 80% protein. Students will have the opportunity to try dishes such as tempura scallops, pan-seared scallops with butter and black pepper, preparing them poached in a bechamel sauce, or oven baked with herbs.
While archaeological findings have shown that scallops have been eaten by humans for thousands of years, commercial scallop fishery took off in Scotland in the 1930s. Despite this, most of the students participating, have never eaten scallops before.
Scottish Scallops have been provided free of charge to schools by MacDuff (Clearwater Seafoods), from Mintlaw, Aberdeenshire. 100kg of scallops are being donated, with 2kg goign to each school.
John Ashmore, Marketing Director Europe, Middle‑East and Africa At Clearwater Seafoods LP, member of the livery and co-opted member of the Company’s Fish & Fisheries Committee said: “We are delighted to support the Fish in School Heroes programme by supplying our scallops for thousands of school children to try. It is so important for children to have access to foods they may not otherwise try and be the next generation of seafood enthusiasts. Scallops are so quick and simple to cook, delicious to eat, as well as being healthy and nutritious.”
M&J Seafood have taken on the massive logistical challenge to get the frozen scallops from Scotland out to the 50 lucky schools across the country. M & J Seafood stepped up to the plate to distribute the scallops through their existing logistics’ network and out to individual schools nationwide.
Matt Orr, Operations manager at M&J Seafood:
“The M & J team are passionate about seafood! We jumped at the chance to support this great initiative, using our network to deliver the scallops to 50 schools, as this will inspire and educate the next generation of fish lovers!
We have a great working relationship with MacDuff (Clearwater Seafoods) as they represent everything that M & J are proud to supply; British, fresh, sustainable, and delicious!”
The Fishmongers’ Company have been supporting core funding for Fish in School Hero since its inception in 2019, through their Fisheries Charitable Trust. Dr Eleanor Adamson, Fisheries Programme Manager, shared her excitement at the latest seafood offering:
“We are so pleased that scallops are arriving on the menu in school classrooms this week. By supporting Fish in School Hero to help teachers across the country to access and work with seafood products, we hope we are opening the door to conversations around nutritious, sustainable, locally sourced protein, especially in communities who may not traditionally access British seafood. Donations such as this one from Macduff, distributed with the reach of M & J, will make such a difference to the students 5,000 who are involved, and we are grateful for the ongoing contributions from the seafood sector in providing such reach and impact”
Student chefs across the country will be busy practising how to prepare and cook sustainable fresh seafood, and they will be learning how scallops live in sand and gravel on the ocean bed, as well as in mud, and are dredged from the seabed using purpose-built boats, to ensure a responsible, sustainable harvest.
© The Fishmongers’ Company 2024
