It’s 6am and Brixham fish market is all a-flap with brill and bass, scallop and hake, turbot and lobster. A total of 40 species, and an auctioneer selling them as fast as he can speak. Every morning, up to 50 tonnes are landed at, or freighted into, England’s biggest fishing port by value. I spy a line of crates full of inky blobs: cuttlefish, 96% of which are exported to Italy, Spain and France.
“British people like octopus and squid,” says Barry Young, former chief auctioneer turned managing director, who guides weekly tours of the market. “But say cuttlefish and they think: budgie cage. Basically, we’re still a cod and chips nation, until a TV chef cooks something different on a Saturday morning.”
A comparable misunderstanding surrounds our fish markets. When in Vigo, Seattle or Tokyo, we make a special effort to visit one. But back home, we tend to regard our ports as industrial sites; functional rather than fun.
But from 22 September to 7 October, Brixham fish market (tours £15, including breakfast) joins forces with restaurants, hotels, bars and attractions across Torbay to host Feast, a two-week celebration of all things seafood, with events from cookery classes to special dinners. It’s part of an initiative to rebrand the English Riviera as “England’s Seafood Coast”, which originated with Mitch Tonks, the chef behind Devon’s acclaimed Rockfish and Seahorse restaurants.
“I was on a trip to Australia’s Eyre peninsula, seeing the abalone and oysters coming in and enjoying the food,” he says. “I wondered, what if people recognised Torbay for what it is? The best seafood and fish are landed here, but the work behind it is hidden.”
The deep, fast-flowing waters off south Devon are perfect for flatfish, shellfish and dozens of tasty species. Yet, as Tonks says: “So much of what is caught is either exported or transported to London. I felt there was a gap, and wanted to create a place where you can enjoy amazing seafood, with a mug of tea or a glass of muscadet, and views over the water where the fish was caught that morning. This coast is world-class, as good as anywhere overseas.”
This is a bold claim, and one that I am testing by walking a nine-mile route round the bay, from Torquay in the north to Brixham. Rich out-of-towners keep yachts in Torquay’s swanky, 300-berth marina. The rest of us can jump on a water taxi across the bay (£2 single, £3 return) or join a mackerel fishing trip with Sea Witch (£15 for two hours); the latter is great fun if you want to catch your supper, and don’t mind a swell.
Torquay has several fine restaurants, but the undisputed big-hitter is The Elephant, Michelin-starred since 2004. The tasting menu includes beautifully presented “hand-dived Salcombe scallop” and a “crab crumpet”. But chef Simon Hulstone cares about more than looks. “We take sustainability very seriously. Our USP is to use fish that aren’t widely eaten – to show what can be done with pollock, coley and cuttlefish.” A guest chef (as yet unnamed) will be creating a special menu during Feast. Elsewhere in town, Wine@7 wine bar will be serving a bowl of Brixham mussels with local Sharpham wine for £10.
It’s a 45-minute walk to Paignton from Torquay. At low tide, the long sandy beach is walkable and perfect for swimming. I’ve seen an avocet paddling in the surf here and, in the small harbour, as well as turnstones, oystercatchers, herring gulls and black-backed gulls.
Around a mile south at Goodrington is Cantina Kitchen and Bar, known for its seafood pizzas and house-made gin laced with dulse seaweed. For the festival, it is running wild swims, talks, foraging trips and a crab-cooking masterclass.
Food festivals can be very grown-up affairs but that’s not the case here. The Palace Hotel in Paignton and Torquay’s Headland Hotel are both holding family-orientated seafood barbecues, with live music and children’s entertainment.
Paignton to Brixham is five miles, a two-hour tramp on a lush section of the South West Coast Path. Inland – reachable by steam train from Brixham – is Greenway, Agatha Christie’s grand home and gardens. For Feast, the National Trust property is hosting a champagne, lobster and blackberry evening, as served in 1970 for Christie’s 80th birthday (£100pp).
Brixham is the capital of England’s seafood coast, according to Tonks. His Rockfish restaurant is inside the port building, offering perhaps the shortest sea-to-fork voyage of any fish in England. After a ceviche starter, I opted for a main of sand sole, which is delicately flavoured.
Most Brixham restaurants will take part in Feast. Seven courses at The Curious Kitchen costs £35. At nearby Berry Head, kids can take part in a one-hour sea-creature hunt around the nature reserve, organised by the Guardhouse Café.
Options from here include a ride back to Torquay on the water-taxi (it runs from Torquay to Paignton and Brixham all day), a kayaking trip out of nearby Dartmouth (my favourite) or sailing aboard Vigilance, a ketch built in Brixham in 1926 (£25 adult, £12.50 child for a three-hour trip). During Feast, Vigilance will be moored and open to the public, with local mussels to try during a guided tour.
So, another foodie extravaganza, another rebrand, another festival – even if the organisers want to avoid the word. It would be easy to be sceptical. But a seafood angle on our coast makes a welcome change from the nostalgic features and “news” stories about the decay of our seaside resorts.
Torbay is one of the most deprived areas in the south-west, yet has some of the richest seas in Europe. A tourism that targets food-loving Brits, as well as foreign visitors, is perhaps one path to regeneration. Brixham port alone supports as many as one thousand local people along its supply chain.
“Seafood is such a big thing and many livelihoods are based around it,” says Tonks. “The past image kept people away, but I think they will start to rediscover the coast because of the quality of the food – which tastes better here.”
• All details at theseafoodfeast.co.uk
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