Dear Seafoodies

That's 100!  Yes, 100 recipes on the blog in the space of a year.  It was what I set Bute St Seafoodie as a "soft" target to try to achieve, but a year ago today the launch email went out and only 4 days ago the 100th recipe was posted.  The time has passed quickly!

As a long-time foodie, rustling up 100 recipes of any kind is not the most enormous of challenges.  Limiting those 100 to the constraints that characterises Bute St Seafoodie is a slightly different matter.  Every single recipe on the blog features a UK native fish or shellfish species, caught in UK waters by UK inshore day boats.  And the recipe was cooked within a couple of days of the produce having been harvested and so respects the seasonality of the fishery and means the eating is at its very best!

Even though Bute St Seafoodie is limited further by the 'local' constraint (i.e. off the menu are species like salmon, sea trout, langoustines, for example), the range of species on offer is still quite extensive!  Among the 100 recipes on the blog there are ones for 26 different species with a further 4 listed as alternatives.

But Bute St Seafoodie was not constrained by geography - quite the contrary - a firm objective of the blog was to source inspiration from all over the world and capture these through the diversity of textures, flavours and varieties of the species of our own coastline.  The result has been a collection of recipes from, or inspired by the cuisine of, 21 different parts of the world - and among those classified as "UK" there are undoubtedly influences from elsewhere in the world in the mix.

It seems somehow fitting that the 100th recipe posted should be Paella de Bogavante.  It's a dish that will always catch my eye in a restaurant in Spain, and if there were any cuisine I could pin my finger on as having been the most influential the most early on it would be Spanish cuisine.  That is so much due to my uncle and aunt in Spain and, in more recent times, also my Spanish "tia"!

As it happens, late spring through to late summer in the UK is a great time to get cooking "al Español" as many of the most fitting species are on our shores in the warmer waters.  Bass and bream are being line-caught and mackerel have started putting in an appearance.  For the early half of the season, cuttlefish are welcome visitors (though sadly gone by now) and spider crab are in abundance.  Lobster prices are at their lowest of the year and the clam fishery has reopened through to next January.

So flicking through the menu, let's start with a couple of rice dishes of the kind we so readily associate with our holidays to the "costa" (or not!).  I was hesitant to rush into making a paella for the blog, but a concoction of circumstances brought about a change of heart, and with the confidence imparted from the guidance of an authoritative "manual" on the preparation of the iconic Spanish rice dishes, I must say I am quite pleased with the Paella de Bogavante that now has pride of (100th) place on the blog.  To the right of it in the pair of images is an Arroz Meloso de Centollo.  This Spanish "wet" rice dish was something I had been meaning to make for really quite some time, becoming aware as I had how unpopular spider crabs are to the majority of UK (non-)consumers (though I should qualify that by saying that those who don't fall into that category seem to absolutely love them!).  By the time I got round to it spider crabs were more or less out for the season so I suspect this recipe will have to wait until next year.  But to put in perspective the differing appreciation of these crabs between the UK and Spain, making this particular recipe for 2-4 will cost you less than £5, but to dine on it in a restaurant in Spain could easily cost you €25 per head!

Besugo a la Espalda (bream on its back) is a simple and really tasty Spanish offering, but then I obviously would like it because it's got vinegar and garlic in the recipe.  I can't see any reason why it wouldn't be just as good with bass (or grey mullet, for that matter, when they're around).  Grilled Mackerel al Pimentón can hardly be deemed to be truly Spanish - it's just a recipe I created for breakfast when I'm in Spain - nada mas!

Clams are popular all over the world with different regions having their own species and recipes. Almejas a la Marinera is something you'll find on pretty much every tapas menu (that features seafood) in any part of Spain, but it's probably accurate to say it is a dish that would have originated in the north where the coast is to the Atlantic rather than to the Med.  Equally northern Spanish in origin is Alubias Blancas con Almejas given the combination of beans and shellfish.

So, with one year and 100 recipes under the belt, now is a good time to have a think about what's next for Bute St Seafoodie.  There are a few ideas in the bag but perhaps a little time to digest is the order of the moment.

Please do forward this message on to your friends and fellow Seafoodies and invite them to get in touch or subscribe or to follow @butestseafoodie on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter (still not got the hang of this one yet!). 

Above all, stay safe, stay well and here's to the next 100!

Best fishes

Bute St Seafoodie

butestseafoodie@gmail.com

www.butestseafoodie.com