A question of quality

Rick Stein

Chef-proprietor, Seafood Restaurant and St Petroc's, both in Padstow, Cornwall

Weekly fish shopping list: 70 stone, varieties include turbot, monkfish, Dover sole, lobster, cod, red mullet, sea bass

Seafood Restaurant seats: 70

St Petroc's seats: 38

Total daily covers: 180

"I only buy wild fish. Being in Cornwall, we don't get much farmed fish and we are close to the markets. I don't like farmed fish. It tends to be fat and flabby and their fins are damaged or truncated through not using them enough.

"I don't tend to get offered much farmed fish. On occasions I have been offered farmed sea bass. It was only when I noticed they were all the same size and darker in colour I realised they weren't wild."

Most of Stein's fish comes from local markets or straight off the boats at Padstow.

"Prices are a source of irritation for me. Some criticise us for being wildly over-expensive, but prime fish costs, and we have to have quality in a restaurant like this. We are all suffering from diminishing resources. I have to pass the cost on to my customers, but that doesn't mean I'm making money hand over fist.

"At present I do not have problems sourcing certain varieties of fish. I am right on the quayside, so I tend to get first choice of what is landed. People are finding it harder to get lobster, but we tend to get what we want. We don't have the requirements of a big national company though."

Stein changes his menus daily, writing them a day in advance. So he is not committed to serving certain varieties of fish. "We keep lobster and crabs in tanks, so we know we can guarantee those - we write the menus last thing at night based on what comes in.

"I read a number of fish magazines, so I do realise things are getting worse. I know people are claiming there is a lot of aggro with the Spanish, but I really don't think they are any worse than the rest of us - we are all to blame. The Spanish just have a vast fleet."

Jonathan Harrison

Chef de cuisine, Swallow Hotel, Birmingham

Weekly fish shopping list includes: 5-7 salmon, 15-20kg sea bass, 10 sides of smoked salmon (sourced from a smokery in the outer Hebrides), 8-10kg turbot, 30kg brill (Harrison spends about £1,500 to £2,000 a week on fish)

Edward Elgar seats: 55

Langtry's seats: 60

Total covers: 200 a day (including private dining)

"We generally buy wild fish, although we use farmed fish from time to time. We have been trying a lot of different farmed fish, such as American bass, because it is good for portion size, freely available and half the price, but it is very different to wild bass.

"The price of fish has steadily increased over the last five years. In Birmingham it costs more than meat - it's frightening. But most of our customers eat fish, so our menus are orientated towards it."

Harrison uses two main fish suppliers - London Larder and Shellfresh (also known as Viva South West). Both supply wild and farmed fish. "Most suppliers have to deal with both types of fish because of the amount people are buying.

"The only fish farm I have been to was in Scotland - it's a company we use through one of our fish suppliers. It is a big company and really looks after the fish - their fins aren't deformed and they don't really look that different to wild fish, they are just a bit chubbier. The fish seem to have more room nowadays.

"It's all about supply and demand. Every magazine seems to have a fish dish in it, which makes people want to use it more. With that demand on the seas, people are going to have to turn to farming methods eventually. What we have to do is make sure the farming methods are as humane as possible."

In order to maintain gross food profits, Harrison(below) serves different types of fish on his du jour and à la carte menus. "I would not be able to charge £20 per portion for grey mullet so I use it for my du jour menu, while I will put turbot on the à la carte menu at £22.50 with a truffle accompaniment.

"I had lobster on the menu last Christmas but it went up to £12 per lb and we could not make money on it. Now we try to use other fish such as pike, grey mullet, red mullet and red snapper.

"Farm fishing is a necessity. What we have to do is control how the fish are kept and looked after during growing time and breeding. What I find humourous is that people are concerned about what is in cows' feed because of mad cows' disease, but we have been dumping things in the seas that must have got into the food chain a long time ago and nobody seems to be worried about it. The only way forward is to have carefully farmed fish."

Martin Russell

Head chef, Borthwick Castle, North Middleton, Midlothian

Weekly fish shopping list: £150 to £180 spent on varieties including salmon, monkfish, grey mullet, cod, mackerel

Restaurant seats: 50

Covers: 25 per night (the restaurant does not open at lunchtime)

Russell uses wild and farmed fish, preferring farmed fish for banqueting menus as he can guarantee quality and quantity. "You can't guarantee the quality with wild. Just because it is wild, doesn't automatically mean it is better."

Russell operates a daily changing, set-price menu (£28 for four courses) in the restaurant. His philosophy is to buy on quality and base the menu around these items. "I am in a fortunate position - if an ingredient is expensive but of prime quality, I can save money in other areas so that I can still use it. I endeavour to buy British fish. Working in a medieval castle doesn't really lend itself to exotic fish."

Russell says London restaurants can buy fish from Scotland cheaper than he can. Although he says he accepts it because of the quantities being bought, he nevertheless finds it extremely irritating.

"More people are eating salmon than ever before. It used to be available only five months of the year - it is a real plus point that you can get it all year round. Obviously, it's good to cook things in season, but we get a lot of travellers in Scotland and they want to eat salmon - I am going to give my customers what they want."