The Cardiff Harbour Festival takes place over August Bank Holiday weekend (August 27 – 29) and organiser Cardiff Harbour Authority is teaming up with Jamie’s Italian in the city centre to launch a competition to find a fish dish that will grace their specials menu – with the winning dish cooked for visitors at the festival.
The competition was launched this week by chefs at Jamie’s Italian along with Nick Woods, the current British Fish Craft Champion who works for Cardiff-based Ashton’s Fishmongers. The restaurant is looking for dishes with an Italian flavour, in line with their existing menu, and with Jamie Oliver leading a crusade against the oceans’ endangered species they want recipes that do not involve Salmon, Prawns, Cod, Haddock and Tuna.
The winning recipe will receive the honour of having their dish on the menu at Jamie’s Italian, plus dinner for two in the restaurant and a copy of Jamie Oliver’s latest book, along with an overnight stay at Future Inns, Cardiff Bay. Entries should be sent by August 21 to [email protected] with further information on www.cardiff-festival.com and www.jamiesitalian.com
Cllr. Nigel Howells, Executive Member for Sport, Leisure and Culture said: “It’s great to work with Jamie’s Italian on this exciting opportunity for all the budding Jamies out there. It’s also a great link to the Cardiff Harbour Festival which will once again attract many thousands to the waterfront over Bank Holiday weekend.”
The winning recipe will be judged by a panel of experts. Mary Needham, General Manager of Jamie’s Italian Cardiff said: “Jamie is trying to promote an awareness of “the fish we should be eating” and a more educated approach to how we think about fish. The idea is that by using a wider variety of fish, sea levels will remain balanced and we will not see a massive depletion of the most popular, or well known fish, as we are seeing at the moment. This is a great opportunity for us to work with Cardiff Council to promote this message. The winning recipe must be of a good, simple rustic Italian theme, with a source of origin, and a reason why they are using that particular fish.”
A key feature of the Cardiff Harbour Festival is the three-day British Fish Craft Championships 2011, featuring the skills of the best fishmongers. Jonathan Adams, chair of The British Fish Craft Championships 2011 said: “We are delighted to be part of this competition. One of our aims at the National Federation of Fishmongers (organisers of the British Fish Craft Championships) is to encourage sustainability. Consumers in the UK eat huge amounts of salmon and cod, but tend to overlook other species, which is a great pity. UK waters produce a vast array of fish with great taste, and firm flesh, making them ideal for a wide range of dishes. Anything that can be done to encourage the public to broaden their fish eating tastes is extremely positive.”
Cardiff Harbour Festival serves up its annual portion of Fish and Ships to amuse and entertain. Features to watch out for are:
- British Fish Craft Championships on the Sunday as the country’s top fishmongers try to out-fillet each other
- Welsh National Oyster Opening Championships on the Monday – open to all
- the Breitling Wing Walkers flying high over Cardiff Bay on Sunday at 12pm and Monday at 4.30pm.
- Tall Ships, including the ever-popular Matthew
- continental market stocking delicious treats from across the world
- sea shanty singers
- comedy walkabouts
- fairground rides and music
- The Last Resort – an alternate end of pier attraction, including the Best Dressed Pirate and Sea Creature Competition at 3.30pm on Monday afternoon.
