Our Co-Cooking programme turned to the sea today with a new activity focusing on fish this morning and whose aim is to raise awareness among catering students about sustainable fishing, and providing them with new tools for their professional development.
The sea and fish were the focus of a new activity offered by our Co-Cooking programme, which supports training in the catering sector, with the aim of training students in handling fish, and providing them with new tools for the future caterers’ professional lives. A total of 22 Cooking and Gastronomy students from the IES Sanxillao in Lugo took part in the early morning activity organised by Co-Cooking, where they were able to familiarize themselves with the product in its place of origin guided by experts in the matter.
The activity began at 6.30am, with a visit to the fish market in Celeiro in Viveiro, with the Galician firm Fresco y del Mar, and accompanied by the market manager. In this first part of the activity, the students were able to see the ins and outs of the market and its daily activity, from the different species that arrive on a daily basis and how each one is caught, to the auction and the different aspects that affect the market’s activity, as well as learning about the seasons and fishing periods.
After, the students returned to their College to attend the second part of the activity. Rocío Garrido Caramés, gastronomy blogger, supporter of sustainable cuisine and author of the award-winning book “Cociñando coas razas autóctonas”, the students attended a practical workshop on preparing fish and use of seawater. They were able to have hands on experience during the workshop. Hake, Ballan wrasse, and mackerel were the prime materials that Fresco y del Mar supplied the College with. Using these species, the different parts of the fish were identified, different ways of cutting the fish were practiced according to the type of fish, and the students learnt how to use them in the kitchen with different techniques.
The last part of this hands-on workshop was the treatment of these species with seawater. The students had to prepare a number of dishes: hake in seaweed steam, ceviche and cured mackerel which they could sample for themselves afterwards.
For this activity, we had the invaluable collaboration of Fresco y del Mar, a Galician firm that shares our support for the sustainable development of the natural environment, considering fair and responsible fishing as the only way to combine respect for the marine environment and protect traditional fishing, an age-old activity in Galicia.
Co-Cooking Programme
The Co-Cooking Programme is a collaborative training initiative aimed at students and professionals from the catering sector. Through a number of activities, it contributes to the training of highly qualified professionals, encouraging the exchange of knowledge mainly between producers, chefs and students. Every year our Co-Cooking programme offers training courses that are of great interest to catering colleges and professionals from the catering sector with the aim of boosting learning and relations among the different parts. In the next few weeks, students from catering colleges throughout Galicia will attend practical workshops on subjects such as bread making, meat cutting, and fish and seafood handling, among others.
