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Daniel McCarthy of Star Seafoods in county Kerry tells of the changes he and colleagues had to implement this year because of Covid, and fast. His chef, Zbigniew Blaszchak also shares a couple of tasty seafood recipes for you to try this Christmas:
IT WAS SCARY, there’s no other word for it. When Covid-19 struck, most of the 350 hotels and restaurants we supply closed overnight, leaving our 40 staff and a fleet of delivery vans virtually idle.
Like so many businesses, we had to think and fast. It’s like being caught in a whirlwind when your long-established business base is gone, literally overnight.
We had already set up an online shopping facility but it was slow, so when Covid-19 shocked us to our shoelaces and we knew we were going to have to really get behind this, get the word out and got it organised and working well; online shopping was going to have to be our lifeline.
And so it has proved to be. So much in fact that we now deliver to homes throughout the country and have garnered a very loyal base of some 10,000 customers countrywide, for which we are eternally grateful.
Our fleet delivers salmon, hake, cod as well as crab, scallops and juicy prawns. Obviously, with most of the country in lockdown for a considerable time this year, the interest in home cooking grew, and with that the need to try new things, such as seafood.
Changing our model like this has saved us, to be honest, and in fact, it has given us a whole new business base. We’re delighted with how it’s going and the most important thing is that we are getting constant repeat custom.
From sea to door
Once the fish has landed it is brought straight to our state of the art factory in Kenmare where it is filleted, iced and packed and from there delivered in our special refrigerated vans for delivery.
If there is anything businesses have learned from 2020 it’s this – in order to survive we have had to reimagine, rejig and reinvent; Star Seafoods has done that and it’s working well.
We’re now on a mission to make fish eaters out of the Irish population; fish and seafood are so versatile, easy and fast to cook, full of goodness, it’s practically impossible to mess up – what’s not to love.
Our chef, Zbigniew Blaszchak is a great man for the scallops, he’d eat them for breakfast and has a lovely easy Scallop Gratin which could make a lovely elegant starter for Christmas Day perhaps, and for people on the go, there’s our Honey Roasted Salmon Baguette which you could eat for breakfast… our version of the ubiquitous breakfast roll. Zbigniew has shared his recipes below. Enjoy, and Happy Christmas to you all.
Ingredients
700 grams of scallops
1/2 cup white wine
20 grams of flour
20 grams of butter
1 cup liquid made up with the white wine (reserved from cooking) and 150ml cream
salt and pepper, to taste
2 slices of white bread
10 grams parsley
Method
Ingredients
Salmon Fillet 800g
Feta cheese 200g
Garlic butter 50g
Cheddar cheese 50g
Spinach 200g
Large baguette
Honey
Method
Zbigniew Blaszchak is chef and Daniel McCarthy is MD of Star Seafoods in Kenmare, Co Kerry. For more, see starseafoods.ie.
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Don’t cut their pay, completely remove the DUP’s pay. Let’s see how long they want to sit on the sidelines when they are flat broke. They can have sectarianism or a salary, they can’t have both.
@Seán Ó Briain: Rumours are rife that the DUP said yes for the first time since the Old Testament, they say God and country are important but cash is king.
@Seán Ó Briain: And make Brandon Lewis redundant too.
@Seán Ó Briain: their pals in the UVF could spot them a few quid from their drug money. Removing the protocol would be a giant carrot for them.
@Gerard McConnell: Always said: Loyal to the Half Crown.
Why ‘soon’? Why not now?!
I heard that interview where Brandon Lewis said that Jews were being prevented from practicing their faith. What kind of interviewer let’s him get away without explaining that.
We are allowing politicians and media influencers of all shades to make daft claims without being called to account.
@Pat Duggan: and orange one
@Stephen Walshe: This is just one example of the influence being wielded by probably less than 20% of the population. People with media influence capability are being allowed to convert the other 80% who do not use their critical powers to test the accuracy of what it being promoted. It used to be called propaganda.
Why is the Journal repeating the lie that the protocol is preventing the jewish community from practicing their faith? This has been proven to be untrue!
@Niall Power: Never heard that! What is meant to be the reason?
@Niall Power: Had a few have you?
@Niall Power: — They’re only quoting Brandon Lewis’s lies above, but they should actually point out that he’s blatantly lying through his teeth, which seems to be on a par with most of the Tories in high office. They all spout real howlers, like Suella Braverman, who announced that NI is way behind the rest of the UK in the trade and economy area, which is the complete opposite of what the situation really is. The problem is that a lot of people believe the nonsense they come out with.
@Sean D: a few Jews??..
@Sean D: I don’t drink!
@sean o’dhubhghaill: lack of access to kosher foodstuffs.
@sean o’dhubhghaill: Most of the Kosher goods came from the UK however, the shops and community have since found EU suppliers to deliver.
@sean o’dhubhghaill: there is a community of 75 Orthodox Jews who are facing DELAYS on kosher foods from uk. Yet there is an orthodox Jewish community in Dublin who are not having issues sourcing produce from uk. Hardly an insurmountable issue.
@Niall Power: sure look it, anyone who has an IQ in double figures know that anything coming out of a Tory/DUP is likely to be BS
Haha the DUP will prove they are far more loyal to the half crown …then the crown
@David cotter: all parties up there take the queens shillings. Cash is king for them all
The DUP won’t play “in protest over the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol”. Also because they lost the election to the Taigs.
Proper bloody order! About time too. We’ll done Brandon Lewis.
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