HOW TO USE ACQUAMARA

We have a strong tradition of cooking with seawater in Scotland and around the world.

It is currently being rediscovered in line with the trend for chefs to take advantage of local culinary legacy combined with sourcing excellent, sustainable produce. Basically making excellent use of the nature around them.

A good example of this is this year’s number one restaurant in the world, Noma in Copenhagen, with chef Rene Redzepi famously offering a speciality starter of langoustines in seawater.

Fishermen know their seafood and we should take heed. So for those of us not patient enough to get a table, of modest budget, or grounded by volcanic ash, you can recreate this at home with this simple and delicious Scottish sailors’ recipe for Langoustines in Seawater.

Nothing could be simpler than poaching fish in its native seawater; the results are a gorgeously plump and succulent fish. Alessandro, Genoan chef and co-owner of Postada Margherita explains the cooking method on Epicurean Quest:
"You cook the fresh snapper in olive oil with whole cloves of garlic, and then when the olive oil gets very hot – but not hot enough to burn the garlic – you put one wine glass of seawater, the juice of a lemon, then toss in fresh chopped tomatoes and cover until the fish is cooked through."

You can substitute the snapper for sea trout which is in season right now. Serve with seasonal Jersey Royal new potatoes and asparagus, both cooked in Acquamara (50%). You can keep track of seasonal food at www.eattheseasons.co.uk.

Those in the know insist that lobsters should always be cooked in seawater where available. Crabs are especially good right now and  you can boil for 15-20 minutes. You can also cook mussels (until the shells open), whelks (10-25 minutes depending on size) and periwinkles (four minutes) in seawater.

Jamie Oliver salutes the 'beautiful fish stew' which Aegean fisherman make at sea, using whatever fish they've caught and they cook it in seawater. He loves the fact that the cooking water is ready-salted so they don't need any seasoning at all to achieve a perfectly delicious stew.

A good chunk of bread to accompany your seafood is essential. Pane Casareccia Barese will fit the bill. Salt taxes in various countries meant that seawater was frequently used in bread baking. Try it in all your bread baking and it’ll add seasoning and flavour to your pizza dough and your savoury pastry.

Shetland oatcakes are a tasty example of good Scots traditional food with a taste of the sea. Oceanic Oatcakes made with seawater can be bought online or use Acquamara in your favourite oatcake recipe. Ours is from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Hugh also recently shared a great Canarian recipe for Papas Arugadas, or ‘wrinkled potatoes’. Anyone who has holidayed there will testify to their tastiness and perfect accompaniment to a bottle of Dorada. Potatoes taste great cooked in seawater and the Irish know their potatoes.

We've established the variety of foods that can be enjoyed with nature's best seasoning and that a great deal of our culinary heritage has come from the proximity of the sea. Some are best forgotten like Crappit Heid which was a dish made out of necessity rather than taste. Try it if you dare and tell us all about it.