The Seafood School relaunches at Billingsgate Fish Market

Reporter Jacob Ranson preparing his fish dishes (Image: Archant)

A group of food lovers gathered in the kitchen to learn how to cut, prepare and cook all the exotic fishes that you can find at the world-famous venue in the Isle of Dogs.

The school, a charity which was originally founded back in 1999, held a day with a variety of sessions as part of their launch to become more separate from the market themselves.

CJ Jackson, chief executive and chef, said: “We have always been Billingsgate Seafood School and what we have decided to do now is refocus our attentions and become the Seafood School at Billingsgate.

“The reason we’ve done that is because we want to be a little bit more stand alone, so we’re not seen as part of the market, we are based here but not owned and run by the market.

The group of participants dishes (Image: Archant)

“We also are out a lot doing a lot of outreachs and we want to be seen as the seafood school wherever we might be.”

I went down myself to join in the cooking, being quiet an amateur in the kitchen it really opened my eyes, as when making a piece of gurnard wrapped in chorizo and covering a hake in lemon breadcrumbs I found it easier than I thought.

Not being to big-headed, but the dishes came out at the end tasted great, although that may be where I’ve never tried those types of fish before.

“Learning how to prepare it is key if you want to buy from the market, but it’s also imperative that we teach people how easy it is to cook because you see a lot of celebrity chefs on TV cooking quiet complex dishes,” CJ explained.

The cutting room at the Seafood School (Image: Archant)

“What we’re trying to do is say this is the fish, this is what you can do with it, this is how easy it is to cook and how easy it is to tell it’s cooked.”

Readers can get 15 per cent off all courses by quoting JL/CJ when booking over the phone.

Visit seafoodtraining.org for more information on classes.