Some of Britain’s best celebrity cooks and TV personalities are set to take part in an online festival to encourage the nation to fall in love with seafood.
Launching on 12 October, the week-long festival called the Love Seafood Social, will feature household names including Love Island’s Dani Dyer and Celebrity MasterChef winners Nadia Sawalha and John Partridge.
Hosted by Love Seafood, the new consumer brand from Seafish – the public body supporting the UK seafood industry, the festival is designed to get more people in the UK eating seafood.
Focused around a programme of cook-alongs and seafood “how to’s,” the festival aims to remove the barriers that prevent people from buying and cooking seafood at home, making it simple and accessible for everyone to enjoy.
As part of the programme, TV personality Dani Dyer, will be following the humble fish fillet from sea to plate, chatting to the passionate people working behind the scenes at Osbourne Bros in Leigh-On-Sea.
There will also be various opportunities to cook-along live with well-loved names including Celebrity MasterChef winners, Nadia Sawalha and EastEnders’ John Partridge, as well as Instagram foodie Katie Pix and food blogger At Dad’s Table .
To kick-off the Love Seafood Social, Nadia Sawalha will host the first of five cook-alongs on Monday 12 October. Since winning Celebrity Masterchef in 2007, Nadia has become recognised for her talents in the kitchen, releasing two best-selling cookbooks. A champion for fresh fish and delicious family-friendly meals, Nadia will demonstrate one of her go-to seafood dishes for feeding her family of four.
She said: “We love Seafood in my house and I can’t wait to show you lucky lot my favourite go to recipe! My husband loves, loves, loves fish but before I met him I hardly ever ate it. Over the years I’ve grown to love fish too and now cook it at least twice a week. I love how versatile and quick to cook it is and I’m chuffed to bits to be part of this campaign to get more people to experience the joys of seafood in the way me and my family do!”
Rounding off the week’s activities on Friday 16 October, Dani Dyer said: “I absolutely love eating seafood but it’s hard to know where to start when there are so many different types! I can’t wait to learn more about how our delicious seafood gets to our plates and take people on that journey with me. Hopefully I’ll pick up some top tips along the way for cooking seafood at home.
“With starting my own family, it’s never been a better time for me to learn more about the food we eat.”
Eastenders’ John Partridge is also part of the star-studded line-up and will be showing off his fish pie recipe from his debut cookbook ‘There’s No Place Like Home’ on Wednesday 14 September.
John Partridge said: “I’ve always found seafood such a comforting food and nothing gives you a warm hug quite like a classic British fish pie. I’m all about enjoyable cooking and delicious food and I always find myself turning to seafood when I want to make something simple and tasty. My fish pie is the perfect family meal, I like to serve it straight out the oven in the middle of the table with a serving spoon and let the food speak for itself.”
Food broadcasters and experts are also taking part in the festivities, with Nigel Barden and CJ Jackson demonstrating simple, but delicious seafood recipes to feed the whole family. The Cod’s Scallops, the UK’s number one fish and chip shop, also feature, demonstrating how people can cook the nation’s favourite takeaway at home.
Greg Smith, Head of Marketing at Seafish, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to have support from Dani, Nadia, John and everyone else who is taking part in the Love Seafood Social.
“As an island nation, we have a deep relationship with the sea around us, but in recent years, our eating habits have sometimes overlooked the wonderful variety of seafood available in Britain. Love Seafood aims to turn the tide on that pattern with the support of our wonderful celebrity cooks, chefs, influencers and amazing seafood businesses.”
Love Seafood will replace the popular Fish is the Dish brand but will continue to offer recipes inspiration and nutritional information.
