MANX queenies are again in the national news after they were featured in yesterday’s hit BBC programme ‘Saturday Kitchen’.
The queenies were the main ingredient in the first dish prepared on the live show by a top Michelin star chef from Blackburn.
Nigel Haworth, who runs the luxurious Northcote Manor in Lancashire, also paid tribute to the new sustainable methods being used by Manx fishermen to catch the queenies in Manx waters.
He spoke of the Isle of Man winning the top award at the 2011 Sustainable Seafood Awards, beating five other finalists at Billingsgate Seafood School in London. He said that Isle of Man fishermen had worked hard in recent years to make Manx queenies more sustainable. “It’s a really positive story,” he said.
His dish of queenies with garlic and spinach mash, sea purslane and tarragon dressing, also won the praise of host chef James Martin - a regular visitor to the Isle of Man. “Manx queenies are now establishing a trademark of their own,” said James, describing Nigel Haworth as one of the most respected chefs in Britain and his queenies as “sensational”.
While cooking the dish live yesterday morning, Nigel Haworth gave some crucial advice, in particular that “it’s important not to over-cook the queenies.” He added, “They should be fried very hot on both sides and quickly take them out.” The recommended wine for the dish was a white 2009 Petit Chablis.
Saturday Kitchen’ attracts a regular weekly audience of over 3 million.
