European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Maria Damanaki appeared before the press at the European Seafood Exposition in Brussels on Wednesday, 24 April, and urged collaborative efforts along the seafood supply chain toward sustainability.
“I want our children to be able to eat fish from the sea,” said Damanaki. “We need to protect our resources so next generations can enjoy what we have. We need alliances between our fishermen, our producers, our retailers, our cooks, our citizens.”
Damanaki was on hand to congratulate the winners of the Olivier Roellinger culinary competition for sustainable seafood recipes, sponsored by SeaWeb and Seafood Choices Alliance. The event was hosted by Oso (Hall 6, Stand 927).
The grand-prize winner in the “young chefs” category was Jaouad Ez-Zouaq (pictured, at center between Damanaki and Roellinger) of Domaine de Terre Blanche in Tourrettes, southeastern France. His red gurnard and oysters dish was deemed the best. Runner-up was Denis LeMercier of Burdigala Hotel in Bordeaux (pollock and shells). In third place was Andreas Baehr of Restaurant La Marelle in Péronnas (mackerel and squid).
The first-place winner in the “students” category was Francois Herve of the Catering School of Dinard in Brittany, whose dish of red gurnard, green crab and whelks won the judges over. In second place was Quentin Rousseau of Catering School of Granville in Normandy (red mullet and shells). In a tie for third place was Deborah Derieux of Catering School of Avignon (line-fished sea bass and shells) and Romain Gosselin of Apprentice Training Center of the Loire Atlantique Chamber of Commerce (pout and shells).
The first-place winners won a week of professional training with a Relais & Chateaux chef in Europe and an internship with fishermen in the North Sea.
