Mitch cooking on Vulcanus BBQ on Brixham harbour

Barbecue Box season

Introducing our most sustainable Barbecue Box yet!

There are few things more uniquely satisfying than cooking seafood on a barbecue. 

To bask in the summer sunshine, on a beach, the salty-sweet smell of fresh fish, and the smoky embers of quality charcoal is enough to make you salivate with more giddy excitement than a hungry Labrador.

This summer we have, quite literally, scoured the planet for a roll call of seafood that is unmatched in its quality, as well as in its glistening array of planet-friendly accolades.

This year the Rockfish barbecue box will include:  

 

  • Six diver caught scallops, foraged here in the shellfish-rich depths of Lyme Bay.
  • Six Skull Island prawns.
  • Two packs of sardine fillets containing four to eight butterfly-cut sardines.
  • Two monkfish tails – caught here in Brixham.
  • One homemade Rockfish garlic butter. 

 

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The scallops

Here in Lyme Bay, we are at the spot where the English Channel meets with the Atlantic. This confluence of two seas means our waters are rich with nutrients and microplankton that a filter feeder like a scallop can easily grow fat on.

As a result, we have some world-class scallops. Ours are caught by highly skilled deep-water divers, working at depths of up to 30 meters below sea level. Diving for scallops is perhaps the lightest touch method of seafood catching there is. 

Scallops in our Rockfish barbecue box are sold with their shells, which act as perfect nature-made trays to both cook and serve these delicious nuggets of sweet, natural goodness.  

The prawns

Warm water prawns are a challenge for any sustainable seafood stalwart. King prawns – those big juicy prawns that are a favourite menu item across the UK – grow only in more temperate climates (unlike their much smaller cold-water cousins). Often shipped in from uncertified farms in places like Indonesia, Vietnam, and India. Prawn farming is deeply controversial, often seriously damaging local environments, whilst also strongly depending on wild-caught fish as feed.

But we couldn’t assemble a barbecue box that didn’t include prawns! Which is why we sought out the Skull Island fishery. 

Tiger prawns from Skull Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria are the biggest you can find in Australia. 

Measuring up to 26 cm in length, these juicy behemoths of the prawn underworld are truly the king on the grill!

The Northern Prawn Fishery is often referred to as Australia’s last ‘wild frontier’. The fishery covers approximately 880,000 square km, with less than 12% of that area being fished. 

Certified ‘sustainable’ by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Skull Island tiger prawns come from the world’s first certified sustainable tropical prawn fishery. They are caught from August to November each year and only caught during the night to ensure minimal impact on bycatch. Meanwhile, specialised nets are used to ensure turtle by-catch is non-existent.

The remainder of the year is closed to fishing to ensure juvenile tiger prawns have ample time to grow into adults and reproduce. 

Prawn stocks are maintained at healthy, sustainable levels with annual scientific sampling and surveys, as well as a multi-year scientific review of the status of the fishery.

The sardines 

These plump, omega-rich, health-giving slips of silver are a barbecuer’s delight. Their natural oils respond deliciously to white-hot coals. The Cornish sardine fishery, where we source our sardines, much like the Skull Island fishery on the opposite side of the world, is managed with longevity at its core. 

Caught predominately in the scenic Mount’s Bay, just 15 vessels are licenced to operate this exclusive fishery. Sophisticated sonar systems are used to track shoals as they move through the bay, allowing fishermen to target the sardines specifically, minimising by-catch. 

Fishing operations can take as little as an hour and will often take place just minutes from the harbour mouth. The sardines are then chilled instantly in specialised iced water tanks to keep them at peak condition. 

The packaging 

Our online delivery boxes are now fully circular. Inside all our boxes ordered online – including our barbecue box - comes instructions on how to return to us the insulated packaging used to keep our products cool. 

Once returned, we’re able to re-use the packaging, provided it is hygienic and structurally sound. Those boxes that get returned to us that we can’t reuse, we instead send to our local partners to be recycled into outdoor furniture. 

Mostly our boxes are turned into tables, chairs, and benches. Walk along almost any beachfront on the south coast and you’ll more than likely spot one such bench.  

Just think, this summer, you could be sitting outside, enjoying a world-class barbecue of extraordinary seafood, a sea breeze filling your lungs, sitting astride a bench made from the boxes your dinner arrived in. That right there is a little bit of Rockfish summertime magic!

Here's some useful tips for cooking on a BBQ