Rocking the boat

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Photography David de Vleeschauwer

Imagine this: a handful of shrimps, alive and so fresh they're almost jumping from your plate. This is not a mere gimmick; served on ice, they're increasingly the choice of chefs and diners eschewing the frozen shrimps packed on boats before being sent to restaurants for anonymous treatment.

Despite the fact that virtually every Belgian restaurant has grey shrimp on its menu, these tiny crustaceans haven't traditionally enjoyed the status of other seafood such as lobster or oysters. Most of the time, North Sea shrimps are hidden inside a tomate crevette, smothered with too much mayonnaise, or buried within a bland shrimp croquette. In terms of culinary culture, the shrimp has long been trapped in a lazy comfort-food bracket.

Now, however, it's being reimagined as a delicacy - not frozen, cooked, processed or peeled, but delivered straight from the fishing boat into the chef's kitchen. This small sea-change in fishing practice is making a big splash in the culinary world.

It's business as usual along the Belgian coast. At the fish market in Nieuwpoort it's 6.30am and, after spending nearly 12 hours at sea, five shrimp trawlers sail into the harbour - with an unusual catch. Alongside the usual containers full of cooked shrimps being heaved on to the dock, there are also several heaped crates of live shrimps.

This is the result of a meeting last year, when the Nieuwpoort fishermen's cooperative - Vlaamse Schelpdier en Viscoöperatie (VSCV) - sat down with a couple of passionate chefs and discussed a different kind of culinary future for the North Sea shrimp. It was suggested that the shrimps, which are usually caught and immediately cooked in seawater on board fishing boats, could be landed alive.

The chefs in question were Filip Claeys of the Michelin-star restaurant De Jonkman in Sint-Kruis, Bruges and Rudi Van Beylen from Hof ten Damme in Kallo. Encouraged by enthusiastic colleagues, these chefs and fishermen founded the label North Sea Life in September 2011. Their proposal was simple: deliver the shrimps alive, so chefs can buy and prepare the product in new and exciting ways.

Today's live catch is the result of that meeting. "We land around 20kg per day, per boat," says Danny Huyghebaert, ex-fisherman and director of the VSCV.

In contrast, captain Maurice Coussaert from shrimp trawler Jacob Kien says, "On normal days we bring in around 500kg of cooked shrimp per boat. The big difference between cooked and live is the labour intensity on board after the shrimps are caught. Live shrimps are sorted manually, while with cooked shrimps the small, inedible ones float quickly to the top of the cooking pots."

The shrimps are kept alive on board the boats in tanks of seawater, and in the fish market - after weighing and controlling - they're again stored alive in a cold room of special saltwater tanks.

"The price for a kilo of live shrimps is also 30% higher than when cooked," says Huyghebaert. "Freshly cooked or alive, shrimps come with a price tag, just like everything else."

Since the launch of North Sea Life, many Belgian chefs have keenly supported the initiative. During one of the most important food events in Belgium last year, the Flemish Primitives, there was an encouraging response to the raw shrimps. Then there was Flemish Foodies event Bloot! ('exposed'), at which Claeys and Van Beylen served not only dried shrimp and fried tempura, but also the much talked about living variety.

The presentation consisted of a glass jar filled with water, from which the shrimps could be fished out with a small net before consumption. Belgian and Dutch Michelin-star chefs such as Sergio Herman, Peter Goossens and Kobe Desramaults have already shown an interest in working with the product; though what they choose to do with them does of course vary.

Claeys loves to dry or fry them, and presents them as an appetiser entitled 'ode to the shrimp'. The dish is served in a halved beer bottle and everything revolves around the shrimp: a quail egg marinated in shrimp oil, shrimp biscuits and mayonnaise. Meanwhile, three-star chef Peter Goossens from Hof van Cleve in Kruishoutem serves them raw, like sashimi.

Kobe Desramaults from the Michelin-starred In De Wulf is more than happy with the new product. "I am thrilled!" he says. "I've been waiting many years for this to happen." Desramaults also serves them raw, about 20 per plate, with sea salt and Belgian sea berries. "This is a fascinating product, with more texture and a richer flavour than, say, a lobster," he adds. "Ultimately it's about the taste and the essence is in the freshness, so raw is excellent for me."

This shrimp renaissance is part of a deep passion that Claeys and Van Beylen have for the North Sea and its produce. "You won't see tuna on my menu in De Jonkman," says Claeys, who has just won his second Michelin star. "For the last four years I've worked exclusively with products from the North Sea. It upsets me to see colleagues working with inferior, foreign fish, while we have such fantastic produce on our doorstep."

Claeys considers it to be his mission to promote and help the North Sea fishermen: "My grandparents were fishermen; I grew up on the coast in Adinkerke, surrounded by the fish of the North Sea. Through North Sea Life we're trying to support a new market that benefits everybody: the fishermen, the chefs and, of course, the epicures who love to try out new things on the plate."

Back at Nieuwpoort harbour, there are several scribbled orders from Belgian restaurants pinned to the refrigerator, many specifying 'one kilo of live shrimp'.

It seems that a desire for the very freshest crustaceans straight from the sea has sparked the imaginations and palates of enthusiastic Belgian diners.

Where to sample the finest grey shrimps

■ De Jonkman
438 Maalse Steenweg, Bruges, +32 (0)50 360 767, www.dejonkman.be

■ Hof ten Damme
(Catering events only), 4 Hoog-Kallostraat, Kallo, +32 (0)3 575 0277, www.hoftendamme.com

■ In de Wulf
1 Wulvestraat, Heuvelland, +32 (0)57 445567, www.indewulf.be

■ Hof Van Cleve
1 Riemegemstraat, Kruishoutem, +32 (0)9 383 5848, www.hofvancleve.com

FR
Nouvel arrivage

Grâce à l'initiative des pêcheurs de la Mer du Nord et à l'imagination de quelques célèbres chefs belges, la crevette grise expérimente une sorte de renaissance, explique Debbie Pappyn

Même si pratiquement tous les restaurants belges proposent des crevettes grises à leur carte, ce petit crustacé n'a jamais réellement bénéficié du statut de fruit de mer au même titre que le homard ou les huîtres. Aujourd'hui, toutefois, il se réinvente comme une délicatesse.

Cette renaissance est le fruit d'une rencontre, l'année dernière, entre la coopérative des pêcheurs de Nieuport et deux chefs au top, Filip Claeys du restaurant De Jonkman près de Bruges et Rudi Van Beylen du Hof ten Damme, à Kallo. Ces derniers ont évoqué l'idée suivante, « et si les crevettes de la Mer du Nord - habituellement pêchées et immédiatement cuites à bord des bateaux de pêche - étaient plutôt débarquées vivantes » ? Pour que les chefs puissent ainsi préparer ces crevettes vivantes et redynamiser leurs recettes, un nouveau label fut créé en septembre 2011, North Sea Life.

Claeys adore les sécher ou les frire et réalise de véritables « odes à la crevette » : soit un oeuf de caille mariné dans l'huile de crevettes, soit des biscuits de crevettes mayonnaise. Peter Goossens, le chef aux 3 étoiles du Hof van Cleve, à Kruishoutem, les sert crues, façon sashimi, comme le fait aussi Kobe Desramaults de l'établissement In De Wulf à Heuvelland. « C'est un produit fascinant, avec plus de texture et une saveur plus riche que le homard », ajoute-t-il.

Le retour de la crevette provient d'une passion profonde pour la Mer du Nord et de son produit. « Cela me contrarie de voir des collègues travailler avec du poisson étranger, de qualité inférieure, alors que nous avons des produits extraordinaires à portée de main, » explique Claeys. « Nous essayons de soutenir un nouveau marché qui profite à tout le monde : le pêcheur, les chefs et bien sûr, les épicuriens amateurs de nouveautés. »

NL
Woeste baren

Dankzij het initiatief van Noordzeevissers en de verbeelding van enkele vermaarde Belgische chef-koks is de grijze garnaal in ere hersteld, zegt Debbie Pappyn

Nagenoeg elk Belgisch restaurant heeft grijze garnalen op het menu staan en toch krijgt dit kleine schaaldier traditioneel niet de status van zeevrucht, zoals kreeft of oesters. Nu wordt het weer als een delicatesse beschouwd, dankzij een ontmoeting vorig jaar van de Nieuwpoortse vissersvereniging en twee topchefs, Filip Claeys van De Jonkman, bij Brugge, en Rudi Van Beylen van het Hof ten Damme, in Kallo. Ze suggereerden om de Noordzeegarnalen niet langer aan boord reeds te koken, maar ze levend aan land te brengen. In september 2011 werd dan het North Sea Life-label in het leven geroepen en voortaan kunnen chef-koks levende garnalen in nieuwe en fascinerende recepten verwerken.

Claeys droogt of bakt ze en stelt ze voor als een "ode aan de garnaal": een kwartelei gemarineerd in garnalenolie, garnalenkoekjes en mayonaise. Driesterrenchef Peter Goossens van het Hof van Cleve in Kruishoutem serveert ze rauw, zoals sashimi, net zoals Kobe Desramaults van In De Wulf in het Heuvelland. "Dit fascinerende product heeft meer textuur en een rijkere smaak dan kreeft," vindt hij.

De garnaal dankt zijn wedergeboorte aan een diepgaande passie voor de Noordzee en Noordzeeproducten. "Mij stoort het als collega's met minderwaardige buitenlandse vis werken, terwijl we zulke fantastische producten in eigen land hebben," zegt Claeys. "We proberen een nieuwe markt te ondersteunen en dat komt iedereen ten goede: de vissers, de chef-koks en uiteraard ook de fijnproevers die graag nieuwe dingen uitproberen."

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