17th July 2009

Taste of the sea in Weymouth

By Tom Glover

THE weather couldn’t dampen the spirits of the sea as the Dorset Seafood Festival was attended by record numbers.

An estimated 50,000 people visited Weymouth for the festival at the weekend including an unexpected visit from Jonathon Ross and his family on the Sunday.

The weekend kicked off with the cross harbour Guinness and oyster swim won by Matt Whishaw of Perry’s restaurant.

The cooking demonstrations then began with “Passionate about Fish” giving a masterclass in filleting before celebrity chef Mark Hix arrived to make the grand opening.

Highlights over the two days included a cooking demonstration from Masterchef winner Mat Folas, the fishtucker trials which culminated in contestants eating a raw Conger Eel liver and the historical diving displays which ran on both days.

The festival also hosted the semi finals and final of the Young Seafood Masterchef competition.

The eventual winner was Charlie Bronson of the Carlton Hotel in Bournemouth. Daniel Viner and Anthony Raven of Moonfleet Manor in Weymouth were runners up alongside Charlie Bloxham of the Crab House Café in Weymouth.

The festival was expertly hosted again this year by wine expert and regular guest on Saturday kitchen, Joe Wadsack.

The two main organisers of the event were Roger Dalton and Brian Cooper who were both delighted with how the festival went.

Mr Cooper said: “The festival couldn’t have gone better and one of the most exciting elements for me was that despite the weather the crowd stayed and enjoyed the event.

“The crowd was larger than last year which was a beautiful sunny day so that was really something,

“The cooking demonstrations were all well received, Mark Hix was fabulous once again and Mat Folas’ performance on the Sunday capped the event off.”

The festival hosted a number of fundraising activities over the weekend including a charity fish auction at the end of both days. The money raised will be going towards the Royal National Mission To Deep Sea Fishermen.

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