WE have very different early life experiences of fish.

For Shareen, fish was rarely seen on the menu. Eating out or at home, there was just no seafood culture in 1960s Belfast, despite its proximity to the coast. Shareen says the English took all the good salmon while her grandmother gave her salmon out of a tin (with buttery mashed potatoes and peas, naturally.) For Phil however, it was a very different story. His mother’s family had been involved in the fishing industry in Essex, but he spent his formative years in Cornwall.

There were fish deliveries from “the fish man” every Thursday, happy afternoons spent collecting mussels, whelks and winkles from the rocks, memories of landing a bucketful of eels out of the Tamar (mixed response from mother, who had to skin and cook them all) as well as fish often bought direct from the boats whenever visiting one of the ports.

The rise of freezer ownership accompanied the slow demise of the independent fishmonger and by the 1980s fresh fish, a Friday staple for many families, had largely become a thing of the past. Processed white fish was all many people knew.

A whole generation grew up believing that a fish had lots of fingers, crispy balls and chips on its shoulders, in much the same way that refugee children coming out of the cities in the war thought that milk only came out of bottles.

Much of the fish from Britain’s waters was landed in Spain and France, where they still know what to do with it. The town of Jerez, for example, population 200,000, has over 40 fish stalls competing in its central market alone!

Fortunately, things began to change when the supermarkets spotted the gap in the market for fresh fish. Under the influence of TV chefs such as Rick Stein, people slowly became re-acquainted with the delights of the sea.

Ironically, because of sustainability issues with cod, the choice of fish available to us is now wider than ever and the quality, provided you choose the right supplier, excellent.