'There is no such thing as "organic" salmon,' says Steve
October, 2006
Steve Hatt
88-90 Essex Road
Islington
London, N1 8LU
Tel: 020 7226 3963
Rating: *****
FORGIVE ME, for I feel a rush of superlatives coming on, which is not surprising really, for the fact of the matter is that Steve Hatt is without question the finest fishmonger in London, and perhaps the universe.
You have to go there to really appreciate the place, and even the most abjectly ignorant fish novice will realise that things are different here. For one thing there is always the most amazing variety of fish (as well as game in season and venison, incidentally) on display, and the second thing is that the place doesn’t smell of fish.
There are two reasons for that, one being that the fish is perfectly fresh (“Fresh fish does not smell!” thunders Steve) and kept at the correct temperature and, secondly, there is an immaculate drainage system (installed more than 50 years ago) which includes filters so that the drains don’t smell.
You see, there is know-how and tradition here that goes right back to 1895 when William Morris, Steve’s great-grandfather, first opened the shop and smokehouse. He ran it until he died in 1920 when his son, Frederick Morris took over until 1952.
The line then moved over to the maternal side of the family and the first Steve Hatt, the present Steve’s father, took over until he retired in 1975 and Steve junior stepped up to the plate.
And he’s not yer average fishmonger neither. Steve went to Highgate School, although he never considered anything but joining the family business. “I just couldn’t stand the thought of being stuck in an office all day. I wanted an outdoor life,” he told me.
An outdoor life? In a fishmongers? “Yeah, the door remains open, and there is no heating in here – and in winter it’s very much like being outdoors in here. We couldn’t have radiators and fridge motors raising the temperature of the fish.”
One of the things that Steve is very keen to tell me is that he is the fastest payer in the business. “I don’t wait for statements to come in through the post. I immediately pay statements that are faxed to us,” he said.
“But in return I demand the very highest quality from our suppliers. For me, it’s the best or nothing. So while I am the fastest payer, I am also the fastest to immediately send things back if they are not perfect.
“That’s another reason why I can always get stocks despite the growing scarcity of fish – suppliers know they can rely on me.”
Anyone who has been to the shop knows that Steve rules with an iron fist, and his tirades send trainees scurrying for cover when they don’t do things right.
“Well, these kids just have to learn to get it right. We have standards to maintain, and if and when they leave here, we have given them something very valuable.”
The result of all this is that despite the modest size of the shop he is selling several tons of fish a week – the vast majority over the counter to people who come from all over London. Saturday morning in Essex Road, he observes, is like being at Billingsgate Market.
Some 20% of what he sells is smoked fish – kippers, haddock, mackerel and trout – smoked right here in his own smokehouse. And there are no modern kilns here, but proper smoke holes and chimneys installed more than 80 years ago. So the kippers, for example, are smoked in exactly the same way as his grandfather was doing them.
The modern smoking process, he explained, is obsessed with not losing too much of the weight of the fish (to keep prices down and profits up), so fish tends to be only lightly smoked – with the result that it is not very good and does not keep for more than a day or two.
“We smoke fish properly, for the full length of time required, and we shoulder the dehydration loss to obtain the quality we want. And our smoked fish will keep perfectly in your fridge for many days.
If you want to see Steve Hatt bristle and his blue eyes flash with anger, ask him what he thinks about people who want only “organic” fish and criticise, for example, salmon farming.
“The British public is very gullible, and very easy to take advantage of,” he says.
“What difference does it make to the fish if you net off a loch or a fjord? It’s still the same water, and although the food they eat is different it’s still completely natural food, carefully controlled by the authorities.”
Rumours that artificial colours are used to make the farmed salmon look more pink are just wrong, he insists. The difference in colour of the fish depends on what they eat. Wild salmon feed on krill beneath the arctic ice cap and that gives them their delicate colour.
Here he departs to tell me how it was in 1968 that the wild salmon feeding grounds were discovered by an American nuclear submarine under the ice cap. And once the word was out, the process was started that has resulted in stocks being decimated.
“But the main point is that there really is no such thing as ‘organic’ wild salmon. No-one can control them or isolate them or specify what they eat.”
Steve’s hair has greyed somewhat since he started working here when he left school in 1970. “I’ve been here for 36 years, which is longer than any of the previous three generations.”
Are there any Hatts preparing eventually to take over from him? “No, I have a son but he’s an engineer. He wanted a social life. But I’m not worry about that yet. I’m not going anywhere for a good few years yet. And whatever happens, the shop will continue.”
Matthew Lewin