CHEF! IssuE 32 | 11 CHEF! IssuE 32 | 11

SASSI Ambassador ChefJackie Cameron

Aside from being voted one of South Africa’s top young chefs, Jackie Cameron is also a champion of a different sort.

The brilliant head chef of Hartford House in Mooi Rivier in the Kwazulu-Natal Midlands has recently committed to being a champion for sustainable seafood as well.

She will be working closely with the World Wide Fund for Nature’s Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (WWF-SASSI) to promote sustainable seafood as the most savvy seafood choice amongst consumers.

Jackie’s commitment to sustainability stems from a deep-rooted love of her craft. “As a young chef, my passion is food. One day when I have a family, I would love to share that passion with my children and I can’t imagine not being able to serve them a perfectly seared piece of kingklip. It would be a tragedy if that texture and flavour were lost forever.”

Being from Kwazulu-Natal, Jackie’s favourite WWF-SASSI green-listed species is farmed South African rainbow trout. Aside from being a fantastic substitute for Norwegian Salmon, which does unfortunately fall on the orange list, choosing this species of seafood will also serve to support the many local farms in Kwazulu-Natal who produce this species. Fish on the green list are considered the most sustainable choice while there is reason for concern if a specie is included in the orange list.

“There is a misconception about trout from the Midlands”, says Jackie. “This misconception centres

around what this species should taste like. However, there are brilliant farms in

the Midlands who are taking trout to a whole new level and, on top of that, doing so in a much more sustainable way.”

Duo of Trout

• 15g smoked trout• 1g crushed garlic• 1ml chopped fennel• 1ml chopped chives• 2.5ml freshly• squeezed lemon juice• 8g grated onion• 30g cream cheese• 10ml of lightly

whipped cream• Salt and freshly

ground black pepper• 1.5ml horseradish crème (optional)• Smoked salmon trout -40-50g, cut 10x6cm pieces

Flake the trout into small pieces (chef ’s note: when using trout lightly pan sear in butter to allow easy flaking).Add the garlic, fennel, chives, lemon juice and onion to the trout. Finish with the cream cheese, cream and horseradish amount. Take mixture and divide it into four amounts. Place the smoked salmon trout on a large piece of plastic. Pipe or spoon this mixture down the centre-lengthways- of your smoked salmon trout and with the help of the plastic, roll the smoked salmon trout over and around the trout spread. Tie the one side and continue rolling on the surface and then secure tightly to form a long, thin, duo of trout cylinder. Place in the fridge until you need to plate.

WWF-SASSI is all about making sustainable seafood choices where it counts – whether it’s while you’re on your weekly grocery shopping trip or in the restaurant before ordering your favourite seafood dish. The initiative’s seafood sustainability list makes choosing sustainable seafood really simple by categorising your favourite seafood according to a robot colour coding system; Red includes unsustainable species and those that are illegal to buy or sell in South Africa (the message to consumers is that they should not buy these species), Orange includes species that have reasons for concern so think twice before buying these, and Green indicates the best choices from the most sustainable and well managed species available. Making sustainable seafood choices is even easier with the ingenious FishMS, which brings the list to you via an SMS; text the name of the fish to 079-499-8795, and you will get an immediate response to either tuck in, think twice or avoid altogether. Article and photographs supplied by Roxanne Abrahams from WWF-SASSI.

Canderel Green, a sweetening agent using natural sweetener Stevia, has been launched in SA. Canderel Green comes in tablet and stick form and can be used for cooking and baking.