Shrimp peeling and octopus tasting
Catfish, bass, mackerel - fish, seafood and everything that belongs to a good fish meal will be the focus of the fair SlowFisch when it takes place for the first time at the Bremen Exhibition Centre from Friday 7 to Sunday 9 November 2008.
The organisation 'Slow Food' campaigns for the preservation of natural foods, for traditional production methods, and for regional variety. Producers who attach importance to fair, sustainable production and are committed to the 'Slow Food' idea will present their products at the SlowFisch marketplace under the motto "Discover - Enjoy - Protect". The range of products on show will include everything from sea urchins and scallops to herbs, spices, side dishes, preserves, wine and tea.
Visitors can savour the different products in the true sense of the word at special tasting sessions. These will be held under the guidance of experts who will point out to participants the particular features of the different foods and thereby enable them to perceive the distinctions more consciously. TV presenter Bernd Neuner-Duttenhofer, for example, will turn tinned sardines into a real taste experience. "There are tinned sardines - and tinned sardines. In other words, there are huge differences in processing, flavour and quality. It makes a difference whether they are put in the tin with or without the scales, with or without the skin, with or without the backbone: one man's meat (or, in this case, fish) is another man's poison", explains the gourmet. "SlowFisch visitors can look forward to a taste experience with numerous opportunities and variations for comparison, and some amazing findings.
When it comes to the experience of tasting shrimps the participants will be invited to peel the shrimps themselves whilst a shrimp fisherman, Hans-Joachim Reim, tells stories about them. The Galician Fishermen's Cooperative "Mardelira" will guide visitors to its taste experience along the tracks of the Camino de Santiago. It will offer goose barnacles and octopuses for tasting, describe how these species are caught, and inform about their correct preparation. Beyond that, there will be tasting sessions for "Smoked Fish and Beer", "Trout and Wine", Herring in "1001 Varieties", and catfish and caviar. Young people can take part in a sensory training session in which they will not only taste fish but also sharpen their other senses through smelling, touching and seeing. Registration for the taste experiences is possible at http://www.slowfisch-bremen.de/ as from mid-September.
Guests of the Children's Cooking Club will be able to make their own fish fingers from fish fillet. "Children love fish fingers", says Sabine Wedell, the Project Manageress at mgh Messe- und Ausstellungsgesellschaft Hansa GmbH, which is organising SlowFisch in co-operation with Slow Food Deutschland e.V. and Messe Stuttgart. "We want to show them that it's quite easy to make fish fingers themselves. But also that it doesn't always have to be fish fingers and that a normal fillet tastes really good, too." An attractive programme is being organised around SlowFisch with numerous lectures on fish and health, sustainability and species conservation. How does eating fish for lunch stimulate thinking? How many fishes are there in the sea? Which fishes can we enjoy today - and tomorrow? Answers will be given to these and other questions. The "Fish Guide" will offer tips on buying, good storage, and correct preparation of seafood. And new fish species that are available here on the market will be presented under the motto "Variety from the Oceans".
SlowFisch will be held in Halls 4 and 4.1 of the Bremen Exhibition Centre from 7 to 9 November 2008. Regular tickets 7 EUR, for "Slow Food" members 5 EUR. Visitors to SlowFisch are also permitted free entry to the events "ReiseLust" and "CARAVAN" which take place at the same time. For more information and the detailed programme please visit www.slowfisch-bremen.de.