A Southport fishmonger is promising to guarantee the freshest food you will eat over Christmas this year – because he catches some of it himself!
Kevin Peet, owner of the Peet’s Plaice shop in Churchtown, is particularly famous for the famous brown shrimps which he lands with his shrimper off the Southport coast.
The sweet seafood morsels are particularly prized among top chefs across the country.
Kevin also uses them to produce his much sought-after potted shrimps, which he used to supply to The Queen Mother.
The Irish Sea is a rich larder for fishermen with other seafood available throughout different stages of the year.
They include plaice, after which Peet’s Plaice is named, as well as sole, cod, and much more.
Kevin, who runs his business alongside wife, Nicola, said: “I’m landing lots of shrimp at the moment, and lots of cod as well.
“We are getting very busy now. We are getting a lot of orders coming in for Christmas.
“Our potted shrimps have always been really popular, and you can’t beat eating something over the Christmas period that you know has been caught right here off the coast of Southport. You can keep them in your freezer too. Our fresh brown shrimps are very popular too.
“Lots of customers are buying food from us to make some really impressive starters. Lots of families aren’t going out to eat this year so they’re going all out to try and make an impression at home. People have been calling into our Peet’s Plaice shop for advice, or calling us or messaging us through Facebook.
“That’s the great thing being a small, family-run business, we are always happy to help with any advice and we’ve got 40 years of fishing experience behind us too so we really know what we’re talking about.”
So what are the ‘must-have’ dishes that we’ll be seeing on local families’ Christmas dinner tables this year?
Kevin said: “We have some great choices for a really impressive starter.
“This year we have dressed crab, potted shrimps, fresh shrimps, scallops and our very special lobster and smoked salmon pate.
“Everyone loves smoked salmon at Christmas and we have packs in different sizes from the Severn and Wye smokery and, especially for Christmas, our tasty gravlax.
“Luxury prawns are always popular and we have bags of Arctic Royal coldwater prawns or king prawns which are quick and easy to make into a prawn salad or a prawn cocktail while you’re busy cooking your main course. We even produce a nice home-made prawn cocktail sauce that you can use with them!
“For those looking for that taste of luxury, you could make a salad or a cocktail using fresh crayfish tails instead.”
Earlier this year, when the Covid-19 pandemic struck the UK, Kevin moved quickly to launch his brand new Peets Plaice website as well as a home delivery service. Using his specially refrigerated van to guarantee freshness, his service, which is free for orders above £30, has proved to be a Godsend for many of his customers.
Perfect for this time of year are his freezer packs and Chapman’s freezer packs, which contain a variety of quality frozen fish fillets and other seafood products. Bags of Arctic Royal prawns are also handy to store in the freezer and take out and defrost as and when you need them.
For main courses, not everyone is going for turkey this year, wirth some people looking for something a little different.
Kevin said: “Our whole sides of salmon and our platters are extremely popular at Christmas and Boxing Day. They really have that wow factor, and are so tasty. We do lobster and seafood platters and salmon fillet platters too.
“People looking for something really special are also choosing our lobster.
“Our salmon, cod and smoked haddock wellingtons, our home made fish pies and our home made fishcakes are great to have in the freezer too for when you’re preparing meals during the Christmas holidays.
“Now we have our website and our home delivery service, ordering with us couldn’t be easier, while we’re also enjoying seeing customers in our shop at this time of year too.”
- For more details about Peet’s Plaice please visit: peetsplaice.co.uk or call Peet’s Plaice on: 01704 809340.
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