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By Neil RiddellMarch 24th 2023

Mary Andreas grew up in the south mainland of Shetland before moving away and working in the oil industry in London for over quarter of a century.

She returned to the islands in 2006 and is now finance officer for Shetland Food and Drink. She also runs the 4* Hayhoull B&B in her native Bigton, where guests get to sample her marvellous home cooking first hand.

Mary is also chairwoman of the local Bigton Hall committee and a well-known figure in a resourceful, tight-knit community full of creative and highly imaginative folk.

She has kindly shared her recipe for a simple Shetland fish soup, which puts the islands’ wealth of locally-landed, pristine fresh seafood to fantastic use.

Mary says fish is “such a delight to cook” and she could “quite happily live on it”. She’s certainly living in the right place: in 2020 Shetland landed more finfish than the whole of England and Wales combined.

“In my opinion fish is the best ‘fast food’ in the world, and in Shetland we have the highest quality fish and shellfish in abundance right on our doorstep,” Mary says.

“There’s so many dishes to create, with such a variety of seafood to choose from – I’m always learning!”

She adjusts the recipe depending on what is available on any given day at one of Shetland’s two fishmongers, Blydoit and Island Fish.

Although it has over 20 ingredients, this is a really simple dish to cook. Its subtle combination of herbs and spices really bring out the best of the seafood’s dazzling flavours.

Promote Shetland’s team were fortunate enough to sample the end result for lunch – and can confirm it is absolutely delicious!

Mary's simple Shetland fish stew

Course: main
Servings: 4-6
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp Shetland butter
  • 1 carrot finely diced
  • 1 stick celery finely diced
  • 1 small onion finely chopped
  • 1 leek finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic chopped
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 can chopped tomatoes
  • 1 small red pepper finely diced
  • Small piece of root ginger finely chopped
  • Small piece of red chilli finely chopped
  • 1 tsp dried tarragon
  • Handful of chopped fresh parsley or dill
  • 1 glass dry white wine
  • 1.5 pints good fish stock
  • Splash of fish sauce
  • 500 grams mixed fish (I used a mix of ling, catfish, hake, salmon and smoked haddock)
  • Handful of fresh mussels
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • Salt / pepper to taste

Instructions:

  1. Heat the oil and butter
  2. Add the carrot, celery, onion, leek, garlic and fennel seeds. Cook slowly until vegetables have softened.
  3. Add the remaining base ingredients and cook for around 10 - 15 minutes.
  4. Season well.
  5. Gently add the fish to the sauce along with the lemon juice.
  6. Cover and cook gently for a further 10 minutes, adding the mussels for a few minutes at the end.
  7. Once the mussels have opened, check the seasoning again before ladling into warmed bowls.
  8. Garnish with fresh dill and serve with warm Shetland bannocks and Shetland butter

This is a great recipe to use cheaper varieties of fish. You could reduce the amount of fish you use by substituting it with e.g. diced potatoes and/or chickpeas. You could also add garden peas, topping up with more fish stock as required.

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