VISITORS to Scottish ports love to sample freshly-landed seafood and landing a top quality, sustainable product is a high priority for the country’s fishermen.

Some 396,000 tonnes of Scottish seafood was landed in 2008, worth more than £412 million, served up as wide range of delicious products, from classic haddock and chips, to moules marinieres, lobster, langoustine, crab and scallops.

Whilst most visitors opt for a quayside restaurant, with perhaps a splendid view of distant islands and hills, chef Laurie Mill has come up with a more adventurous way for people to sample seafood delights.  Laurie is offering two to three day ‘gastronomic cruises’ from Oban and Largs, onboard the 42ft sailing yacht Lizzie May, built in 1999 to the classic lines of a 19th Century Isles of Scilly pilot cutter. The cruises will be ‘hands on’, with guests expected to help hoist the sails, and to work up an appetite!

“The west coast of Scotland in particular offers a wonderful diversity of seafood, which I will be serving onboard,” he explains. “The idea is to rendezvous with trawlers and creel boats returning with their catch, and to visit mussel and oyster producers in the local lochs. This will allow our guests to see at first hand where their dinner comes from, and to gain an appreciation of the way the fishing industry works to provide sustainable supplies.” 

To help make the cruises a gastronomic success, Laurie asked Seafood Scotland to help him identify local fishermen and shellfish producers. “There is nothing so succulent as fresh seafood, which tastes quite different straight from the sea,” says Laurie.

This restaurateur, turned skipper, is also a bit of a showman, and enjoys demonstrating dishes made with seafood and organic produce at farmers markets, so meal times promise to be entertaining.

“The cruises will be fun and educational, and guests are more than welcome to try their hand at preparing the day’s catch for dinner.  Who knows, as well as learning the art of sailing, they may pick up new scallop and oyster shucking prowess, or become a dab hand at preparing a crab or lobster and filleting a fish,” he laughs.

Lonely Planet Magazine features the Lizzie May in its latest issue as one of the 10 best weekend courses for 2010 - high praise indeed!