On Monday morning, February 19, a group of very keen individuals arrived at Webbe’s to learn the art of cooking scallops in many different ways. Two brothers, Mark and Keith, were part of the group and had been on many of Paul’s day workshops.
At the end of a very rewarding day cooking and eating Mark wrote: “What better way to mark Rye Bay Scallop Week than by spending a day preparing these delicious molluscs under the expert tutelage of Paul Webbe at the cookery school in his Rye restaurant Webbe’s at the Fish Café?
“Paul runs around 30 cookery classes a year, as well as other individual private and corporate events, but during scallop week he concentrates exclusively on the precious bivalves, which he describes as ‘succulent white jewels’. Like-minded foodies gather after breakfast in the cookery school on the upper floor of the restaurant and, with the benefit of Paul’s patient instruction, spend the morning prepping the dishes, which they will then enjoy for lunch at a communal table, exchanging happy culinary experiences together with glasses of an excellent white wine.
“This year the students learned to prepare their Rye Bay scallops in no fewer than six different ways, starting as an accompaniment to cauliflower soup with lime and Indian spices, through scallop ceviche with blood orange and avocado purée, to a main dish of pork belly with scallops in a Szechuan pepper sauce. Come tea time, after a stunning dessert of lemon bavarois with a rhubarb and blood orange compôte and a crispy basil-infused meringue, everyone rolled contentedly home carrying copies of all of the recipes helpfully detailed in a Webbe’s cookery folder, strongly resolved to do it all again next year.”
As the tutees began the first instalment of the seven-course lunch after a morning of preparations, Paul explained that the ethos that he shares with his wife and his staff is to serve excellent fresh food and to give it the care and attention to detail that it deserves. The style of food is unique to Webbe’s although he and his wife also own the Wild Mushroom in Westfield and Webbe’s Rock-a-Nore.
“Nineteen years ago,” Paul added, “we decided that Rye needed a fish restaurant, and we have gone from strength to strength. When we opened our first restaurant our aim was to have a venue that we would like to go and eat at. Good quality food prepared to a high standard with good service was our goal. I tell our chefs that they are only as good as their last meal. If a customer has come twenty times before and the last time they visited it wasn’t a great experience, that is what they are going to remember.
“Scallop week is special for us and for the town. We have many people who return year after year and the hotels are also full. The week is busy for us all and there is a wonderful buzz of people enjoying themselves.
“Our menus reflect the seasonal availability of food, so scallops are available from December to April and that’s when they are on our menu. I am passionate about the food we create. I love building up the flavours and showing people what we can achieve with similar ingredients – but each one has a different twist.”
Image Credits: Kt bruce , Mark Struder .