Scottish entrepreneur sells sea water to top London restaurants

12 April 2012

It is one water source that will never run dry. A Scottish entrepreneur has started selling his country's most abundant natural resource - the sea - at more than £1.50 a litre, more than the price of petrol.

Atlantic sea water - artfully rebranded "Acquamara" - is already being supplied to a top West End restaurant and there are hopes that it will start appearing in London delis soon.

The product is the brainchild of former civil servant Andy Inglis, who extracts it from the crystal clear waters around the Hebridean island of Berneray.

It is then filtered to drinking water standard before being sent south - in wine boxes rather than bottles - on lorries to London.

Mr Inglis claims that cooking food, particularly seafood, in Acquamara enhances flavours, adds natural minerals such as magnesium and potassium and reduces the need to sprinkle salt.

Its properties has so impressed the chefs at J Sheekey, one of London's top fish restaurants, that it has signed an exclusive deal to use Acquamara in its kitchens until the end of July.

Mr Inglis is also in talks with specialist up market food store chain Ottolenghi, which has branches in Islington, Belvaria, Kensington, and Notting Hill, and Hampstead deli Melrose & Morgan, about stocking it for "enthusiastic home chefs." He is also trying to get Waitrose interested.

For everyday household use it is priced at £9.90 for six litres up to £27.90 for restaurant sized 20 litre boxes.

J Sheekey Head chef Richard Kirkwood said diners had been delighted by the "straight from the sea" taste of the three dishes that are prepared using Acquamara.

They are "Ocean cured Organic Trout", which is soaked in Acquamara brine for 24 hours before serving; "Mixed Shellfish and Samphire Salad" and "Steamed Mussels with Hebridean Sea Water." The salad and mussels were previously cooked in white wine.

Mr Kirkwood said: "We find that it brings out the clear fresh flavours of the shellfish. We were worried it would ove rsalt the food but it doesn't. We've had a really positive reaction so far."

But not everyone thinks it is a great idea. Katharine Jenner, campaign manager and nutritionist at the anti-salt lobby group CASH said: "The idea of using Atlantic seawater as a cooking ingredient seems absurd. Why would anybody choose to eat something that is as salty as the sea?

"Salt puts up our blood pressure leading to heart attacks, strokes and heart failures; killing thousands of people in the UK every year. To use a product like Acquamara is very irresponsible considering the health problems associated with eating too much salt."

Mr Inglis said he got the idea for Acquamara when he was helping his daughter complete her school project on the history of Scottish cooking.

She found an ancient recipe for a meat dish called Stovies, which said that the potatoes should be cooked in sea water.

He said: "I thought I would give it a go and I was amazed. Then I started cooking for my friends and they were amazed. My daughter started eating vegetables without pouring soya sauce all over it for the first time.

"The salt seems to go right through and brings out all the other flavours without having to spend lots of money on other ingredients and condiments. I was in Sheekey's when a micro-nutrient expert was eating some razor clams and he suddenly shouted 'I can taste magnesium for the first time.'"

REVIEW

Even at a fish restaurant of the quality of Sheekey it's very hard in London to replicate that "from sea to pot" vivacity of taste that you get on the coast. But there is no doubt that cooking mussels in seawater rather than wine gave them a marine authenticity that brings the flavours to the fore. But it really is salty, particularly the creamy brine in the bottom of the pot. If you like your food well seasoned you will love it. If you are a saltophobe you may find that a little Acquamara goes a very long way, particularly combined with the already hugely salty capers on the organic trout.

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