George Campbell & Son's Tasting Tour

When I was a wee girl my favourite tea was fish and chips. But it had to be my Grandad’s fish and chips; fat, white slices of haddock, patted down on a plate of flour, wheeched through a bowl of beaten egg and smothered in bright orange, ruskoline breadcrumbs. The chips were hand cut from garden tatties, rinsed under the cold tap in the deep butler’s sink and dried off in a clean tea towel.

Served with pickled onions, sliced beetroot and at the right time of year, lettuce and tomato form the garden, this was our Saturday night ritual and a memory that makes me smile all these years later.

Later, he and I became huge fans of Rick Stein (we even met him once!) and my old eighty- something Grandad began to wrap cod fillets in parma ham, and roast monkfish tails with rosemary in his old gas cooker. He loved to experiment and although meat and two veg was a long-time staple (my cousin Graham will tell this exact tale with pork belly as the star) he embraced new ideas and would turn his hand to a few different experiments.I think it was this great beginning that gave me my love of fish and all things seafood. I have never eaten anything that lived in the sea that I didn’t like! So when Rhona called up and suggested we have a team day out (seriously, we do work!) at George Campbell & Sons at Whitefriars Street in Perth, I jumped at the chance. This fourth generation fishmongers moved its headquarters from Edinburgh to Perth 13 years ago and under the watchful eye of Iain Campbell, the great- grandson of the company’s founder, and name sake, George, it has grown into one of our Small City’s favourite foodie outlets.

Their new culinary tours promise a behind the scenes tour of the business, plenty of stories and chat and a seafood extravaganza of a lunch at the end. Whitefriars is rapidly turning into a little slice of foodie heaven, with Casella & Polegato, the Italian bread people situated right next door to George Campells. If fish is my favourite then freshly baked bread is my downfall – I have no off switch for this level of deliciousness. Purchases of rye bread and lemon buns made, Rhona, Holly and I headed in to start the tour.

Gordon was our tour guide for the day, a man who has been with the business for some 20 odd years. We were also joined by Rachael, Iain’s wife, who chatted about the changes that have been made to the shop and deli over the past year. It was blue shoes, hairnets and white coats as we swung open the door of the fishmongers and prepared to learn our Scottish Seafood heritage.

George Campbell's are proud of their heritage and as we flick through the scrap books of years gone by, we hear about their provenance and commitment to supporting the Scottish fishing industry.

Fresh, sustainably sourced fish and seafood is landed at the ports in Peterhead, Scrabster and the Shetland Isles and brought overnight to their home in Perth. Regulars at Perth Farmers Market will also be glad to know that Judith’s Caledonian Oysters can be bought month round.

So let’s get the smell discussion out of the way… There isn’t really one! I was fully expecting to be greeted with that stench that comes from piles of fish but the overwhelming aroma is that of the seaside. It’s fresh and outdoorsy and makes you want to pull out a frying pan and cook up a wee treat. Gordon explains that fresh fish should never smell bad; if you’re getting a stench then you’re not eating that fillet at its best!

After a peek into the smoking ovens (no yellow dye here folks!) we headed through to meet the team: Mitch, Gus and Tommy were skinning and filleting fish faster than I can peel a wee orange. In fact, Mitch is affectionately known as the Pinbone Wizard and while I was swallowing down fat, plump oysters from Gus reminiscing about my first time (Fishers in Edinburgh, I ordered six in an attempt to impress my new chef boyfriend at the time… Thankfully I loved them), Rhona was picking up new skills in the salmon boning department.The fishmongers work through the night and the early hours, filleting and portioning, preparing and smoking the fish and shellfish that arrive daily. This is all stored or packed into their own fleet of refrigerated vans, as they deliver to hotels, restaurants and caterers throughout Scotland. It is an impressive business and as Gordon guides us through huge walk in chills full of strange looking fish and vac-packed deli items you get a far greater feel for just what goes on behind the wee fish shop.

We come back out into the shop and Andy is waiting for us in their new, purpose built kitchen. The smell is divine and we’re greeted with fresh bread from next door and piping hot bowls of Cullen Skink. I ask Andy if he has always been a chef or if he was a fishmonger first only to be told he started in sheet metal and came to George Campbell's 15 years ago to cover for a pal who was sick! His soup is amazing, thick and tasty with plenty of flavour. It’s followed up by homemade fish pie which has fat prawns and chunks of salmon underneath the creamy mash topping.

The idea for the tour came from Rachael, who was a Montessori teacher before joining the family business. She was fascinated by the tales of the life-long colleagues and stories of the generations gone by and felt sure that others would be equally fascinated by their story. Throw in lunch and you have yourself a wonderful culinary experience which can be extended to include a professional chef demo and full meal.

We followed up our soup and pie with tasters of the smoked salmon, roast gravadlax (honestly some of the best I’ve tasted) and homemade pate. The entire experience was relaxed, informal and great fun and we spent a fabulous couple of hours in the company of these incredibly passionate and proud people.

We had a wee wander round the shop before we left and I was amazed at how much it has changed; I tend to send RG with a list so I hadn’t realised that there was now deli items such as Summer Harvest dressings and oils, freshly cooked meals such as the amazing fish pie and Coquilles St Jacques, fresh samphire and lemons and much, much more. There are also aprons and mussel pots and various other gift-y type items for the foodie in your life. In fact, Rhona was so impressed when I was at hers for dinner on Sunday she had cooked up a fishy storm – langoustine and scallops with chorizo followed by monkfish in Thai spices with sea spinach and samphire. Get Her - Watch out Gill!

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We had a fantastic Tasting Tour Experience with the team at George Campbell & Sons and would recommend this to anyone who loves a culinary experience. You can also buy gift vouchers (cut to us thinking who we could purchase for that would invite us back) for both this and the Chef’s Package.

More Information can be found on their Directory Listing >>>