It’s just been added to the menu at Nottinghamshire chip shop chain, the Cod’s Scallops
King Tilapia and chips at the Cod’s Scallops in Carrington (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)
It might sound like a rapper’s name, but King Tilapia is a new fish. It’s just been added to the menu at Nottinghamshire chip shop chain, the Cod’s Scallops.
I’m one of the first to try it at the chippy in Mansfield Road, Carrington. It has an exotic and royal ring to it, although it doesn’t roll off the tongue as easily as “cod, chips and mushy peas”.
While it’s cheaper for customers, it’s certainly not an inferior product. I’d bet that 99/100 fish and chip fans wouldn’t be able to tell the difference in taste.
Before my full verdict, here’s the reason why it could be the fish of the future. It’s responsibly-farmed fish and more sustainable than wild-caught cod, which has suffered from decades of overfishing.
King Tilapia has been introduced to the UK by a company called Regal Springs, with just a handful of the country’s top chippies being the first to trial it.
The premium fish, twice as large and whiter than standard tilapia, is being served at the Cod’s Scallops in Wollaton, Wilford and Carrington.
Owner John Molnar said: “Tilapia has been around for years. There was a bloodline in the fish that used to make it look discoloured.
“King Tilapia is almost like a new breed. It’s farmed responsibly in deep crystal waters in Indonesia and Mexico. It’s a really thick piece of white flaky fish. Before, tilapia could be quite long and thin.
“Stocks of cod and haddock are down, with quotas down on cod 20 per cent. Rightly so, because they want the fish to grow.
“There’s plenty of fish in the sea, but they’re just not big enough, so the Norwegian Seafood Council and communities that catch the fish said let’s lower the quota but, of course, that has pushed the price up of whatever’s left and then in turn that has pushed up the haddock price.
“I tried it and I was blown away. I think it’s as good, if not better, than cod and haddock. It’s a delicate white flesh. It’s meaty. It cooks up beautifully and there’s plenty of stock. It’s sustainable and it’s cheaper than cod and haddock.
“Taste-wise, it’s incredible. We’re not about trying to find a cheaper, thick frozen fish. The Cod’s Scallops is about quality and always has been and whatever we sell is going to be the same quality that we’d always sold.
“People are scared of change, so we have priced it three pounds cheaper.”
King Tilapia and chips is £11.90 takeaway and £12.90 in the restaurant, while take-out cod or haddock and chips is £13.40 or £15.90 to eat in.
The hardest battle is going to be convincing hardcore cod and haddock eaters to switch. But John believes once they’d tried it, they’ll be won over.
To persuade customers to give it a try, the restaurants will be running a buy one, get one free offer for a week in October, from Tuesday to Thursday, making it just £6.50 a portion.
“I didn’t just want to have it as a cheap alternative that if cod and haddock prices come back down, everyone will forget about. It’s that good it can sit along cod and haddock for years to come,” he said.
I tried both King Tilapia and cod, side by side. The cod was an ounce or two bigger and the teeniest bit sweeter, but to be brutally honest, there’s very little in it.
Had I been presented with the newcomer not knowing, I’d have said it was cod with the same moist and meaty flakes.
If anything, King Tilapia was thicker and pure white under the crisp batter, so it’s certainly not the poor relation. I have nothing bad to say.
Changing the habit of a lifetime could be a challenge, but I think the price difference may sway fish lovers to give it a try, and who knows? It could become as mainstream one day as cod.
