On 10 and 11 October, GastroHub hosted the long-awaited Ukrainian fish forum for chefs and cooks under the name “It’s All About Fish”. It was organized by the educational centre “Fontegro”.

For two days, 10 speakers had been training about 80 cooks to cook and be clued up about fish and seafood professionally.

Vladimir Yaroslavsky (co-founder and chief chef at Lucky Restaurant Vinoteque) spoke about the features of working with wild fish – walleye pollock and pink salmon. On the example of 4 dishes, he showed that it is quite possible to make popular dishes from such unpopular fishes.

Sergey Zelenokhat (chef at Big Mama and One Dollar Bar) spoke about the “pre-salting” method, thanks to which the taste and texture of fish can be significantly improved. He also delved into the technique of working with salt, speaking about salt pastrami, how to make the right choice, and what is “brining” of mackerel.

Yurii Priemsky (chef at Spicy noSpicy and Odessa) showed the tricks of working with raw fish: poke, crudo, ceviche, sashimi, and carpaccio.

Alexandr Sabirov (Ph.D. in Food Technology) presented the theoretical part. Together with the Alexandr, participants thoroughly understood the fish structure and found out how to get the maximum professional benefit from this product.

Yurii Didenko (chef at Park Hotel 4*) demonstrated various modernist techniques for cooking fish and shared invaluable experience about his internships abroad.

Denis Komarenko focused on lobsters. He spoke about where to buy the best lobsters and what dishes can surprise guests while keeping an affordable price.

Anatoly Primenko (CEO at Profitex) spoke about the basic principles of shock freezing and the correct defrosting of fish.

Igor Kramarenko (chef at Citronelle) shared unique recipes of Asian fish sauces that will help diversify any dish.

Dmitry Krivoshap (chef at Ikigai) surprised participants with modern Japanese techniques to enhance the taste of dishes made from dehydrated fish.

Vlad Tanislavsky (brand chef at the restaurant chain “Syto-Pyano”) showed how to work with cod without waste. He also taught the techniques of smoking halibut in the restaurant.

Vlad Tanislavsky (brand chef at the restaurant chain “Syto-Pyano”) showed how to work with cod without waste. He also taught the techniques of smoking halibut in the restaurant.

Chefs demonstrated their knowledge, using the example of their own signature dishes. As a result, during these two days, participants were filled with useful information and tasted more than 16 unique variations of cooking various fish and seafood! It was delicious, and now we are all looking forward to the next forum!