Slowly and a surely long-neglected coley is back on the list of some of Britain’s top chefs and the UK’s most valued grocery chain. Coley’s decades-long image problem makes it one of the safest options for over-fished species such as Atlantic cod or halibut. Tom Aikens, a Michelin-starred chef, has decided to include coley on the menu at his new London fish restaurant, Tom’s Place. He states that the coley is very similar to cod in taste and texture. According to him having coley on menu could take pressure off existing cod stocks. Seafish, the fishing industry body in the UK, confirmed that the sale of coley has gone down by 11 percent last year and it is continuing a regular falls every year. But the recent crave for coley could put it back on picture. According to Seafish, coley is a part of cod family and is known by different names regionally such as greylord, gilpin , codfish and saithe. The cooks in Britain are praising coley for its taste and availability. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is another cook who thinks that the slump in coley’s sale was mainly because it slipped form people’s consciousness over time. He describes coley meal as the best fish supper ever in The River Cottage Fish Book. Quentin Clark, a senior fish buyer at Waitrose, said that the fresh coley, not the frozen ones, is very different in taste and is more sustainable. The price of Waitrose coley is 40 percent cheaper than cod. The wholesale price of cod fish has gone high by almost two-thirds and is expected to rise further 12 percent. Phil MacMullen, Seafish’s head of environment, added, “The return of coley will not only take off the pressure from other fishes but also encourage the consumers having the cheap and tasty seafood.”
