Majority of regional chefs are now hammour-free

Caterer Middle East asked head chefs around the region through the Head Chef Survey 2014 whether they serve hammour in their restaurant or not.

The results show that a majority do not offer the fish, with 72.3% saying it is not sold in their restaurants.

One chef said: “I have never used it, will never use it and refuse to eat it when out dining”, while another added: “We banned this fish four years ago from our menus due to the over fishing situation.”

We then asked the chefs, that if they had the fish on their menu, did they plan to remove it, or were they even aware of the issues surrounding using hammour?

While some of the responses were heartening (“Yes we will discuss with top management” and “We will remove it from the menu from October 2014”), others shed light on the seriousness of the situation. Some simply replied: “No”, while a couple said they were not aware of the concerns surrounding selling hammour. One chef said: “Yes I’m aware [of the problem]; I still continue to sell them because locally it’s a very good fish and its sells... even if the price is high.”

Another sounded resigned as s/he said: “Easy to say yes but … owners and locals simply do not accept it missing from the menu.” Quite a few agreed with the sentiment that the demand for hammour is high, and decided it was not worth it to take it off the restaurant offering.

Read the Caterer Middle East Head Chef Survey 2014 in full.