Leaping from 2012 with the finest fishy tales & Protected Geographic status (almost)

Guinness World Record breaker Darren Matson

And on that bombshell ...

While I was negotiating press passes with Sir Seb Coe prior to London 2012, Lance Forman was also on his case but fighting for a 100-year-old family business H. Forman & Son, the last London salmon smokery, which was bang in the middle of the proposed Olympic Park.

We both made a complete nuisance of ourselves.

Fast forward to September 2015 (can it really be three years since the Olympics?) and I can look back on London 2012 with great pride for all sorts of reasons - a memorable games and on a personal level the press passes came our way, plus a career highlight to work on the production of national Olympics and Paralympics' pages (despite being on graveyard shifts).
 
For Lance Forman his journey continues with a new building on the appropriately named  Fish Island, straight across the canal from the Olympic stadium where five Rugby World Cup games will be held.

The Forman's building is salmon pink on the outside and shaped like a darne of salmon (the middle cut). It is an uber-trendy restaurant/smokery/factory in the middle of a still edgy part of the East End where you can  nip out for Life Drawing sessions at one of the many arty studios in the area.

But enter Forman's and the graffiti you would expect on the street is in the entrance and the cloakrooms; pop art hangs in the Smokehouse events gallery and quotes from the late Muhammad Ali are etched on the walls. 

Forman and Ali - now there's a familiar ring...

Back-of-house, the tradition of producing oak-smoked salmon goes on. It's now 105 years since Lance's great-grandfather Harry came to the East End from Russia. He arrived knowing how to cure fish from the Baltic and quickly learned how to compliment the taste of Scottish salmon. 

The speciality is the still the talk of the town - and the rock salt/oak smoke recipe for London Cured Smoked Scottish Salmon is just about to receive Protected Geographic status (PGI) to put it on the same divine footing as Champagne and Parma ham.
DEFRA has confirmed PGI has been approved by the British Government so Lance is just waiting on EC rubber stamping for Forman's to become the first London business to receive such an honour.

Talking of tradition it was incredible to watch 'veteran' Darren Matson prepare a salmon in record-breaking time. He holds the Guinness Book of Records' title for the fastest time to pin bone and slice a side of smoked salmon  - 1 min 34 secs. The former YTS trainee, from Essex, has stayed with the company all of his working life and I got so distracted talking to him that I managed to miss out on the smokehouse tour. 

I did learn though that there is a Olympic (!) range of cures that are far removed from the mass-produced supermarket offerings - so I'm now quite the expert.
Drum roll: Gravadlax – Dill, Star-anise, orange  (Swedish); Wasabi & Ginger (Japanese); Beetroot (Russian); Lemongrass & Ginger (Thai); Cumin & Apple (Mexican); Cinnamon & Orange (New York); Coriander & Mint  (Moroccan); Horseradish & Dill (Polish); Bourbon Vanilla (Hawaiian); Orange, Lemon & Parsley (Spanish); Tea cure (Chinese); Mustard & Curry (Indian) plus some straight from the drinks cabinet - Vodka, Chilli & Lime; Whisky & Orange and Tequila & Parsley.

I even tucked into a Boris Bagel. Boris, incidentally, calls Forman's a salmon theme park. He has a point, especially when we were also privileged to watch and listen to the talented violinist Sally Potterton who played in a bubble - see left! Quite a showcase and if you look carefully at the picture you can just see the Olympic Stadium.

Forman's is not the easiest building to find or reach in rush hour traffic but at weekends it is a 5-minute cab ride from Stratford International or a 12-minute walk through the Olympic Park. The restaurant is open from Friday to Sunday for brunch, lunch or dinner. English wines are served including Biddenden Vineyard's prize-winning Ortega from Kent.

I had been to Forman's once before - for the brilliant P&O Britannia cruise ship Food Heroes event when the fabulous Jackie Graham was belting out the hits and Marco Pierre White,  Eric Lanlard, Atol Kochhar and James Martin were serving signature dishes. This was an evening bash and in the darkness, before dashing off to Stratford Royal Theatre to review Oh! What a Lovely War, I was pretty much unaware of the Olympic site just opposite.

In the daylight I had a good look over the East End from the roof terrace and restaurant (thanks to Holly and Ken for the tour) before walking back through the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to consider that the next Olympics is months away.

Rio 2016 will be some party but I will settle for celebrating the Olympics in a quieter way this time round - with London Cured Smoked Scottish Salmon and raising a glass to being a nuisance.

And today, it's a glass of bubbly to mark the Queen's record-breaking reign because whatever your thoughts on the monarchy she has honoured her pledge to commit her life to her duties.

I wonder if she will be eating London Cured Scottish Smoked Salmon when she gets back to Balmoral?
 
H. Forman & Son 
Stour Road, Fish Island, London E3 2NT
Telephone: 0208 5252 399
Facsimile: 0208 5252 398
www.formans.co.uk

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