We have a delicious recipe for peppered tuna

Cooking with seafood was in the blood for chef Didier Dejean when he owned the Silver Darling in Aberdeen.

Originally from Millau in southern France, Didier started to cook when he was 12, helping his mother. Her traditional approach had an influence.

Didier said: ‘I think probably more now, because people like simple food, not too complicated. I think things are coming back to simple, fresh ingredients, and not too many ingredients.’

After catering school and a stint in a local restaurant, Didier worked in Paris before following a colleague to Aberdeen.

‘The first time I came to Aberdeen was 1978. I must have been 19. I stayed a few months, then went back to France and did my national service in the Navy. I came back to Aberdeen in 1984 and I have been here since.

‘The fish market was pretty busy. I thought there was an opportunity to open a seafood restaurant. Then you couldn’t get mussels – people didn’t like them, or oysters or monkfish. I remember the fishermen used to throw the monkfish back in the sea.’

This recipe originally featured in our May 2016 edition. Since then, Didier has sold the Silver Darling.