Cook and MasterChef Australia finalist Courtney Roulston has loved seafood since childhood, when school holidays meant fishing with her family on the Shoalhaven River.
We caught up with Courtney to talk about her connection to the ocean, her career since MasterChef and why sustainable seafood is important to her.
Tell us about growing up by the ocean and fishing with your family.
I grew up the youngest of six kids, so I've got four brothers and a sister, and all of my school holidays were spent down on the Shoalhaven River in the tinny with my dad and brothers, fishing, putting crab pots in and staying up really late catching prawns. I loved it.
I love catching seafood, I love eating seafood, and I've had a real connection to the ocean from a really young age.
Why do you love seafood, and how do you like to cook it?
I think growing up catching our own seafood, I didn't know it at the time, but there's something really special about seafood.
We often associate it with special occasions. It's healthy, it's delicious and Australia is surrounded by waters full of beautiful seafood.
I just love it. I love the taste of it, it's quick to cook, it's healthy for you and it feels special when you're eating it.
Why did you decide to go on MasterChef, and where has that journey taken you?
In 2010, I entered MasterChef Australia. I was working in a bar for 11 years before that.
My mum sent me to private school, and I felt quite guilty that I hadn't really done anything with my life.
Cooking from a very young age has always been my passion. It's been my way of communicating. I wasn't as good at talking as I am now when I was young.
So I went on MasterChef, not thinking I'd get on the show and certainly not thinking I'd end up a finalist. It's just opened so many doors for me.
I've worked in test kitchens with Donna Hay. I've worked for Merivale Events. I do a lot of work with the MSC. I'm an ambassador with Coles.
I've worked in restaurants all through Australia. I spent 11 years in the kitchens for the Sydney Swans, being their head chef and working with a nutritionist.
I've had such great experiences since going on MasterChef. I'm so lucky that my passion for cooking is now my everyday world.
Why is sustainable seafood important to you?
Sustainable seafood is really important to me because I was so lucky growing up. We would just go out the front of our holiday house with a dolphin torch and a little fishing net, catch a kilo of prawns, stay up late and eat them with Dad.
The thing is, if we don't look after the oceans and our seafood, future generations won't have those beautiful experiences that I had.
We want to make sure that we're fishing correctly, supporting the oceans and making sure that kids in the future can go and have those experiences with their family as well.
What message do you have for people about how they can choose sustainable seafood?
Choosing sustainable seafood is really easy. The MSC, the Marine Stewardship Council, has made it super easy.
There's a little blue fish tick on loads of seafood products, whether it's in the supermarket, in the fresh or frozen aisle, or even in the tinned fish aisle now.
So, all you need to do is look out for that little MSC blue fish tick and you'll know that you're supporting sustainable seafood.
A lot of people think sustainable seafood is expensive. What do you say to that?
I think the misconception is that sustainable seafood is going to cost an arm and a leg, and there is such a broad range now.
You've got tinned fish in the supermarket for just a couple of dollars, right up to high-end things like Glacier 51 toothfish.
So sustainable seafood is something for everybody.
Australians want to do the right thing for the ocean, but choosing sustainable seafood can be confusing. What's your message for them?
I think all of us want to do better for the planet and, of course, for the oceans.
A little bit done by everybody can make a big difference.
It's as simple as choosing sustainable seafood, which a lot of people think can be confusing. The MSC has made it super easy.
There's a little blue fish tick on your tinned products, in the frozen aisle and in the fresh aisles in supermarkets as well.
All you need to do is look for the MSC blue fish tick and you'll know that you're purchasing sustainable seafood. You'll also know that you're supporting fisheries that are doing the right things by the ocean.
