Outlaw’s recipe is made using ingredients you wouldn’t usually find in a classic Friday night fish and chip supper. Cornish sole, oysters, pickled red cabbage, tallow and seaweed feature instead of the classic and much-loved cod and chips.

The dish acts as a reminder that if we don’t act now to reduce plastic pollution and make more sustainable choices, then the things we love, such as our Friday night fish and chips, may become a thing of the past.

This partnership between Outlaw and Estrella Damm is part of the “Lovers” campaign, the second film in its sustainability focused campaign. This new beautifully shot brand film is the continuation of “Soul”, which was launched in the UK at the end of 2020 and portrayed the ecological emergency to which the Mediterranean Sea is exposed.

Watch 'Lovers' by clicking here. 

Michelin-starred chef, known for his seafood expertise, Nathan Outlaw, said: “The future of our oceans is a very real issue, and Estrella Damm’s beautifully emotive short film, “Lovers” will inspire us all to make more sustainable choices. I urge everyone to watch it, so we can protect what we love.”

“Lovers” gives visibility to the work carried out by divers, marine biologists, researchers, NGOs and disseminators who dedicate their lives to reversing this situation and protecting our most precious asset: the Mediterranean Sea, which has been home to Estrella Damm for more than 140 years.

There are five initiatives featured in “Lovers” that protect fauna and flora, alleviate effects of pollution, overfishing or maritime traffic, all of which are very important to Estrella Damm and Nathan Outlaw who is known for his Michelin-starred and sustainable fish restaurants. Everyone featured in the brand film works for one of the initiatives and these are:

The Posidonia Maps Project, an app that shows boats where to anchor helping reduce the decline of Posidonia, an oceanic plant that is an important part of the ecosystem.

Ghost Diving Costa Brava Project, an organisation that carry out several dives a year in which each diver extracts from 150 to 200 kg worth of ghost (lost) fishing nets from the ocean.

Save The Med Foundation, a marine environment project focused on the conservation of marine ecosystems. Their work includes the monitoring and tagging of turtles and dolphins; cleaning plastics and microplastics from the sea; as well as collaboration with fisheries and government entities to implement sustainable fishing.

Tursiops Association, a marine research organisation who are dedicated to the conservation and protection of cetaceans, specifically sperm whales as the disappearance of the sperm whale can generate an imbalance in the marine environment.

Wildlife Sense, a research and conservation project to study and protect Kefalonia's threatened loggerhead sea turtles. Human activity has reduced the life expectancy of the turtle by 50%, so their mission is to protect endangered turtles and their habitat.

In championing these initiatives, and building a partnership with Nathan Outlaw, Estrella Damm aims to encourage UK fish lovers to make more sustainable choices, defending our way of life for future generations so they can continue to enjoy life as we know it.

Anna Ferrer Magrià, UK Marketing Manager for Estrella Damm, explains: “We wanted to give visibility to the initiatives we’re working with to help protect the Mediterranean ocean, which has been part of our DNA since 1876. We’re hoping that this campaign will inspire everyone to make more sustainable choices and encourage people and further brands to do so too.”

Outlaw’s dish, which is a futuristic take on what fish and chips may look like if we don’t look after our environment, includes battered Cornish sole and oysters, red cabbage, tomato & seaweed ‘pickles’, roast garlic ‘chips’ and curry Sauce’ mayonnaise’.

Michelin-starred chef, Outlaw, explains: “Fish and chips is a classic comfort food and one I’d personally like to see on the menus of pubs around the UK for a very long time.

“Whilst this recipe is edible and a take on what the future may hold, without us making changes to our lives we might not have palatable fish to enjoy with a pint at the pub, or in the chippie and that’s a real shame.”

Outlaw has chosen Cornish sole for its sustainability . However, fish in the future could be harder to source, which is why Outlaw has bulked up the dish with farmed oysters, a sustainable and filtering food source.

Alongside these, he has included nutrient-rich cabbage and seaweed, as fish in the future may be less nutritional, and Outlaw has created a contemporary curry mayo to mask the taste of the non-traditional elements, helping provide that British feel to the recipe.

The ‘chips’ are also baked to reduce the amount of oil used, and Outlaw has opted for tallow, which is a form of rendered animal fat, essentially a by-product of meat and therefore more ethical than using cooking oils.

Estrella Damm has a long history of sustainable practices including only using certified green energy and 100% natural, local ingredients to brew its beer. In 2020, Estrella Damm replaced all plastic rings on canned packs with 100% biodegradable and recyclable cardboard, removing 89 million rings, representing 260 tons of plastic from its business by the end of the process.

The brand also works with suppliers to ensure labels and packaging materials are more respectful to the environment and have been awarded the PEFC and FSC certifications, which confirm that the cardboard they use has been sourced from sustainably and responsibly managed forests. As well as this they repurpose organic waste as animal feed and have optimised water resources, resulting in a 34% reduction in water consumption in the last decade.