Jean-Marc Daubert is a fisherman in the port of Courseulles-sur-Mer.
Let’s meet him as he lands the scallops on the stalls of the seaside resort’s fish market.
It’s 12 noon and Jean-Marc Daubert, in his early forties, is on the quayside in the port of Courseulles-sur-Mer, waiting for his boat, Esperance, to arrive.
Ah, the sound of an engine! The sound of a horn startles me. Here she comes, this 12-metre trawler !
The crew announce that the boat is entering the fishing port not far from the Courseulles-sur-Mer fish market.
Jean-Marc beckons me to join him and I take up a position along the port so that I can watch the spectacle of the landing.
After helping the crew manoeuvre in the harbour, Jean-Marc goes up on deck to meet up with his colleagues who had left for sea a few days earlier.
This October, the shellfish season has just begun.
Then it’s a well-oiled machine. I say ‘we’ because I can see that the curious are streaming in behind me.
The crates filled with scallops are lowered onto the quay by a remote-controlled arm.
Two employees grab them and stack them. After all, they weigh 45kg each !
They are then transported on a forklift to the fish market and to the Daubert fishmonger’s a few metres away.
First come, first served !
From producer to consumer, that’s what locals and tourists are looking for these days.
That’s when another scene appears before our very eyes : the opening of the shells !
The whole team, including Jean-Marc’s wife and mother, set to work straight away.
It takes them just a few seconds to open them before offering them for sale. What speed !
There’s chef Anthony Vallette from the As de Trèfle restaurant in nearby Bernières-sur-Mer.
He’s a regular here too, picking up a few kilos of scallops.
I approach him and ask him what recipe he’s planning for today.
Scallops with strawberry yuzu and iodised foam. Come and try it !announces the chef as he loads several kilos of scallops into his van.
I then run back to Jean-Marc before he sets sail again. And yes, I still have a few questions to ask him.
Is Maison Daubert a family business ?
Yes, we’ve been working as a family for 35 years. It was my dad, Marc, who set up the business in the 1980s. He was a fisherman, shipowner and owner of the fishmonger’s in Courseulles-sur-Mer. Of the 30 employees, 15 are my family! My wife Ombeline and my mother Isabelle sell directly at the fish market, my sister Stéphanie now runs the fishmonger’s and my cousin does the markets. I’ve been with the company for 16 years, managing the boats Stenaca 2 and Esperance.
How do you like to eat scallops ?
On board, I’m the cook. I like to prepare one of my father’s favourite recipes: scallop carpaccio. After finely slicing each scallop carpaccio-style, I add a good olive oil, salt, pepper, a squeeze of lemon, a few shallots and that’s it !
What fish do you catch off Courseulles-sur-Mer ?
Mainly sole, sea bream, mackerel and sea bass. We fish in all weathers and all year round ! Well, I’ll leave you to it, the tide is starting to go out again, so it’s time to get back out to sea.
My thanks to Jean-Marc.
As I set off again, I take a few more photos of the voracious gulls feasting on the remains of the scallops.
Mathilde
