The big UK Scampi Ripoff

[@macca9320]

Thus guys posted this 8 years ago and it's just hit my feed. 😂

[@RobertDel-rio]

Yeah I am just seeing it five days later than you

[@allwrighty100]

@@RobertDel-rio And I saw it today. Something fishy going on here

[@grrfy]

@@allwrighty100 hah me to

[@WaferBrik]

Count yourself fortunate. Hit mine two weeks after it hit yours. 🙄

[@Moonlightshadow-lq4fr]

same

[@MrChrissy1r]

In 1969 I was working as a boat builder near Maldon in Essex. There was a lad there who had his own fishing boat and would go out sea fishing. His catches mainly consisted of Flounder, all of which were bought by the local Chinese Restaurant , and was cut an shaped to look like Scampi, flavoured with shrimp paste and sold as Scampi in the restaurant! So nothing new here we have been ripped off for decades by retailers and sellers.

[@almaknack9543]

Scampi equals Monkfish!

[@son-of-a-gun]

Scam scampi. The name says it all

[@simonkevnorris]

If something has 30% cod and 16% scampi it should be labelled as cod rather than scampi.

[@jonathanlandau-litewski7405]

'Should' being the operative word.

[@koleberdinoch926]

​@@jonathanlandau-litewski7405I think 'should' _was_ the operative word

[@willie549]

6:29 You really think that they are using Cod 😂

[@unclebuckeroo]

Don’t call it Scampi if it’s not Scampi. It’s simple, what’s the problem!

[@MrShiretor]

There is no such fish or crustacean called Scampi, it is simply a descriptive name and as there can be many versions of say a cottage pie, then there can also be many versions of Scampi. The real deal made with Langoustines ( or Dublin Bay Prawn as it used to be called ) really should simply just be called fried & crumbed Langoustines..

[@PedroGonzalez11111]

@@MrShiretorthat’s a very one dimensional view of this CRISIS

[@shaunburns3332]

@@MrShiretorAwwww you must be a flerf because everyone knows what whole tail scampi is

[@Zx-ln1lk]

Sounds fishy to me😂

[@brunobrauer6301]

@@MrShiretor In the European Union, the term "scampi" is legally defined and regulated. According to EU regulations, "scampi" refers to the species Nephrops norvegicus, commonly known as Norway lobster or Dublin Bay prawn. This is outlined in Commission Regulation (EC) No 2065/2001, which specifically defines the commercial designations for fishery products in member states. The regulation ensures that the term "scampi" is used uniformly across the EU to refer to Nephrops norvegicus, preventing any misleading use of the term for other species. This helps maintain consistency and transparency for consumers across different EU countries.

[@gaycha6589]

I was raised in Brixham Devon. In the 70s monkfish had little market value, so the pubs cut it up into small chunks battered n fried it. Mock scampi was on the menu. Funny thing is that since the foodies discovered monk in late 80s, monkfish is now more expensive than pukka scampi tails.

[@scally1969]

Let's be honest. In cheaper establishments, Scampi is basically fish nuggets. But to keep their prices so low, budget restaurants etc, couldn't afford to use real full tail Scampi. But when we hide a product behind a name (like Scampi) liberty's will be taken

[@rogerwhite4073]

Yep, I figured this one out for myself the first time I bought Langoustine from a fishmonger.

[@rogerwhite4073]

Afterall, only in Britain would we breadcrumb coat a mini lobster that is regarded as a delicacy in most other countries.😀

[@PedroGonzalez11111]

@@rogerwhite4073I agree with your sentiment but your “great” Britain didn’t invent this

[@rogerwhite4073]

@@PedroGonzalez11111 Pray tell, was it the Austro-Hungarian empire? 😂

[@howardcopestake1036]

If she has spent any time as a cooking teacher, she would have know what she was getting by the price and the prep time. A number of years ago Monk fish was prepared as “scampi” until it became more expensive than real langoustine, and more to the point most langoustine used in France is actually from around the shores of Scotland and imported as it falls outside the EU fishing regulations, so another stitch up by our politicians

[@Milllarman]

Absolutely correct. Monk fish was very cheap and very rarely eaten so it was used as lobster bait

[@gaycha6589]

I just made same comment. Ex Brixham trawlerman, now retired here. I wish fish was so expensive when I depended on it for a living.

[@cdub5033]

a rip off? in the UK? no way, this never happens.

[@TheFlaneur-up1ft]

Sorry to disappoint.. I’m from the future and it gets worse!

[@frankday1234]

yea no s**t 😁😁

[@binagarten4667]

@@TheFlaneur-up1ft I am in the future and the UK is now Black and Indian!

[@megbaines2597]

😂😂

[@parsaeye]

Didn't take long before a racist entered the conversation!

[@kevinroberts9287]

Bloody hell. I can eat scampi but I am allergic to fish. Mixing them and not letting the customer know is outright dangerous

[@user-jg2nq6ll4c]

You're the same as me then!!!! I'm allergic to most salt-water fish apart from tuna, but can eat any type of shell-fish. The doctors never did find out what it is that's in most fish that I'm allergic to - so it's essential that if I order scampi in a pub, chip-shop or restaurant, it really IS scampi, not monk fish or something like that🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨🤨

[@JRTO_]

same here, if they'd like me to puff up all over and projectile vomit then they can go ahead and mix them, but I'd prefer to be able to eat with confidence in restaurants. My grandad's a fisherman too so the allergy's a right shame lmao

[@anomonyous]

​@@user-jg2nq6ll4cSo, fresh water shellfish and crustaceans for you, then.

[@toonfan2007]

"Whitby Scampi" is caught in the Atlantic, processed in Northern Ireland, then packed near Whitby. It never sees Whitby town, never mind the fishing vessels.

[@Medusas_Barber]

My Mars Bar isn't from Mars either...

[@steveborgman9995]

​@@Medusas_Barber that's a ridiculous comparison. Ridiculous enough for me to believe that at some point in your life you actually believed there was a chocolate factory on mars.

[@Medusas_Barber]

@@steveborgman9995 Don't be ridiculous. That's the Milky Bar Factory. That's why they're so light and fluffy inside etc. Everybody knows that...

[@Medusas_Barber]

@@steveborgman9995 I see you watch The Struggler too lol 👍

[@ronmoes42]

why do the companies always make it sound like the consumers are looking for a cheap product that tasts like an old sweaty sock? While in fact it is the price of the animal that makes it so expensive and they just want to fill up the holes and exploit the market. Wether it is because they in the first place make the real deal more expensive so they can sell cheaper and make more money.

[@ianlewis777]

Gaslighting and commerce.

[@carolramsey6287]

Years ago I used to buy them in the shell at the cockle sheds in Leigh on Sea. The only place I've ever seen real scampi on sale. Delicious!

[@richardford9218]

Now 80 years old, have loved Leigh on Sea since a a child, now miles away, fond memories.. however did have experience there once with pub 'crab sandwich', much orange 'crab', on close inspection finely shredded carrot, beware...

[@dolceanstar]

There is no such thing as a 'Scampi' outside of the method in which the shrimp/prawn is cooked. A battered and fried prawn is called a 'scampi'.

[@wix7657]

Living on the coast in the north east of England I can buy 2 kilograms of langoustines for £12 from our local local fish quay. As a kid in the 80s we were brought up on all different types of fish and seafood and it was dirt cheap.

[@martindye]

I was shocked to find this was written only 1 day ago!

[@asherlot]

@@martindye I was shocked this was replied to 58 minutes ago

[@george-ev1dq]

Still get the same from a small fishing village here in NI, a fiver for a mixed bucket straight of the boat, hard to beat.

[@cbellasbusta4643]

I live on the north east coast too but my local fish quay shop charges £14 a kilo for cooked prawn tails

[@chrisormisher1333]

8:20 also as a rule of thumb if it says scampi and whitefish clear as day on the front of the packet. genius

[@bartonseagrave9605]

RED TAPE is when you say something is Scampi it has to be Scampi but David Cameron said he wanted rid of RED TAPE.

[@garyproffitt5941]

Very intelligent Women, Gloria Hunniford a beautiful Lady.

[@LUC66631]

Good God , back in the day i've eaten me sick on them ( been on a langoustine side trawler for 30 years) and no need for al that ladidaaaa when cooking them , just bake them in garlic butter and that's it 🤤🤤🤤🤤

[@cjod33]

Below %40 is bad scampi!?? Wtf! If it's not %100 it's not scampi at all .

[@nathangamble125]

I was hoping they were including the batter and breadcrumbs in that percentage. If not 🤮

[@rontauranac]

In France, we always put our langoustines fully dressed on the table, and then every guest shells his own prawns and eats them with mayonnaise or aïoli.

[@VicYo-en3wm]

@@rontauranac we also do here but if you live far away from the sea side it's hard to source them so we buy scampi which is the same but in breadcrumbs still very tasty though 😎

[@Sparkypark]

That’s not scampi. I like to eat crab. They’re not scampi either. We can buy whole langoustines too. They aren’t scampi either.

[@robertp.wainman4094]

Extremely difficult to eat!

[@paulgibbons2320]

British families can't afford to eat like the French. Everything market fresh. They sell our fish to the French and Spanish. Our kids don't know what it tastes like and our wives would not know how to cook it. Why can we never replicate the good lifestyle of our European friends? Poverty wages. That's why. Company's like this buy up such a bulk of it that the bit which gets to the fish monger is a top price. We don't have things right.

[@howardcopestake1036]

Most of the Langoustines you eat in France are imported from Scotland!!!!

[@patmckeane6588]

Sounds like same shite you get in mc Donalds chicken nuggets

[@alanwood4968]

We have been having fish disguised as scampi this has been going on for years.

[@Yorkshiremadmick]

Not forgetting that some 70’s scampi was indeed monkfish tail cut. Apparently Whitby Scampi is NOW what it should have always been. Langustine

[@billwilson1320]

According to the packet, Whitby Wholetail Scampi is 40% scampi. "Scampi (crustaceans) (40%), breadcrumbs (wheat flour [wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, thiamine, niacin], yeast, salt), batter (water, wheat flour [wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, thiamine, niacin], salt), water, rapeseed oil, stabilisers: E450, E451, E452."

[@RobertSweet-nw4tm]

@@billwilson1320very well said. So much of the food chain in the UK is a horrifying mixture of chemicals of various sorts.

[@VicYo-en3wm]

Morrisons do wholetail scampi its more expensive but definitely worth it !!

[@djsimonrossprice9400]

Agree we did a comparison against M&S... Ms were salty, very salty indeed. Morrison was superb..

[@VicYo-en3wm]

@@djsimonrossprice9400 thanks for feedback I was impressed as well with Morrison very impressive!!!

[@blxtothis]

Even as a kid in the 60s we knew that this stuff was Monkfish Tails.

[@Theleague0fshad0ws]

Really interesting video, I’ve eaten real scampi years ago and always thought there was something different these days! Having never seen the packet I never really thought that much about it, I just stopped ordering it! Another similar thing to note is that it seems impossible to get a good fish and chips that doesn’t contain bones! I’ve stopped purchasing fish as every bloody time for the last 2 years it’s had bones in it from various different sources I may add!

[@VicYo-en3wm]

Ask if they are WHOLE TAIL SCAMPI and if there not don't buy them !!!

[@bazra19]

As a trawler-man from the 1950's and an aficionado of all things fishy. I could tell you Cod from Haddock. BUT if I cut you strips of Monk Fish in scampi sized slices, you would not tell the difference, in fact Monk Fish tastes better and has roughly the same texture. Monk Fish is in fact much better but cheaper.

[@user-jg2nq6ll4c]

NOT if the person is allergic to salt-water fish!!!!!!! Very dangerous thing to put 'Whole-tail scampi' on a menu when it's actually monk or some other type of fish. You wouldn't believe how many people are allergic to fish, but can eat shell-fish no problem.

[@Jonny-w3w]

Excuse me waiter ' theres a scampi in my soup 🤣

[@garyroe2929]

I ordered it in a pub and what came were battered crab sticks strangely enough it wasn’t scampi but really tasty , I tried it at home , really nice , get crab stick flour them dip in batter 8 mins in fat 👍

[@maanhills7982]

In the late 60s, the Bernie inn on the Stains bypass, Jumbo Scampi was the real deal as a meal, no question.

[@rectify2003]

Sadly Why they went out of business

[@user-jg2nq6ll4c]

A lot of chip-shops pass monk fish off as being advertised as wholetail scampi😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡

[@kennethmaney914]

Oh and monkfish is ugly but delicious, when cooked it was popular to pickle it in vinegar and sometimes spices. If you want to know about fish ask an old man from Grimsby who worked with fish and ate most things that come out of it.

[@nigelmills1377]

I recently paid £40 for "packs of scampi" from a company in Grimsby, what a "con" !!!!! when you break away the double dipped batter it was next to no meat/flesh at all........ Bloody disgraceful....... 🤢

[@Moonlightshadow-lq4fr]

Very rarely will you have cooks shell things like this, they usually process it automatically through a machine so it should be dirt cheap!

[@RobertSmith-di5ll]

Scampi provinciale at La Rosetta Brentford - my go to.

[@fl3162]

If you want to buy real, quality scampi then open your pockets.

[@petermckenna2094]

christine was truly ripped off, that fake scampi sounded foul!

[@loonylinda]

this is so spot on...youcan taste the difference between real scampi and the fish mush you get in some products...and i guess the catering establishments are going to give us he cheap "scampi" products

[@kennethtalbott2233]

if it's served in a restaurant, it should be 100% scampi. if you're buying the cheap stuff for a quick dinner for the kids then that's fine too.

[@jaycee2392]

My wifes breath always smells of scampi every morning when she returns from night shift at the lorry depot. Weird that... 😮

[@DiamondCake2]

Because she’s been sucking lorry driver cock 😂😂😂

[@toonfan2007]

That's odd, as she has the breath of an angel when she gets here.

[@jaycee2392]

@@toonfan2007 That's the mint fags she has after every cream tea.

[@lordeden2732]

Surely her breath tastes of Winkles?

[@WhatALoadOfTosca]

Did no one think of teaching Gloria how to pronounce Langoustine?

[@lawtonloraine4144]

Only in Britain are such rip offs every day happening, still living in the years of the war

[@markfox1545]

Rubbish, happens everywhere. What's war got to do with it? Ridiculous comment.

[@ryanmcmahon2422]

THAT'S WHY IT'S CALLED SCAM- pi.

[@simon199418]

Logic dictates that there should also be a market for 100% breading at half the price.

[@raman5329]

Can't blame EU regulations anymore.....

[@1972hermanoben]

Breadcrumb and deep fry anything, apparently you can call it whatever you want 😅

[@petermckenna2094]

what a disgrace!

[@stevenowen9279]

Where’s there’s money there’s a fiddle especially in England

[@davebolan7282]

Scampi was originally Languistine, but over fishing decimate the catches, so monk fish tail was used in place, as it was cheaper and more available.

[@homewithbuddy8510]

Dont buy processed food and then complain its not the real thing .By this time its certainly no secret that processed food is no worth buying. Eat clean , learn to cook

[@LungsMcGee]

I had a bag of Smiths Scampi Fries and there was no scampi at all in them!

[@trevellyanblack4101]

I've done the same. Brought scampi from a supermarket, trying to create the scampi in a basket dishes I had in pubs in the 70s. To be honest, it didn't even taste like fish.

[@kitcole4927]

The singular of scampi is scampo !

[@adamcunningham9947]

Iv just found out that iv basically never had scampi in my life despite ording it a hundred times in pubs 😂 a real eye open er

[@AquaMarine1000]

A Sydney bridge painter once said "put another shrimp on the barbie!".

[@johnkean6852]

ALWAYS been well known Monkfish was used as faux scampi! Since Monkfish is a luxury fish noone seemed to mind. For entertainment / educational purposes only!

[@Lionofjuda957]

I have never eaten them, ...I live a thousand miles from the sea. So I guess I'll give them a past.

[@user-gh6hu6pl6y]

I haven't had fish and chips for ages!!? 💥My last one was a fish cut in half!!???? 🇬🇧💫And cost me £12✨the shop has closed now👀sick of being ripped off✌️

[@desgardner7169]

I love Scampi, but I only have it every so often since I learned from buying 3 packs for £10 from a well known freezer shop it was not what it said it was and was just about ok, it was a sort of past inside and had a mixture of other fish inside the bread crumbs!

[@michaelhughes7718]

Got a portion of Scampi for my mum once from a local fast food joint, she bit into a piece and spat it out, it was a literal tasteless slop with the texture of mash potatoes. She gave them to the dogs who later on started to vomit, couldnt prove it was the scampi that caused it 🤷 gave the fast food joint a stinking review because my food was crap too.

[@rogernewman5903]

Cod’s cheeks and tongues are often used as scampi .

[@echo71515]

By jove! Perkins, I do believe we are being positively swindled.

[@grahamhall2662]

Excuse me waiter "where did this scampi come from", err the freezer sir.

[@jimgibbins6161]

Read the packet, it's not rocket science

[@allrounder7003]

You don't get to read the packet in a restaurant.

[@timpearce3314]

A bit embarrasing to ask the "waiter" in a top restaurant to see the packaging ? not a good idea! .....🤪🤪.....

[@jimgibbins6161]

@@timpearce3314 if you have to ask, don't order.

[@maxwellfan55]

Remember to take your reading glass for the micro-print! Hmm... just another thing.

[@jimgibbins6161]

@@maxwellfan55 I'm up to 3'5 on those , and the idiot that said it would be rude to ask to see the packet in a restaurant obviously knows sweet F/A about what I meant.

[@danielchadwick8513]

It's simply Scampi vs Fish bites Most fish eating people would still eat fresh fish bites just stop trying to rip us all off with scampi prices for something that isn't actually scampi That is exactly the point

[@Tomlinsky]

I remember loads of top restaurants back in the 70's/80's, Trocadero and Maxime de Paris for starters, passing monkfish cut into gujons as scampi. Been going on for decades.

[@margaretclancy8694]

I would have thought Monkfish to be more expensive.

[@Tomlinsky]

@@margaretclancy8694 Huge slabs of monkfish more expensive than crates of longustuine? That's what they used, and it sure ain't scampi.

[@george-ev1dq]

@@margaretclancy8694 Monkfish is the poor mans fish but costs a lot nowadays because it is 70% waste, a nice enough eating fish but certainly not close to real scampi.

[@pippin1ful]

Go to Ireland for proper scampi: Dublin Bay prawns or Langoustine. The real deal. I remember a heaped pile at a pub overlooking a harbour: de-licious!

[@WhatALoadOfTosca]

I prefer the reformed stuff they sell in most Dublin pubs

[@dalek3086]

I would never eat scampi in UK ....

[@achitophel5852]

The best 'scampi' is monkfish!!!

[@maxwellfan55]

Looks like the "chef" over-fried the real scampi! Too dark.

[@davehedgehogUK]

The same "chef" also didn't know how to hold a knife, a knife that was so blunt it had trouble cutting through raw fish. If she's a chef then I'm a Teletubbie. Knife skills are one of, if not the first thing a chef learns, weeks of cutting up veg into brunoise, julienne, chiffonade, mirepoix etc etc before even cooking anything. I took an intensive culinary course about 8 years ago, purely for home cooking, I'm not nor ever will be a chef despite holding a professional qualification yet I know how to hold a ruddy knife and that blunt knives are highly dangerous, and I wouldn't burn a bit of deep fried scampi.

[@AA-69]

Bassa in Scampi...wtf is that about 😳... WE LIVE ON AN ISLAND FOR GOD SAKE 😖

[@BlueMax333]

great advice, thanks!

[@Jimmyfisher121]

Let the buyer beware.

[@Etama-tx1gd]

So it's a fish bite?

[@sharpskilz]

im extremely relieved she didnt pronounce it "longustine" Langos innit

[@ColinLennard]

It is a numbers game. Do a taster test & you will be lucky if 10% know what they are eating i.e. 9 out of 10 won't know what it is.

[@binagarten4667]

Nothing in this country surprises me! Intresting they go a Indian female with surname Gandhi who are a vegetarian class to make it! Sort of tells you the British mindset!

[@jamesrickerby2756]

Scampi caught out of Tyne by one boat and skipper, he works his balls off and appeared with Robson Green!

[@paulmiddleton8699]

I thought that cod is also really expensive.

[@AmeliaJohnson-lt6qw]

Great

[@user-vg6fs9qe8j]

£2 a kilo ? is she off her head ...

[@Bigtuff123]

I agree, the fish and chip shops on the south coast sell haddock for more then cod, some charge the same but never cheaper, this footage is 8 years old though, but cheap white fish is pollack not haddock

[@shadow_bandit403]

I bought some scampi last week and it was seahorse scampi, ragin'

[@philsooty61]

I used to love Scampi but stopped eating it because of the same reasons mentioned here, Youngs is one of the worst !

[@dave1secondago]

jeez how did i get here scampi wtf

[@johnkean6852]

But Brits ALWAYS put up and shut up since restaurants and hotels are for the upper classes, not the lower classes, anyway. We really know nothing about hospitality (Ritz and Claridge's an exception to this rule: run by upper class people who treat lower classes fairly. Its only the _nouveaux_ that treat lower classes like excrement. I used to include the Savoy in this league / my rule but they've changed significantly with their selective attitude recently, well since their refurb.) If we were welcomed into a snooty restaurant in the old days, then the very fact we were welcomed in at all was seen as a privilege. So if we then stuck our necks out and complained thusly: "Hmmm, this is not scampi waiter!" we'd never be allowed back inside. I only ever complained myself about _anything_ until well into my 40s. My point is: have things changed now are we allowed now to vocalise our disharmony when things go awry? WOW I'M IMPRESSED. I'm old and retired and live abroad now as you may gather. For entertainment / educational purposes only!

[@user-qo2hi9od7j]

Lived here 51 years that has never passed my lips never trusted it

[@johnfarmer1691]

in lanchester the chip sells real scampi the other fish shops in the area sell mixed fish as scampi

[@toonfan2007]

Cheers John. John Farmer there, owner of Lanchester chippy. I prefer the one in Langley Park, myself.

[@DodgeCity111]

Where I'm from scampi is a garlic doner kebab

[@Bugster42]

i've been given chopped fish in batter

[@Tidybitz]

I've known about this for a long time and it is disgusting. I love scampi but rarely buy it in cafe's or restaurants because of this. I also think that labeling is still confusing despite rules saying they shouldn't be. I always read labels in supermarkets about this and other stuff, but other than making your own as in the video, where can you buy proper 100% lingoustine scampi, I don't know and have never seen it?

[@MrSpliffy3]

Good onya lady 👍

[@dolceanstar]

There is no such thing as a 'Scampi' outside of the method in which the shrimp/prawn is cooked

[@briankirk2995]

Don’t buy scampi any more as it’s all a rip off, as far as I am concerned it’s off the menu……..Brian

[@denisburgess2966]

Whoever is selling that fish as scampi and it isn't that is in breach of the trade description act .

[@davehedgehogUK]

Not really, Scampi doesn't exist, it's a semantic. It's not like calling crab sticks, crab sticks if there's little to no crab - crabs actually exist, they're a tangible and definable thing. Scampi doesn't. Scampi is the cooking/preparation method, and can also be used for any crustacean such as lobster, prawn/shrimp etc. Tbf, they get away with it quite easily and legally because 1) it's there on the packet what's actually in the ingredients and 2) most people wouldn't know 'real' scampi from their elbow as they've never eaten it. Think of a burger. Would a burger made of cabbage break the trades descriptions act? No, because burger is just the term for flattened, minced and cooked. You think of a burger being beef, yet you'll see chicken, veggie, pork (frikadellen) etc all over. Unless it clearly states wholetail scampi, then it's not gonna be predominantly languistine. Scampi is pretty much a byword for minced fish when it comes to the cheaper stuff, or what you'll get at Wetherspoons. In my youth scampi was nearly always monkfish as it was cheap and nobody would eat it otherwise - now monkfish is extortionately priced. Funny how times change.

[@stevengray4595]

Monkfish was used for scampi.

[@jetblack.7186]

You get what you pay for. Proper scampi isn’t cheap

[@george-ev1dq]

but it really is cheap, just do not buy the rubbish sold in the local chippie or the supermarkets, I buy my fresh caught langos of the boat for a tenner a bucket which is more than enough to feed 5 people a large meal.

[@Jimmyfisher121]

Langinstein Tail.

[@jackierowe9195]

I wouldn’t order it in a pub everrr, maybee a top restaurant will do good scampi

[@jameshenderson5385]

I love scampi!!

[@andrewarthurmatthews6685]

Something fishy about this story