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Sarah Coonan writes about her Porcelain Soup Bowl ‘The Blue Toon’Ìý

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Inspiration for the soup bowl came from memories of the fishing village when I visited as a child.Ìý The classic blue-on-white ceramics reflects the town’s nickname, ‘The Blue Toon’ and ties in with my fascination with Japanese ceramics.

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My hand drawn decoration was inspired by the famous woodprint by Hokusai, ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’ which is both beautiful and daunting.Ìý This reflects the treacherous conditions the fishermen had to deal with.Ìý Cod and haddock count of a large amount of fish caught by the Peterhead fishermen so were important elements in the decoration.

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The programme wasÌýrecorded aboard the ‘Amity’, one of the local fishing boats which appeared on the TV series, Trawlermen.Ìý Here, the fateful story of the Boddam Monkey was told which inspired the naming of the Aberdeen pub, The Noose and Monkey.Ìý Scottish folklore is such an important part within small communities, I felt that was an important part to include on the soup bowl.

Chef David Littlewood drew on themes of the sea, homecoming, warmth and sustainability in his fragrant and evocative Peterhead inspired fish soup.Ìý It was David's idea to invite local artist Sarah Coonan to work with us on designing a dish to serve his soup in order to capture the 'blue' from Peterhead's nickname of the 'Blue Toon'.ÌýOpinions vary as to why its called the Blue Toon as you'll hear when Simon head's for Peterhead on the programme.