WHAT makes chalk streams special? Running through Wiltshire and Hampshire are some of the most beautiful rivers in the country – perhaps in the world. They don’t cut through dramatic scenery or spectacular gorges, they run quietly through wildlife-rich tree and grass-lined banks. The water rises deep under the chalk downs that are the mountain ranges of these two counties, and the streams merge and flow into three main rivers – the Avon, Test and Itchen – with the Avon entering the sea on the Hampshire-Dorset border at Christchurch and the Test and Itchen via Southampton Water.

These crystal-clear chalk streams are an environmental treasure and a Mecca for anglers, because the water is perfect home territory for many freshwater fish, including rainbow and brown trout and grayling. The gravel beds are ideal for spawning and the streams are full of aquatic life, including mayflies – and the extraordinary phenomenon of the “mayfly hatch.”

These rivers, most famously the Test, the Itchen and the Avon, are globally rare – there are estimated to be only 210 chalk streams around the world, of which 160 are in England. The many Winterbournes (or Winterbornes – literally winter streams) in Dorset, Wiltshire and Hampshire are also chalk streams. And, for those with a historic bent, another famous chalk stream is the Somme, best known for the First World War battle, with its devastating death toll.

Intensively managed for many generations, not only for fly-fishing but for watercress, chalk streams have also suffered from excessive extraction by water companies, but their international importance is recognised and they are loved by anglers, artists, conservationists and environmentalists … and foodie fans of the delicious trout.

One local company, ChalkStream®, based near Romsey in Hampshire, is working with selected farms to produce and market freshwater rainbow trout – fresh, hot or cold smoked, caviar, pate and more – for chefs, retailers and home cooks nationwide. Their commitment is both to exceptional quality of taste and sustainable production and care for the rivers’ unique environment.

The trout are sourced from Global GAP-certified (Good Agricultural Practices) and RSPCA Assured farms on the Test and Itchen rivers. The farms are built on the sites of old water mills, with exceptional volumes of pure chalk stream water flowing through a series of custom designed raceways, tanks and outlet streams. The fish are grown in pure chalk-stream water for more than two years, with sustainable feed, and are harvested with care to ensure a lean fillet with a unique clean taste.

The farms are gravity fed, with no pumping required to move the water through, and are all fully segregated from the chalk streams preventing wild fish from entering, minimising the risk of escapees and protecting the important river habitats.

Founded in 2014 by Hugo Hardman, ChalkStream® began in a small way, principally to show chefs the quality of the trout and how the fish are grown on the farms. Now involving Hugo’s wife Victoria, and over the years various children, nephews and nieces, the family business is supplying top restaurants and hotels across the country, selling their products through their excellent and informative website, and direct to the public at several London farmers markets and local fairs and food festivals including Alresford Watercress Fair in May, and Stockbridge’s Trout n’ About in August.

The range of products has expanded, with several now having Great Taste stars. As well as fresh whole fish and fillets, there is melt-in-the-mouth cold-smoked trout. It is dry-cured in salt and demerara sugar and traditionally kiln-smoked for 8-10 hours over sustainably sourced oak chippings, then matured for several days in a Himalayan salt chamber to produce an exceptional texture and depth of flavour. Hot-smoked fillets are similarly dry-cured in salt and demerara sugar before being hot kiln-smoked over sustainably sourced oak chippings. Both have a remarkable depth and clarity of flavour – reflecting the environment in which they live.

For quick meals or starters, there are indulgent fish cakes, including asparagus fishcakes, ChalkStream® Scotch eggs (pictured), smoked trout quiche and pate and the Great Taste two-star smoked trout terrine made with smoked trout fillets combined with fromage frais, horseradish, lemon juice and parsley, wrapped in cold-smoked trout.

Among the many fans of ChalkStream® is chef James Golding, former chef-director of The Pig Hotel Group, who says: “Chalk Stream trout is full of flavour and the quality is second to none. This is to do with how they are reared and what they eat.”

Most of the products are simply delicious – serve them as they are, cook the trout in your preferred way … and enjoy. But if you want more inspiration, the website, www.chalkstreamfoods.co.uk, has plenty of mouth-watering recipes and suggestions, including Goan trout curry, confit of ChalkStream® trout with tomato consommé, pan-fried trout with spring greens, pan-fried trout with truffle, honey and soy (pictured), or hot-smoked trout and tarragon quiche.

For more information, or to order products, visit www.chalkstreamfoods.co.uk

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Fish farms, particularly intensive salmon farms in many parts of the world, have a well-deserved reputation for ill health and disease in the fish, and damage to the marine environment. The Hampshire trout farms that supply ChalkStream® support a programme of habitat restoration on the Test and Itchen rivers, focussing initially on the expansion of the Wild Fisheries Protection Zone on the Upper Itchen.

ChalkStream® is helping to fund the improved migration of wild fish and supports the transition to wild fishing (no stocked trout) on 1.3km of the Itchen and 0.5km of the Elm Carrier. As a result, the Wild Fisheries Protection Zone now extends to more than 90 per cent of the Upper Itchen, upstream of Winchester.

As well as routine sampling of water samples from the inlet and outlets of the farms by the Environment Agency, the farms are also working with Southampton University on two major studies into water quality in the Test and Itchen. The farms are assisting in the development of a multi-nutrient freshwater analyser, a small floating unit able to take readings every 15 minutes of all the key indicators of water quality. They are also collaborating on a major study to enhance the sustainability of fish farming on chalk streams.

Photographs include Hugo Hardman, one of the fish farms, a stretch of a chalk stream and some of the ChalkStream® products. All images ©ChalkStream®