Food Specialities

ICONS OF THE ISLES

ISLE OF MULL CHEESE

Through history, Scotland’s islands attracted a steady stream of religious pilgrims, but these days you’re just as likely to find a cheeselover on a journey of reverence to Sgriob-ruadh Farm near Tobermory. The dairy farm is home to Isle of Mull cheese – quite probably the nation’s most famous and distinctive farmhouse cheese. Set up in 1980 when the Reade family moved up from England and took over the derelict farm, the cheddar-style cheese has been made on site for 40 years (a second, Hebridean Blue, joined it ten years ago). The unpasteurised milk used is as fresh as it gets – the time it takes to move from milking parlour to cheese vat. Provenance is guaranteed, food is grass and spent grains from the distillery, and no colouring is used. Isle of Mull cheese is a fixture for cheesemongers across the UK, who will eulogise it with words like fruity, sharp, savoury, full-bodied, upfront and boozy. The operation has expanded to an on-site shop and café (housed in the impressive Glass Barn) with everything powered by their own wind turbine and hydro-electric system – and selfguided tours are on offer to round off the pilgrimage. n isleofmullcheese.co.uk

STORNOWAY BLACK PUDDING

Ask anyone to name Scotland’s most famous sausage and they will, of course, nearly always nod to the haggis, or ‘Great chieftain o’ the pudding race’ as the bard Robert Burns dubbed it. In these parts, however, it has a rival known in Gaelic as the marag dubh, the black pudding – and in particular the variety produced on the Isle of Lewis, officially, and very specifically, called Stornoway Black Pudding. The pudding is still made using the same few ingredients – beef suet, oatmeal, onions, blood, salt and pepper, nothing else – that crofters have used on the island for hundreds of years. The blood can come from sheep or cows as well as pigs, while the suet and rough oatmeal give it a unique and lighter consistency, while deepening the savoury flavours. The Stornoway pud has protected geographical status – formerly granted by the EU, and now bestowed by the UK similarly to protect its integrity – only allowing the label ‘Stornoway’ when the puddings are produced in the town or parish of Stornoway. The marag dubh has helped lift the reputation of black pudding – showing that this premium sausage isn’t just for a breakfast fry-up but can now grace dishes in the fanciest of restaurants. n charlesmacleod.co.uk

ICONS OF THE ISLES When it comes to expressing the character of a place, food can talk. Jay Thundercliffe introduces four island specialities that have plenty to say

GIGHA HALIBUT

Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus), the large flatfish that can reach nearly 5m in the wild, is an endangered species, with conservation groups recommending we avoid it. Its usual habitat is the cold waters of the North Atlantic but the fish is also to be found on the small Isle of Gigha off the Mull of Kintyre, thanks to Gigha Halibut – the only landbased halibut farm in the UK, and one of only a few around the world. It’s not easy farming halibut due to the protracted early growth stage and the poor survival rate. The project began on Loch Fyne in the early 1990s but it wasn’t until 2006 that the fish were moved to Gigha, ready for harvest the following year. It’s a process that has taken 20 years to perfect. The resulting halibut is not only recommended by the Marine Conservation Society as sustainably produced but top chefs including triple Michelin Star holder Alain Roux, and Scot Pam Brunton at Inver, sing its praises. The company also smoke the fish (to order) using oak chips from whisky barrels. Many awards have since come its way for innovation and sustainability, as well as for the great taste of their produce. n gighahalibut.co.uk

ISLE OF COLONSAY WILDFLOWER HONEY

Bees have endured a rough time of late with diseases and disorders, plus human impact, significantly disrupting global populations. The situation is rather rosier on two west coast islands – Colonsay and smaller neighbour Oronsay. In 2013, the islands became the UK’s first official bee sanctuary – protecting our native honeybee, the European Black Bee (Apis mellifera mellifera). Instrumental in getting the official stamp on the sanctuary was Andrew Abrahams, who moved to the island in 1978 and began his concerns of oyster raising and beekeeping. He now has 60 colonies – from which he produces his highly prized Isle of Colonsay Wildflower Honey. As the awareness of the bees’ plight grows, so does our appreciation of their contribution to the environment and our lives – and also to the quality of their honey, akin to an expensive single malt that you dip into occasionally for a treat. The hardy island bees feast on an unusually varied diet that includes an abundance of wildflowers – half of all the British wildflower species can be found on the islands. This mixed diet will produce variations in the honey depending on the season and weather, but the fragrant and unique wildflower flavour will always be there. n colonsay.org.uk/shops-food/colonsay-honey

If you’re bound for Arran on board the MV Caledonian Isles, your taste buds are in for more of a treat than usual thanks to our new and improved menu – full of your favourite CalMac dishes, alongside some new twists. Each item showcases the best of Scottish produce, as Executive Chef Dave Gannon explains

Taste the Best of the West with CalMac

What’s different about the new menu you’ve created? The new menu offers our passengers a really good mix of their favourite dishes alongside a number of new items. For instance, we’ve still got our hot Scottish Breakfast, but we’ve also introduced a wonderful new vegan version. Our ever-popular CalMac and Cheese is joined on the menu by a great noodle dish, served with a succulent, smoked ham hough. As well as the steak pie, we’ve added a venison sausage and mash dish, as well as a new, delicious roast vegetable pie.

The menu we’ve come up with showcases the quality and expertise of our Scottish producers and suppliers – which our team has carefully sourced.

Can you take us through some of the producers and produce you’re using in your menu? Our current menus on vessels across the fleet have a passion for the quality and provenance of ingredients. In this new menu on the MV Caledonian Isles, we’ve really worked hard to build on that approach.

So, for example, our new haggis and Arran chutney bridie uses chutney from the Isle of Arran as well as delicious all-butter puff pastry from William Sword – a family business based in Central Scotland, that has been making and baking since the late nineteenth century. Its Scottish Soup Co soups are also on offer – all of which are based on their Mum’s traditional recipes.

Our lovely gourmet hotdog is sourced from Brigston & Co – an independent maker from Dumfries and Galloway which has developed a unique, hand-crafted smoked hotdog from Scottish Farm Assured beef and pork. They say they’re on a mission to change the perception of the hotdog – and they’ve created something really brilliant.

The provenance of the menu goes much deeper too – our fries are seasoned with traditional Scottish sea salt from Blackthorn Salt in Ayrshire, made using age-old methods and the country’s only graduation

thorn tower – along with sea water and west coast winds, both of which we know pretty well at CalMac!

And you’ve also changed the way you serve the dishes? Yes, that’s the other main change. It’s a short crossing, so we wanted to increase the time and flexibility passengers have so they can make the most of the journey – so that means that the dishes are ready and available when our customers board. You can grab your CalMac and Cheese and enjoy it with a wooden fork from wherever you wish to – whether that’s on board, on deck or perhaps you’ll decide to keep it to enjoy just after you’ve disembarked.

Why did you decide to make the change to the menu and the way it’s served? We’re acting on customer feedback from our passenger questionnaires. If our items are ready and waiting for our customers as they join us on board, this helps to address waiting times on what is a short crossing, giving our customers more time to enjoy the journey.

As well as changing the serve, the menu allows us to offer more choice for different dietary requirements – vegetarian and vegan. Both of those aspects are really important to us.

How are you balancing using packaging with our commitment to protect the environment? We’re privileged to work and sail in a beautiful but fragile marine environment. We all have a role to play in protecting it. The packaging we’re using in place of washing plates and cutlery is Vegware – a plant based and compostable type of food packaging. It’s made from plants and designed to be commercially compostable. New bins will be installed to allow passengers to help us recycle and compost packaging. We have two packaging options which aren’t yet compostable, and we’re currently working on replacing these too.