CateDevineWriter

I had the absolute honour and privilege of speaking with Andrew Fairlie - whose eponymous restaurant at Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire is the only one in Scotland to hold two Michelin stars - at his home on November 5, 2018. A short version of this interview was published exclusively in The Times on November 6, 2018. More…/

Time and place have again emerged as the dominant themes in food writing this year. Site-specificity has the twin effect of lighlighting the internationality of our modern food influences, while underpinning the importance of hyper-localism … more/

“This makes me miss home. And my friends. Lots of them are still in Syria. Being here makes me remember the good times when we were all eating together, and that is sad. But talking to people about my country and my food is better than staying at home and moping.” Just one of the comments I hear from Syrian war refugees in Edinburgh and Bute … more…/

Turning 60 in January holds no fears for Nick Nairn – whom I tend to think of as the Peter Pan of the culinary world. Turns out Scotland’s first celebrity chef has other fish to fry than fretting. I met him at his Port of Menteith Cook School (near Aberfoyle) to discuss his sadness at calling time on his Aberdeen businesses, and how he’s looking forward to the future …more/

Four years ago, Scotland had 15 single Michelin-starred restaurants. Now the new Michelin Guide Great Britain and Ireland 2019 lists just eight - down from 11 in the 2018 guide. Three entirely reasonable deletions notwithstanding, it means Scotland’s tally is at a new low, because no new stars were awarded in the 2019 Guide, despite a burgeoning restaurant scene across the country …more/

Glasgow has long been notorious for its appetite for unhealthy foods – and for having one of the worst diet-related health records in the world. Now that reputation looks set to change as the city becomes the first in Scotland to rise to the Veg Cities Chefs’ Challenge … more/

She studied photography at Glasgow School of Art and both her parents are artists. Small wonder, then, that colour is the starting point for chef-patron Rosie Healey’s menu at Alchemilla on Glasgow’s Finnieston Strip, where her brigade is mostly female. And when I met her she revealed her interesting plans for expansion south of the river …. more…/

Reuben Chesters founded Locavore Glasgow, Scotland’s first social enterprise ethically stocked supermarket, by crowdfunding an impressive £225k. But can he really change our relationship with food for good? More…/

He has recently acquired the twin identities of Scotland’s first national chef and winner of MasterChef: The Professionals 2016. Both roles have propelled him into near-celebrity status. Yet father-of-five Gary Maclean’s real vocation is as a food educator - as his first cookbook proves. More…/

While announcing a first star for Michael Smith's Loch Bay restaurant at Waternish, Skye, the 2018 Michelin Guide Great Britain and Ireland international director said from the stage of the live event in London that one of the greatest changes in eating-out over the last 15 years has been the move towards more casual dining. He doesn't mean the food itself, of course, but the 'experience' of eating it ... more/

After the shock of seeing the famous Loch Lomond hotel that was home to his Michelin-starred restaurant being destroyed by fire, chef Graeme Cheevers speaks for the first time about the agonising aftermath - and his search for a new identity ….more/

Lush greenery, contained in massed ranks by canes, cloches, strings and wires, is yielding to a rainbow harvest of reds, yellows and purples. Native Black bees dip gingerly in and out of flowerheads while frogs and toads await their next snack of garden pests from the depths of their sunken slate pond.

For Scotland's top chef Andrew Fairlie, this Victorian walled kitchen garden is proving his salvation - both professionally and personally ..more/

As the tourist season hots up once again on Skye, it’s clear that in addition to visiting the Fairy Pools group of waterfalls, the remarkable stone outcrops at the Quiraing and the Old Man of Storr, tens of thousands of gastro-tourists from all over the world now also want a taste of the popular Hebridean island. I met two talented young chefs who are racing to meet demand by opening their own restaurants within days of each other … more/

Scotland’s islands have morphed into world-class foodie destinations ranging from roadside shacks to Michelin starred restaurants. More…/

I was lucky enough to be first to view the new luxury lifestyle label launched by Scotland's most celebrated chef in collaboration with the acclaimed designer Iona Crawford.

They have created Our Secret Garden, a range of fine-bone china ceramics, luxury linens and velvets, fine-art prints and wllpapers in 11 different designs - all inspired by the 19th century walled garden and glasshouses in which Fairlie, chef-patron of Scotland's only two Michelin-starred restaurant at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, grows vegetables, leaves, fruits and flwoers for his du marche, degustation and a la carte daily menus ...more/

He’s hinting that he’s about to open another foodie venture in Scotland, which reminded me that Hardeep Singh Kohli and I had quite an interesting encounter ahead of the launch of his Edinburgh restaurant ...more/

The term ‘doggy bag’ is replaced with ‘good to go’ in a new campaign aimed at persuading those still too embarrassed to ask to take home uneaten restaurant food that in fact it’s cool to do so. Zero Tolerance Scotland’s new take-home box scheme hopes to reduce food waste and help restaurants cut down on food collection charges but, as I discovered, it also offers new opportunities for independent food recycling businesses … more/

The Glaswegian chef lecturer who won the BBC professional cookery programme has much to say about our relationship with food. He says the gap between what we grow and what we eat must be bridged. He reckons online meal deals can undermine the restaurant industry, and that we all need to understand the work involved in getting that plate of delicious food to the table. More.../

Until my first trip down the (potholed) A77 I was unaware of the unique attraction of Wigtownshire and that fact that it’s a foodie destination - albeit a rather uncelebrated one. My visit pre-dates the Stranraer Oyster Festival and the newly launched Ethical Dairy, which are helping attract more attention to its foodie credentials (and which I write about in a separate post) ….more/

He's the eminence grise behind such established foodie desinations as One Devonshire Gardens, Malmaison and, more recently, Dakota hotels. He also helped establish Rogano and The Buttery as the legends they remain today - and launched the careers of Scotland's most celebrated chefs. Yet Ken McCulloch says his career has been based on "hunches", and reveals how his "guardian angel" helped him put Glasgow on the global foodie map. More .../

Scotland is braced for a record one million+ cruise tourists in 2018. Up to half of them will eschew the on-board lunch and organised excursion in favour of the "authentic individual local experience" and local hospitality in towns and cities. So what does this mean for Scotland's food tourism ambitions? ... more/

Frustrated by rumours and speculation about the failure of her hugely successful business, Natalie Crayton, the founder of Hebridean Sea Salt (which had a Great Taste award from the Guild of Fine Food) agreed to speak with me exclusively to put her side of the story. But it didn't stop there ...more/

It used to be the case that a hotel restaurant was a hotel restaurant, where the food was produced on a large scale by an anonymous kitchen. You got what was on offer, take it or leave it.

But the hotel food scene is changing as fast as you can say “Oui, chef” ...more/

I’m chairing the Tony Singh event at the Stirling Highland Games food festival on August 18, 2018, so thought I’d give this exclusive 2014 interview another airing …

GIVEN half a chance, Tony Singh would happily scoff an entire plate of scones and jam along with his cup of home-brewed Masala chai. The Edinburgh chef puts his sweet tooth down to his Asian genes - and his Glasgow heritage. “My mum was born in Glasgow so I reckon I get my fondness for sugar from her,” he jokes over breakfast at home. … more/

HOW refreshing, in the febrile clamour for gender parity, to find that not one but two women have dared wade in to the male-dominated world of whisky. The approaches taken by Bonnie MacBird and Rachel McCormack could not be more different, however, and suggest that the world of Scotch remains as enigmatic as ever ...more/

Progress may have gone at a snail’s pace, but a tiny wild Scottish mollusc has finally been accepted into the care of an international foodorganisation to protect it from extinction ...more/

Although we praise it every Burns night, haggis isn't actually Scottish. It's an ancient dish that's been enjoyed for centuries all over the world, and by all levels of society from peasant to great chieftain. So I decided to challenge some of Scotland's most innovative chefs to come up with different recipes ...more

It's too easy to overlook the fact that Glasgow gained its first Michelin star in 1974, way before Edinburgh got its first in 2001. Now Glasgow languishes with none, while Edinburgh has four. So how did the tables turn? More .../

I reviewed Dr Annie Gray's first book, an astonishing account of Queen Victoria's fixation with food, for The Herald. The incredible detail, especially in Gray's descriptions of the various royal kitchens not to mention the sheer volume of food consumed by the monarch and her entourage, prompt me to wager that we'll soon see it as a documentary or dramatisation ere long. Meanwhile, this dress speaks, er, volumes ... more/

A retired school teacher from Angus has brought home the title of world marmalade champion to the area said to be where the famous orange preserve was first invented - or was it? more .../

It's got a gorgeous name, a fabulous colour - and a pretty high ABV. Welcome to Scotland's first absinthe, to be known as Marmichan (Scots for wicked fairy) when it launches in October ...more/

Finding Tony Borthwick in his kitchen, grinning like a Cheshire cat, was worth the stress of getting lost on the way to St Andrews. After a haitus following the closure of his Michelin-starred Plumed Horse in Leith, he's reappeared as Executive Head Chef of Rocca, the three AA-rosette restaurant at the Macdonald Rusacks Hotel - and further expansion is afoot ... more/

They taste surprisingly mild and not fishy at all. "Like mellow scrambled eggs," is how chef Pam Brunton of Inver restaurant described Gigha Halibut roe, the newest addition to the Scots larder, which she introduced live on BBC's Saturday Kitchen. ...more/

Legendary chef Albert Roux OBE was in Scotland to support Scots potato farmers who are hopeful their Ayrshire Early Potatoes will be granted PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) status by the EU as early as next week. Final changes to their submission were made last Tuesday [June 13] ... more/

A dessert-only menu sounds like a sugar-addict’s dream. And when I heard the concept - more common in Europe than the UK - was making its Scottish debut in Glasgow, thanks to pastry chef Helen Vass, alarm bells rang. After all, the city surely has the sweetest tooth of the entire nation, not to mention diet-related health issues like obesity and Type 2 Diabetes. Was someone having a laugh? ...more/

It seems more of us are eschewing alcohol, even in fine-dining restaurants. I got to witness the evolution of Scotland's first tea-paired menu at The Gardener's Cottage restaurant with tea expert Erica Moore of eteaket ... more/

It was quite a thrill to meet Emily Roux and hear her views on the feminisation of her industry. The 25-year-old daughter of MIchel Roux Jr, chef-patron of Le Gavroche in London's Mayfair, and grand-daughter of Albert Roux OBE was in Scotland to present her first stand-alone menu at the ICMI-run Crossbasket Castle on the outskirts of Glasgow ... more/

Prince Charles is to return to Dumfries House in Ayrshire to open his pet project, the Dumfries House Educational Farm. It houses a range of endangered rare breeds - including Castlemilk Moorit sheep - to save them from extinction while educating the children from the deprived areas surrounding the 18th century house saved for the nation 10 years ago ...more/

Carlo Petrini's back in Scotland next week to speak at Aberdeen University's May Festival. When he was in Edinburgh to launch Slow Food Scotland, I chatted with the founder of the global food movement. He reckoned farmers' markets in Scotland were not reaching the people they should, and cited the example of New York, where there are 12,000. (Photo: onuitalia.) More .../

They're notoriously difficult to grow in sufficient quantities and of consistent quality to meet the demands of the big retailers. The recent revival of the historic Clyde Valley industry was sadly short-lived. But now a farmer in the Scottish Borders believes he's cracked it with a growing system never before tried in Scotland ... more/

The editor of Observer Food Monthly prises open his past to encounter secrets that have bothered him all his life.

He believes in miracles. "I think I almost am one," he writes.

Reading his haunting memoir, it's hard to disagree.

more ...

Scotland, where food tourism is still in its infancy, has a lot to learn from the EatJersey festival of gastronomy, which I was lucky enough to experience first-hand ... more/

Two women have seen to it that Syria doesn't lose its ancient food culture even as its people flee and disperse. ...more/

Could it be that the man with a West of Scotland sweet tooth could re-educate our tastes for good? I spent time with James Campbell, head of desserts at M&S, to find out ...more/

Tom Kitchin, chef-patron of The Kitchin, one of Scotland’s 12 Michelin starred restaurants, recently became the first Scots chef to launch a pop-up restaurant at Harrods.

He told me Scotland could sell itself better as a food destination, and that going to London was a way of attracting attention to the vibrant world-class scene here.

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Brexit could scupper plans for the first abattoir on Skye in more than a generation.

The micro facility, for which local crofters, farmers and chefs have been campaigning for decades, has finally been granted planning permission for a site in Portree. Once built, it would allow small-batch Isle of Skye-labelled lamb, beef and pork from rare and native breeds reared on the island to be identified on menus and marketed worldwide for the first time. This includes Hebridean lamb, Soay mutton and Highland beef.

Now, however, the UK’s plans to leave the European Union have put in doubt vital EU funding for the £1.5m project ... more

With the global health crisis apparently running out of control, it’s easy to assume the food industry is as flabby as most of the people it feeds. As I recently discovered, however, work is ongoing behind the scenes to address the UK's dire health statistics which show that two-thirds of adults and almost a third of children are obese or overweight, and around 5% have Type 2 diabetes (80% of whom are obese).

Scotland’s growing army of small-to-medium food and drink producers is busy liaising with academics and scientists to voluntarily find ways of reformulating existing and future products so they contain less sugar, salt and fat. Their work is both enlightening and encouraging.

Whether such measures will make the slightest bit of difference remains, however, a moot point ...more/

Scotland's already a force to be reckoned with when it comes to the micro-production of craft gin, beer and whisky - and more recently brandy and rum. Now a Glasgow-based innovator is also leading the artisan soft drinks revolution ...more/

In some ways, they're a match made in heaven. The browns, greys, yellows and creams and reflected blue hues in their shells seem like a visual echo of their wild Hebridean habitat. And they're being foraged and prepped by a local entrrepreneur for top city restaurants.....more

I was commissed to write a piece about how cookbooks have shaped the way I cook at Christmas. As I pondered what I was going to say, I met a friend who said she'd chucked out all her cookbooks in favour of using the internet. For me, though, going online may be a quick fix, but it precludes the joy of grazing more.../

Some of Scotland’s top chefs expressed disappointment and frustration that of the 20 new Michelin stars awarded in the new edition of the Michelin Guide Great Britain and Ireland 2017, none of them were for Scotland.

It was a case of “as you were” ... more

Attempting to throw a bread sandwich from the 20th floor of a high-rise flat may not be an entirely successful way to feed hungry children, as Adam McNaughton’s famous 1960s Jeely Piece Glasgow folk song says. But a new bakery in one of the last remaining high-rise blocks in the city’s notorious Gorbals area is feeding hungry residents from the ground floor up....more

Cheesed off with Glasgow's enduring reputation for having a rubbish eating-out scene coupled with the worst diet in Europe, a collective of the city's most progressive chefs sought to set the record straight with a new not-for-profit restaurant festival. Pigs might fly? Here's how they got on in year one more.../

Scotland has long been recognised as the sole producer of premium Scotch whisky, with the first written record in the Exchequer rolls of Scotland dating from June 1495. In more recent times the country has become the biggest producer of gin, with its distillers outperforming their counterparts in England to produce 70 per cent of all gin made in the UK.

Now there's a new spirit coming from the Scottish countryside, thanks to an abundance of apples ... more

It is regarded as a quintessentially English preserve with advocates ranging from Elizabeth I to Paddington Bear. Now, however, the Scots have launched an offensive to reclaim marmalade as their own..... more

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I must admit I didn't realise that many supermarket and take-away soups don't contain nearly as much veg as you'd think. This became apparent at the first-ever National Vegetable Summit in Edinburgh, a UK-wide event held simultaneously in London and Cardiff, when some of the UK’s top retailers and public service caterers pledged to increase the volume of vegetables they offer, and support it by better promotions, to help combat declining vegetable consumption in Scotland ...more/

Richard Lochhead MSP, the former cabinet secretary for food and rural affairs and the environment, has written to WH Smith to ask them to consider stocking Scottish bottled water alongside French and English. I wrote about this exclusively for The Times and STV News picked up on it, with a response from Jackson Carlaw MSP. According to the STV story he thought the whole idea was a "ludicrous grievance". But when the UK bottled water industry is worth £2.1bn and the competition between brands has never been keener, shouldn't Scottish water be up there with the others?  more …/