In the midst of Fringe madness, the Scottish Chocolate Festival (23rd-24th & 30th-31st Aug) at the Scotsman Hotel made for a sweet alternative to the non-stop comedy and drama of the Royal Mile. The doors were barely open on the Festival’s first Saturday and the place was already bustling.
I’m sitting at a table with people I haven’t met before, waving what looks like a perfume test strip in front of my nose and exclaiming: ‘it smells a lot more like grass if you inhale it!’. This is what can happen when you’re trying whisky at the Signet Library.…
Christopher recently visited Innis & Gunn to taste Smokin’ Gunn, their very special, slightly smoky beer. We were delighted to be invited back to Innis & Gunn HQ recently to check out their premises and learn about the events they put on. We were lucky enough to have a beer…
Imagine you’re a young chef. Quite possibly, it is the first time you’ve been abroad. Visiting a French market can overwhelm the senses. Ingredients that are hard to come by in a Scottish kitchen are sold in copious amounts on the markets – seven different types of pears? How…
Recently I was invited to Chaophraya to eat Thai accompanied with Glenfiddich whisky. Whisky and food matching is a challenge: I love the idea, but it can be tricky to manage. If you’re used to drinking wine with food whisky can seem too strong, too concentrated. At my whisky-matched meal,…
We have seven cafetières, a filter mug, a ROK espresso press and a mocha pot. If we want coffee, we have several ways of making it. Because all of these methods result in a certain amount of mess, we recently also got a Nespresso machine, with a milk heater on…
The Foodies Festival is what you make it: spend the day watching cookery demonstrations and tastings, sample food and drink, and shop from the many suppliers. It’s an exciting way to get to know new producers and products. A mostly sunny Sunday, C. and I packed our rain jackets and…
The Macallan launched their new range of whiskies a couple of weeks ago, in the Pompadour at the Caledonian. There were whisky cocktails, scrumptious canapés and the main attraction: The 1824 Series. The Series is an interesting addition to their existing range and takes a completely new approach. We’re used…
John and Miles are at Edinburgh Science Festival on March 31, 2013 How many of us actually eat wild plants these days? Picking blackberries, elderflowers and elderberries, sloes and wild garlic are all popular finds for me. Much as we like the idea of mushroom picking, that’s fraught with problems.…
