The Glorious 12th, the start of the grouse shooting season, sees the start of that wonderful time of year when game is plentiful. As Autumn draws on you might think of rich dishes, stews, casseroles with unctuous sauces. But as we’re still in Summer (!), I’m looking forward to warm…
July 2011 Visiting the Edinburgh Festival this August? You’re in for a treat on 5 August, when Ondine welcomes The J Sheekey pop-up at Ondine on August 5th. J Sheekey is Roy Brett’s favourite restaurant. It has the same approach to fish and shellfish and as Head Chef Richard Kirkwood…
By all accounts Michael Smith cut quite a dash in Manhattan on a recent visit with Visit Scotland. The kilted chef (@Kiltcuisine on Twitter) certainly stood out at the recent Taste of Edinburgh Festival. He was relishing the fact that there were so many real food lovers around that weekend. I…
If you live in a city like myself, it’s too easy not to escape once in a while. But when you do, it can be just like being on holiday. Recently, Mr EF and I drove into Fife to St Monans, just an hour and a quarter’s drive from Edinburgh. …
Clare Rennie took some time out of her very busy pre Taste of Edinburgh festival preparations to tell us about Berry Scrumptious, a small company based on the family fruit farm in Aberdeenshire run by husband and wife team Claire & Ross Rennie. The farm is situated on the north…
Salads are no longer ordinary, nor do they have to come from some anonymous far flung location. Those salads in plastic pillow packs were likely to have been washed in chemicals to keep them fresh. So, we were very excited to hear of saladworx, Scotland Food and Drink Excellence Awards…
First Coast is at the top of Dalry Road, Edinburgh opposite The Good Seed and La Partenope. I’ve been going there for years, for dinner and lunch, celebrations or just when I don’t want to cook. Over the years, I have grown increasingly fond of the place. The food is…
Spring is a time for sowing rather than harvesting, but some ingredients reach their peak just now. Beautiful morel mushrooms and forced rhubarb vie with imported new potatoes and Spanish strawberries. A challenge to eat locally, but not impossible! Fruit and Vegetables Chicory, carrots, rhubarb, jerusalem artichokes, fennel, potatoes from…
Edinburgh foodies know about Earthy. I knew about it too, I just hadn’t been there until last weekend. Last weekend a friend took me to Earthy for a pudding tasting. (What else are weekends for, if not pudding tastings?) We tasted Burtree Puddings puddings, shopped for those things you can’t…
For us home cooks though, some ingredients are just plain difficult to replace and up until fairly recently, I would have suggested olive oil was one of them. Rapeseed – a true alternative to olive oil.
