Photo of
April 10, 2015
The interior of the Contini's Cannonball.
The interior of the Contini’s Cannonball.

Unless you have spent the last four months having a duvet day then you’ll know that 2015 is a Year of Food and Drink in Scotland.

The idea is that we should all shout more loudly and more often about how wonderful Scotland’s natural produce is. We should also eat more of it.

It is a very good idea. If not a new one. Most of Scotland’s more switched on restaurants have long been passionate advocates of Scottish produce and have not been shy to shout about their home grown suppliers.

Edinburgh’s Victor and Carina Contini are good examples. At their Scottish Cafe and Restaurant at the Scottish National Gallery, their menus are illustrated with a map of Scotland showing some 50 Scottish suppliers they use.

First course of the Taste Scotland menu: Phantassie Farm spinach and Scottish Kitchen Garden wild leek velouté served with crispy Peelham Farm cured pork and Connage Black Crowdie
First course of the Taste Scotland menu: Phantassie Farm spinach and Scottish Kitchen Garden wild leek velouté served with crispy Peelham Farm cured pork and Connage Black Crowdie

At Contini Ristorante, the Italian restaurant they launched in 2004, they use imported Italian ingredients alongside Scottish produce such as Peelham Farm pork and Scottish shellfish.

That Scots Italian marriage is most clear at Contini Cannonball, the restaurant, caffe and gelateria, they opened last year in Cannonball House on Castlehill.

Fish course: Peterhead pan-roasted monkfish with East Lothian root vegetable and saffron broth and blue shell Shetland mussels
Fish course: Peterhead pan-roasted monkfish with East Lothian root vegetable and saffron broth and blue shell Shetland mussels

The restaurant sits on the top floor and has great views of Edinburgh Castle. I don’t know if the kitchen can see the Edinburgh icon but they do have a fine vision of how best to combine great Scottish produce and culinary traditions with the occasional Italian twist. The Orkney lobster thermidor macaroni cheese is a good example.

Earlier this week, the 5pm Dining blog was invited to try the restaurant’s new, five course Taste Scotland menu.

Main course: Peelham Farm Tamworth pork belly and Musselburgh leek purée with Ramsay of Carluke black pudding cannonball and wild garlic mashed Carroll's Heritage potatoes
Main course: Peelham Farm Tamworth pork belly and Musselburgh leek purée with Ramsay of Carluke black pudding cannonball and wild garlic mashed Carroll’s Heritage potatoes

Among others, the menu flies the flag for Phantassie Farm veg, Knockraich Farm dairy products, Oban Whisky, Hebridean Sea Salt, Ramsay of Carluke products and, once more, Peelham Farm pork.

While the menu’s focus is very much on Scottish products, the kitchen is flexible and astute enough to use ingredients from elsewhere such as Amalfi lemons and Madagascan vanilla.

The Taste Scotland menu costs £50 or £70 with matched wines.

The 5pm Dining blog doesn’t do reviews as such but we will tell you our highlights.

Pre-dessert: Scottish rhubarb posset and jelly, Madagascar vanilla shortbread, Amalfi Lemon meringue and honeyed Knockraich Farm yoghurt
Pre-dessert: Scottish rhubarb posset and jelly, Madagascar vanilla shortbread, Amalfi Lemon meringue and honeyed Knockraich Farm yoghurt

The starter of spinach and leek velouté was one of those rare dishes that tasted as though it was good for you as well as tasting fantastic. A slice of cured Peelham pork added saltiness while crispy strands of wild leeks (grown in the Contains’ kitchen garden) gave a pleasantly chewy texture to the vibrant green liquid.

The crackling on the main course of Tamworth pork belly was beautifully crunchy and just the right side of sticky. Soft, garlic mash and crunchy, rich cannonballs of black pudding added contrasting textures.

We could go on but, as we mentioned, the blog doesn’t really do reviews. The pictures tell their own story. Except for the one we took of the whisky sponge dessert which didn’t really do the pud justice.

The views of Edinburgh Castle are pretty drmatic as well.
The views of Edinburgh Castle are pretty dramatic as well.