Cawdor Castle, by Nairn, will be awash with food-lovers this weekend thank to two significant, grub-themed events.
First up, the annual Living Food festival takes place at the Castle on Saturday. Visitors can expect workshops, demonstrations, tastings and talks from leading Scottish food experts, producers, suppliers and chefs.
Then, on Sunday, from 9.30am-2.30pm, Slow Food Scotland will be holding the first ever Terra Madre Scotland event at the Castle.
The event has been organised in the run-up to Slow Food International’s Salone del Gusto/Terra Madre events taking place in Turin in late October this year.
The international Terra Madre bring together thousands of people from hundreds of countries to discuss food issues, taste each others’ produce and work together towards preserving traditional foods and biodiversity.
The Scottish event will be in much the same spirit. As well as meals from top chefs, there will be workshops, hands-on demonstrations, tastings and talks from Scottish food experts, chefs, producers and suppliers.
Protecting culinary heritage
One of the most popular events is likely to be the one looking at Slow Food’s Ark of Taste, a programme which aims to protect and nurture our global culinary heritage. So far, there are some 1800 different products on the list.
Contributors to the event will include: writer; Catherine Brown; Scottish food champion, Wendy Barrie; food consultant and community food advisor; Liz Ashworth; food campaigner and organic farmer, Pete Ritchie from Nourish Scotland; chefs including Neil Forbes, Charlie Lockley, Jim Cowie; crofters including Billy Muir from Orkney and Ronnie Eunson from Shetland; agricultural botanist; Maria Scholten; cheese-maker; Barry Graham and artisan dairy consultant; Cathy Biss.
Good, clean and fair food
Pam Rodway, organiser of Terra Madre Scotland, said:
‘We hope that as many people as possible will join us at the first ever Terra Madre Scotland. We’ve put together a unique programme of workshops, demonstrations, tastings and talks from Scotland’s top food experts, producers, suppliers and chefs. If you have an interest in good, clean and fair food, or want to learn more about Scotland’s unique food culture and how you can play your part in it, this event is for you.”
More information about Terra Madre Scotland, including a full programme and ticket info can be found at: www.slowfoodscotland.com