Following on from the success of the initial Scotland Year of Food and Drink in 2010, the Government has decreed that 2015 should also be a Scotland Year of Food and Drink.
As well as a new, food-related slant on established events such as the Borders Book Festival (11-14 June), the Orkney Folk Festival (21-24 May) and the Glasgow Science Festival (5-15 June), there will be a number of new events designed to inspire and engage diverse audiences with Scottish produce.
These include the Children’s Food Festival in the Highlands (5-6 June), Cake Fest Edinburgh (21 June) at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Food Town Day (6 June) in Dumfries and Galloway.
Monthly food themes
As part of the Year of Food and Drink programme, each calendar month is to have a food theme. In January, the theme has been that of traditional Scottish foods.
From Black Bun and shortbread at Hogmanay to haggis on Burns Night, it’s certainly a busy time of year to fly the flag for Caledonia’s culinary creations.
In some ways, the traditional food theme is pushing against an open door. The supermarket Asda recently reported that sales of traditional Scots products are up by 24% in the run-up to Burns Night.
Haggis mountain
The 5pm Dining blog has seen first hand how events such as Burns suppers can drive demand.
Earlier this week, we visited Campbells in Linlithgow.
A one stop shop for catering supplies, the plant was busy preparing for Burns Night and we went behind the scenes to watch their awesome haggis production line in action.
The star of the show was the machine which pumped the cooked haggis mix into their casings.
Every two seconds a chunky, new haggis shot out of the spout. It’s not every day that we get to witness the birth of so many new haggis.
We ran a blog highlighting a few 5pm members which are hosting Burns Nights here. For a full list of Scottish restaurants on 5pm, browse here.
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Tweaking tradition
While the Government initiative has placed the emphasis on traditional Scottish dishes (try this cranachan from Neil Forbes of Café St Honoré), we’ve also been tickled by chefs who have taken traditional Scottish recipes and tweaked them.
As ever Tony Singh, who will be back on our TV screens in February, is a dab hand at blending Scottish dishes with spicier influences.
You might want to give his clootie samosa a whirl.
Seasonal Scottish produce
The depths of winter are not the easiest time to enjoy Scottish produce but there are lots of fantastic ingredients which are at their best now.
Root veg are abundant and cheap while game such as duck, pheasant, rabbit and venison are all readily available and eating well.
Seafood also comes into its own during the colder months. Hake, langoustine, lemon sole, ling, lobster, mackerel, monkfish, mussels, oysters and plaice are all said to be mighty fine at this time of year.
You can download a calendar showing what Scottish produce is in season from here.