The 5pm Dining blog was tickled to read that Spain has an increasingly ravenous appetite for British food and drink.
We’ve long known that the Spanish and the French are head over heels for our seafood but it seems that the Spaniards are developing a taste for products such as Marmite, London Pride beer and Cathedral City cheddar.
According to the Food and Drink Federation, Spain has become the fifth biggest export market within the European Union for British groceries. Scotland has played a big part in that success. Over the last ten years, food exports from Scotland have increased by more than 50% to £755m in 2014.
Well done and pats on the back all round.
Scottish restaurant in Paris?
What we’re asking is when will the first Scottish, British or English-themed restaurant open in Spain or France? Or indeed anywhere in continental Europe?
Irish theme pubs are popular all over the world and there is a sprinkling of Scottish-themed pubs and restaurants, especially in the States.
But how long will it be before we see a restaurant in Paris, Madrid or Barcelona that sells itself on offering specifically British or Scottish dishes?
Scottish Michelin stars
If British food was once a laughing stock, those days are long gone. London is seen as one of the best cities in the world for the quality of its restaurants and, over the last fifteen years or so, Scotland’s haul of Michelin-starred restaurants has underlined the culinary renaissance which has taken place north of the border.
How long before we export some of that restaurant know-how to France or Spain or Italy?
If memory serves, Pierre Levicky, founder of the Pierre Victoire chain, did open a Scottish restaurant in Belgium but we’re guessing that it went belly up when the PV business imploded.
Who will next dare to take fish and chips to the French?