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Scottish luxury food
How does a banana from the Highlands strike you? Or food shopping with a field of llamas in the background?
Scotland is full of opportunities for interesting culinary experiences beyond haggis, Irn Bru and deep fried Mars bars (not that they don?t have their place though). If you fancy some fresh, quality local produce, there are plenty of places ready to prove that Scottish food is amongst the best in the world.
The Highland bananas can be found at the Hydroponicum in Achiltibuie near Ullapool, alongside all sorts of other crops like strawberries and cherries. The magical method involves using volcanic rock instead of soil in glasshouses, and the delicious results are available to buy in their shop.
When it comes to seafood, Scotland is up there with the best of them, and locally caught delicacies are widely available. The Lobster Store at Crail in Fife sells fresh crab and lobster, cooked while you wait at their tiny hut in the harbour. A visit to the shop at Loch Fyne Oysters is an essential to get hold of their famous oysters and kippers, and also regularly holds one of the regular Scottish Farmers? Markets, a great opportunity to get hold of unusual ingredients like venison and ostrich for a BBQ with a difference.
If you really want to get stocked up, there are lots of excellent country larders offering everything from wild boar to ice cream under one roof. The House of Bruar off the A9 near Blair Atholl, has an excellent, varied food hall. In Fife, the Butterchurn is also a good stop off, with the added bonus of llamas, goats and Highland cows in the nearby fields.
The Rothiemurchus Larder Shop at Inverdrurie near Aviemore sells beef, venison and salmon from its estate as well as freshly made ready meals. It is also one of Rick Stein?s Food Heroes - a seal of approval from one of Britain?s leading food experts. The Lurgan Farm Shop in Aberfeldy stocks a wide range of local produce, and also has a café with amazing views. To really treat yourself, Culinaire in Stonehaven offers luxury foods including Hebridean liqueur, bucks fizz marmalade and even imports like Maxims of Paris foie gras.
If, like me, you need to indulge your sweet tooth, The Moffat Toffee Shop in Moffat is the place to go, with its famous own brand toffee, fudges and truffles. Over on Mull, the Tobermory Chocolate Factory sells a wide range of chocolate made on site, as well as chocolate-making classes for all ages.
And lastly, for a very inventive use of Scottish ingredients, the Caledonian Curry Company, based in Sutherland's Bonar Bridge, makes a range of mail order curries using Scottish ingredients, including venision vindaloo, rabbit rogan josh and black face bhuna. No curried haggis thankfully!
This article was originally "printed" in the August 2003 issue of Uniquely Unspoilt, a free monthly e-magazine for those with an interest in rural Scotland.
Cottages relevant to this article
The following holiday cottages are situated within easy reach of the locations mentioned above:
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