Venison with Chocolate & Chilli wins Gold
Staff at Fletchers of Auchtermuchty are celebrating after winning two prestigious 2011 Great Taste Awards. As well as a coveted 3-star Gold Great Taste Award for their Venison medallions, Fletchers of Auchtermuchty won the 2-star Gold Great Taste Award for their Venison with Chocolate and Chilli sausages. The Great Taste Awards judging standards, devised by the Guild of Fine Food, are the most rigorous in the UK.
Vikki Banks, General Manager of Fletchers of Auchtermuchty, is quoted as saying: “We are absolutely over the moon to receive two awards. Winning Great Taste Awards recognizes the hard work and dedication that goes into making superb food and drink. They highlight the fact that that the best practice farming methods we use in producing our venison shines right through to our products. ”
Fletchers’ venison is traditionally hung for perfect flavour and a superb tenderness. Their deer graze in extensive grass pastures with no growth promoters or antibiotics so there are no drug residues. They never go to an abattoir.
And the awards could keep coming – Fletcher’s have been nominated for the Golden Fork award for ‘Best Speciality from Scotland’ for their venison medallions – results to be announced in September. Watch this space!
For more information on Fletchers of Auchtermuchty: www.seriouslygoodvenison.co.uk
Panko Mullet and Marmalade on Toast at Wedgwoods
Paul Wedgwood of Wedgwood the Restaurant has just announced a head turning new menu.
A medley of Wedgwood favourites and classic dishes have been turned on their head by co-owner and head chef Paul Wedgwood. With the focus as always on fresh local Scottish produce the menu includes some inspiring starters, including the ever popular Mullet encrused in Panko and Black Sesame and Lobster Thermidor creme brulee
New look main courses and desserts reflect Pail’s enthusiasm for foraging. The Sea Bass, blue cheese and spring onion risotto includes a pesto made from wood sorrel. Sweet cicely, another foraged ingredient, makes an appearance on the dessert menu as the flavouring for an ice cream accompanying sumptuous Chocolate truffle cake. Also listed is Paul’s infamous Pork belly with hand dived king scallops wrapped in caul fat – firm favourite with patrons as is Wedgewood’s ‘very sticky’ sticky toffee pudding. Two new desserts soon to be amongst the favourites include ‘Marmalade on toast’ creme brulee with tea sorbet and a Strawberry and Clotted Cream Pannacotta.
(ED: The Dunsyre risotto bonbons and pigeon breast with haggis starter are two of our favourites)
Located in the heart of Edinburgh, Wedgwood the Restaurant is now in its fourth year. Their passion for food and wine remains as strong as ever as reflected in the new seasonal menu for 2011.
The philosophy behind Wedgwood the Restaurant has always been to allow diners to relax, take their time and enjoy some unique culinary treats. Paul’s ‘Deciding time’ sets the tone for this mission – diners are presented with a glass of Champagne and a selection of amuse bouche based on the menu for the day to help them choose their dishes.
www.wedgwoodtherestaurant.co.uk
A Cheese Opus – Gruth Dhub and the Flowery Crowdie
According to the ‘Left Over Queen’, a renowned food blogger based in Vermont – Food is the cornerstone to all cultures and by learning what traditional foods are in certain areas, you learn a lot about the people and landscape.
As part of a graduate study she wanted to make something quintessentially Scottish and that’s when she contact Taste-of-Scotland.com for information about Gruth Dubh – the blackened crowdie cheese, usually rolled in peppercorns and oatmeal.
With a medley of European ancestors including a Scottish/German dad who was famous for his “Leftover Soup”, our Left Over Queen set about sourcing recipes and created what she calls her first Cheese Opus: Gruth Dhub and Flowery Crowdie.
While her results might not reflect the more traditional crowdies or Gruth Dhub, we felt they were quite sensational. Not only did our Left Over Queen show real grit and determination in terms of her Scottish Crowdie research, the final result had a unique added dimension in the form of Uncle Roy’s Flowers of Scotland.
At this point I will leave you to discover all on the Left Over Queen’s web site:
http://www.leftoverqueen.com/2011/07/06/my-first-cheese-opus-gruth-dhub-and-flowery-crowdie
It’s a truly original and informative blog written with an energy and style that I would love to see replicated here in amongst the Scottish obline web sites.
Oh, and if you want to find out more about Uncle Roy – here’s the link:
http://www.uncleroys.co.uk/Flower_Petal_Seasonings.htm
Scotland’s Seasonal Foods from Connoisseurs Scotland.
Good to see a seasonal food promotion from the Connoisseurs Hotel Group. Entitled Scotland’s Seasonal Foods and written by food writer and travel expert Viv Devlin, this handy little publication makes very appetising reading as she weaves her way through the seafoods, game, soft fruits and other gourmet delights on offer during the summer months.
With an emphasis on the group’s hotels and chefs, it still makes for enjoyable reading and is set out as a bite sized downloadable PDF
Look out for the link on : www.luxuryscotland.co.uk/newsletter
Celebrity Chef Mull’s over an Island’s Food Heritage
Horst Lichter , a German TV celebrity chef, believes it is possible to encapsulate the spirit of a place by its food. Lichter, renowned for his trademark droopy moustache is the star of German television’s Kitchen Wars, was visiting the island of Mull as part of a television production on European food.
In preparation for his filming on Mull he asked local restaurant proprietor Jo Currie to prepare a list of the island’s best ingredients. Jo together with her husband Dave runs ‘Highland Cottage‘ a restaurant with rooms on Mull in Tobermory. She listed fish and lobster from the town’s harbour, Glengorm Castle estate beef, local cheese and other food and drink for which Mull is rightly famous.
Having sourced the food Lichter handed his purchases back to Jo, who cooked and served a four course dinner for him, the TV crew, the food suppliers, and clan chieftain, Sir Lachlan Maclean who lives at Duart Castle on the island.
Jo, who received a Senior Chef Fellowship at the 2011 Scottish Hotel of the Year Awards, said: “There’s so much magnificent produce on Mull that it was very difficult to choose the best ingredients for Horst that are characteristic of the island. I had to leave out a lot of lovely ingredients we use at Highland Cottage every day. However, this really was a meal to savour and I enjoyed cooking for such special guests.”
Horst Lichter’s programme on Mull will be shown on ZDF telvision later in the year.
Hopefully we will be able to post the web link so that we can all view the results.
http://www.highlandcottage.co.uk
http://www.madeonmull.co.uk – short cut for shopping trip to Mull.
