This Sunday is the day where families traditionally gather together to prepare the Christmas pudding in advance of the coming festive season. In the past si ...| foodanddrink.scotsman.com
6am Even though my business is based at the end of an eight mile single track road in Skye, and 12 miles from the nearest shop and Post Office, I’m more connected with all my customers than ever before. The first job of the day is to check all my social media accounts and respond to […]| Artisan | Scotsman Food and Drink
Salt cod has many names and uses across the globe. In Portugal, they know it as bacalhau, the Basque Country call it bacalao, in Norway, it’s klippfisk, saltfish is served with ackee in Jamaica, and they batter and fry it in Greece to make bakaliaros. There are endless variations worldwide and throughout history this preserved fish has been a delicacy as […]| Artisan | Scotsman Food and Drink
7am Time to get in the shower. If I'm heading out for meetings, I'll dress a bit smarter than if I was spending the whole day in the kitchen. I might go comfier if I'm driving south to pick up Scotland’s berries. I deal with as many messages as possible while our wee boy smashes […]| Artisan | Scotsman Food and Drink
Many of the shops on Edinburgh’s historic Royal Mile sell what might be described as tartan tat. However, this historic Old Town thoroughfare is also a destination for something much more tempting than a hairy haggis or ‘see you Jimmy’ hat. That’s thanks to long term resident The Fudge House, who have been at the […]| Artisan | Scotsman Food and Drink
Gregor Leckie spent the first part of his career working in “every aspect of the drinks industry.” From the age of 17, he worked in wine, brewing and distillation to pubs, cocktail bars and nightclubs. But it was his time working in vineyards and with an influential operator in Perth, western Australia, which changed his […]| Artisan | Scotsman Food and Drink
Perhaps because it’s so cold, Scotland has seen an eruption of small and independent producers creating this condiment in recent years. We suggest that you buy your beloved a bottle of the hot stuff for Valentine’s Day, especially if they’re not much of a chocolate or flowers fan. Or, you could cook them dinner, then surprise them with a […]| Artisan | Scotsman Food and Drink
6.30am How my day starts is dictated by my son Jamie. His arrival during lockdown has improved the structure of my day somewhat, book-ending what can at times be a fairly erratic morning/afternoon. Keeping my mind on tasks that help him get ready ensures that I can have some headspace away from the business. Who needs meditation […]| Artisan | Scotsman Food and Drink
Many of us here in Scotland have a sweet tooth, something that’s usually carried on from a love of sweeties as children. But not many of us take that passion and turn it into a business. Jamie Hutheon however did just that. In 2008, aged just 17, Jamie launched Cocoa Ooze in Aberdeen. Jamie had […]| Artisan | Scotsman Food and Drink
6am I don’t need to set an alarm, as one of our three dependents – two kids under two-years-old and a crazy cockapoo – will usually wake us up. That’s when ...| foodanddrink.scotsman.com
It sounds like Ned Palmer had a better lockdown than most of us. This fromage expert and author used most of the time stuck at home to research his book, A ...| foodanddrink.scotsman.com
Scotland and its people have a reputation for being a nation of inventors and creators, not to mention passionate and hard working, and the food-and-drink sector exemplifies this. During the time that I've written Scotland's Larder (the first article was October 2020) the world has been turned upside down and every week I have heard […]| Artisan | Scotsman Food and Drink
Murmichan, is a wicked fairy in Scots and now it is also the name of the first absinthe produced in Scotland – by Lost Loch Distillery in Deeside. The distillery is built on what would have been the eastern shore of the glacial Loch Auchlossan, if it hadn't been drained in the 1940s. Locally, it […]| Artisan | Scotsman Food and Drink
While many people dream of jacking in the day job and turning a hobby into a business, not many actually do it. Someone who took the plunge and turned his love of making artisan ice cream into a company making gelato is Joe Sykes. Marketeer Prior to founding his company, Joelato, Joe worked in marketing. […]| Artisan | Scotsman Food and Drink
Svetlana Kukharchuk comes from a large industrial city, Kemerovo, in Siberia, but, as a teenager, moved to Pennsylvania on an exchange to study international relations at Lock Haven University. She had initially planned to go for one semester but extended her stay before returning to enrol as a fulltime student, all whilst completing her languages […]| Artisan | Scotsman Food and Drink
The Wee Pig Company near Oban is run by Amanda Coates, who has swapped studying marine life to raise free range pigs instead. Initially, she studied Marine Environmental Science at Plymouth Polytechnic, then a Masters at Edinburgh University in Water Management – and spent three months in Oban studying worms for her dissertation. Luckily, two guys she […]| Artisan | Scotsman Food and Drink
When Cristina Wood was 21, she boarded a plane to the UK from Romania with only £30 in her pocket. She travelled to Manchester to work as an au pair, she said, "It was exciting and frightening. It has literally changed my life, it has been a real rollercoaster." But Scotland is now her home […]| Artisan | Scotsman Food and Drink
Lindsey Laing and her partner, Gerry Murphy, have turned their foraging hobby into a business, supplying top restaurants with the best of Scotland's wild larder. Wilderness years During the week Lindsey works as an employee relations manager but turns into a weekend forager running educational events, another aspect of the couple’s business. She grew up […]| Artisan | Scotsman Food and Drink
Ocelot chocolate started out as the very definition of a kitchen table business. In 2014, Matthew and Ishbel Broadbent got married, and received some wedding gift money. Instead of buying crockery from John Lewis, the enterprising Edinburgh-based couple, both originally from Fife, invested in their first trademark and a table-top temperer. Then they started selling […]| Artisan | Scotsman Food and Drink
Gareth Young is his own words, "a craft beer nerd". He grew up in Lenzie but started home brewing as a hobby about the same time as he went to Glasgow university. He studied Computer Sciences and Maths, but added an extra subject of Philosophy. “It just kind of caught my attention. I found that […]| Artisan | Scotsman Food and Drink
In my regular Scotland's Larder series, I usually triumph Scottish produce exclusively but I have made an exception this week to highlight one Glasgow business, La Pastina Deli, a little piece of Italy on Byers Road. It is run by Glaswegian John Traynor who, despite having no Italian family connections, managed to scoop the Best […]| Artisan | Scotsman Food and Drink
The funnel cake is a sweet treat, which was brought over to North America by Dutch immigrants in the 17th and 18th centuries. It’s now most commonly served over there at fairgrounds and carnivals, along with the more familiar hot-dogs and candyfloss. It consists of deep fried cake batter, with various toppings, and the name alludes […]| Artisan | Scotsman Food and Drink
We all love sourdough or a croissant, and Wild Hearth Bakery in Comrie makes magnificent versions of both. However, they're currently encouraging professional bakers to try making Ukrainian bread. This is part of founder John Castley's Bake With Ukraine campaign, which he hopes will raise £100,000 for the British Red Cross. It was inspired by […]| Artisan | Scotsman Food and Drink
Free doughnuts. Now that we have your undivided attention, we suggest you get along to one of independent business The Kilted Donut’s branches at Edinburgh’s 191 Great Junction Street or 22 St Stephen Street. This Sunday, March 27, with doors opening at 10am, they’re giving away a box of four kilties - their bite-sized bakes, which come […]| Artisan | Scotsman Food and Drink
7.45am I wake up, check emails and go through social media while replying, liking, and sharing - whatever keeps Raw Culture in the spotlight. I’ll check what the competition is doing, get a shower and go for breakfast. I live most days by the seat of my pants. John Lennon said, “Life is what happens […]| Artisan | Scotsman Food and Drink
Many Border towns have their own unique confectionery; Jedburgh has Jethart snails, Berwick has Cockles, Galashiels - Soor Plums, Hawick ... balls, but in Moffat it is a traditional boiled sweet, known as toffee, that the locals cannot get enough of. Sweet dreams Blair Blacklock's great grandmother, Janet Cook Johnstone founded the business more than […]| Artisan | Scotsman Food and Drink
We’ve been very expectantly waiting outside this 21 Leith Walk bakehouse since its hoarding went up a few months ago. Now, there’s no more delayed gratifica ...| foodanddrink.scotsman.com
If you’ve been on North Berwick’s High Street recently, you may have noticed a queue. It starts right outside the door of Bostock Bakery and stretches ...| foodanddrink.scotsman.com
“We’ve gone a wee bit viral”. When I contact Ruth Munro, 47, the owner of the Edinburgh Fermentarium, she’s having a very frantic time, as local food blogge ...| foodanddrink.scotsman.com
He used to buy his bacon from the supermarkets but he had an epiphany when he cured his own for the first time; "it was an amazing taste I thought wow ...| foodanddrink.scotsman.com
Kirstie Campbell runs a social enterprise, based in tranquil East Lothian, which produces high quality seabuckthorn juice and other products. This includes, ...| foodanddrink.scotsman.com
