Trailblazer Guide Books

Worth watching out for.
 — John Cleare

FOOD

While everyone knows Scotland to be the home of the finest single malt whiskies in the world, not so many are aware of its rich tradition in food. While many pubs and restaurants, sadly, insist on serving unimaginative, bog-standard pub-grub such as burger and chips, or microwaved lasagne, the Highlands is still the best place to find many of Scotland's national dishes; increasingly these are inspired by fresh, local produce.

Look out for the Taste of Scotland signs (www.taste-of-scotland.com) for establishments that offer just that. Many of Scotland's traditional recipes are based on potatoes and other root vegetables that were commonly grown in crofting communities while fish and other seafood are also local specialities. Some of the best known, as well as lesser known, dishes are listed below. See p303 for tips on what to eat when in the hills.

Some traditional dishes
For years tourist guides in Scotland have led many a gullible visitor to believe that the haggis is a small furry creature with two legs shorter than the other two to help it run along hillsides in the Highlands without falling over. Sadly, the haggis as a wild beast of the moors is about as real as Father Christmas. Haggis, in fact, is minced lamb's or deer's liver and a collection of other meaty offal bits, mixed with oatmeal and boiled in a bag, traditionally a sheep's stomach bag. The result is a surprisingly tasty, peppery-flavoured dish. Haggis is usually served with neeps (turnips) and tatties (potatoes). If the taste doesn't win you over, there is always the opportunity to enter the World Haggis Hurling Championships where the record stands at 20.75 metres.

The ubiquitous red deer that run rampant all over the hills have long been a source of food for native Highlanders. Today, venison is served in many forms from traditional steak to burgers and sausages.

Cullen skink is a haddock and potato broth originating from Cullen in north-east Scotland where it was made with Finnan haddock, and in many cases, still is. Cock-a-leekie is a soup of chicken, leeks and onions.

Salmon is big business and Scotch salmon is considered to be among the world's finest, finding its way onto dishes in classy restaurants worldwide. Consequently, many commercial fish farms have sprung up along the west coast of Scotland, although wild salmon is of superior quality. Commercial fish farming is a contentious issue, with opponents arguing that the metal cages are an eyesore in a beautiful landscape and that escaped captive-bred salmon are inter-breeding with wild salmon, so threatening their very survival.

Crappit heids are haddock heads stuffed with lobster, and sometimes fish intestines, then boiled in fish stock, drained and served.

Nowadays porridge is eaten for only for breakfast but crofters used to cook enough for a week and have it for both breakfast and lunch. Porridge is simply boiled oats and should, if you are a purist, be cooked and served with salt, not sugar as is often the case.

Clapshot may sound like something you need to visit a doctor for but it is in fact mashed turnip and potato. It is far tastier than plain old mashed potato and goes really well with haggis.

Stovies are fried potatoes and onions mixed together with left-over meat and baked in an oven; a popular and filling dish.

Bannocks are oatcakes; oatcakes are made by frying oatmeal in melted fat and then baking the mixture in a hot oven. Bannocks/oatcakes are often served with cheese. Bridies are minced beef pies.

Deep-fried Mars bars are a more contemporary choice. Fish and chip shops across the land began serving this most unlikely of delicacies around 1995 and continued to do so until the chocolate began to clog up their deep fat friers. Suddenly they disappeared from the menu, but rumour has it that they are still out there, if you look hard enough.

DRINK

Whisky (and beer) galore!
Scotland is rightly famed as being the home of whisky. Whisky is made from malted barley, distilled in curiously pear-shaped stills, and is sold as either a single malt or a blend of more than one malt. At one time blends were supposed to be the tastier option, in the belief that two good malts thrown together were better than one, but that view has long since passed. Today single malts are the whisky of choice for the connoisseur.

There are literally hundreds of distilleries all over Scotland, each producing variations on their produce, usually distinguished by age. Those with a nose will be able to tell the difference between whiskies from different regions. Islay malts, for example, are usually considered to taste a bit peaty while Lowland malts have an altogether lighter touch.

For the novice the best way of deciding which whisky to go for is to, well, try a few. And then a few more. Most pubs in the Highlands are blessed with a golden top shelf that could keep avid whisky fans merrily amused for nights on end with some of these shelves sighing under the strain of over a hundred distinct bottles. For further information and education on discovering whisky contact the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (tel 0131-554 3451, www.smws.com), The Vaults, 87 Giles St, Edinburgh, EH6 6BZ.

For real ale drinkers, the Highlands of Scotland once had little to offer but this is changing. Brewers across the Highlands are producing a wonderful array of bitters. The contrast in flavours from one real ale to another is what makes the drinking of the brown stuff such a delight with brewers regularly bringing out new concoctions with enticingly romantic names. Ones to look out for on the beer pumps include Black Isle ales, Isle of Skye Cuillin ales, Orkney ale, Arran ale, Hebridean Gold ale, Hebridean Islander light ale, Caledonian ales, Inveralmond ale, Broughton ale, Aviemore ales and, for a real taste of the hills, Fraoch Heather ale.

To learn more about real ale contact the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA; tel 01727-867201, www.camra.co.uk), 230 Hatfield Rd, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL1 4LW.

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