Scottish Food and Drink Fortnight which runs from 3-18 September 2016, aims to help people discover the great local food and drink made right on their doorstep!
Established in 2003, the thirteenth year of this annual celebration is set to be the biggest yet, with hundreds of events happening across the two weeks.
There will be Farmers’ Markets held across the country and food festivals galore, letting you sample the delights grown, farmed and reared in Scotland. And if like me you love food, then don’t worry, there will be plenty of samples on offer to whet your appetite! You can rest assured you’ll have a braw time!
There is great Scottish produce to be found and Scotland has some really fabulous food on offer. For example, what about the seafood? I have been to lots of farmers markets and had the pleasure of buying a hot and smokey haddock – or to give it its proper name – Arbroath Smokie.
The Arbroath Smokie now has official protection through the Protected Geographical Indication. And what this means is that the name Arbroath Smokie can only be given to haddock, which has been smoked in the traditional manner and what’s more all this has to take place within an eight kilometre radius of Arbroath.
And of course, there are lots of other foods of Scotland to celebrate – here are just a few – haggis, cullen skink (a thick soup made with smoked Finnan haddock, potatoes and onions), bridie (a minced beef pastry or pie originally from Forfar, sometimes with onions and spices, it’s very similar in shape to the Cornish pasty), tablet (a confection made from sugar, condensed milk, and butter, which is often flavoured with vanilla), Dundee cake (a light fruit cake topped with blanched almonds) and who could forget shortbread, which must be one of the most famous of Scottish delicacies that is known worldwide.
So … that’s the food, what about the drink – well it would really be remiss not to mention the most famous of all – Scottish whisky – it’s hard to believe but there are over 2,500 brands of Scottish whisky sold around the world – wow! For all the information you need about Scottish whisky visit the Scottish Whisky Association’s website. Along with whisky there is one more famous Scottish drink to mention and that is Irn Bru, or as it is known in Scotland “ginger”. Over the years Irn Bru have had some great advertisement campaigns, my personal favourite is the snowman, but click here to see a selection of the ads over the years.
Over the years the Scottish Food and Drink Fortnight event has been supported by celebrity chefs and organisations like Visit Scotland and the National Farmers Union Scotland.
So, for more details about events happening over this feast of a fortnight, visit the Scottish Food and Drink Fortnight website. If you visit the website there’s lots of downloadable promotional material are available. Also the logo is available on request, click here for all the information you need.
If you own a restaurant or food store you can find details of how you can get involved from the official Scottish Food and Drink website, or if you just want a taste of Scotland in your own home, there are plenty of recipes to get you in the mood for more Scottish cuisine!