Scotland’s seasonal ‘slow’ food

Slow Food Scotland aims to help redress the balance by promoting the wealth of Scottish seasonal food and the local craftsmen and women who furnish our tables with their quality produce. With food as good as this, what’s the rush?

Sowing the seeds of change

Founded in Bra, Italy in 1989, the Slow Food movement was established as an antithesis to the unfolding fast food phenomena. Today, the organisation has over 100,000 members in 132 countries, actively promoting and supporting a better way of producing and eating. To put it very simply, Slow Food promotes ‘good, clean and fair food‘. Good, because food should, primarily, taste good. The uniformity and endless food miles of fast, convenience food has taken its toll on flavour. Clean, because food should be grown and produced in a sustainable way without a negative impact to the environment, and fair, because producers and growers should be afforded a fair wage for their labours.

Green shoots

Scotland’s respect for its natural larder, commitment to quality, honest food and use of traditional methods suits the Slow Food movement well. In a recent worldwide study by the International Culinary Tourism Association, Scottish food and drink was officially named a world leader. The quality of Scotland’s natural produce, culinary tourism and the promotion of local food and drink were commended. Whisky, top-quality agriculture and seafood were all rated very highly. Slow Food Scotland is keen to promote and support this special industry and works alongside producers and restaurants to spread the good word. The Edinburgh branch is second only to London in size as the UK’s largest group and continues to grow in popularity. Donald Reid, one of the leaders of Slow Food Scotland in Edinburgh, is keen to explain the Slow Food ethos and it’s all about getting back to what’s important, “Slow Food is not about expensive and elaborate food, it‘s about regaining the pleasure and joy in our food“. He adds that “the movement is not about shunning hamburgers but it’s about making the burger with meat from your local butcher, or better still, a local farmer. A cheese sandwich can be something special when it’s made with good quality bread made from simple ingredients – flour, yeast and water – and cheese that tastes how it should, rather than mass produced and bland“.

Slow Food Edinburgh runs a number of events to promote good seasonal, local food from Slow Suppers to a Cooking for Kids initiative. They work alongside small local artisan producers helping them to bring their special food to a wider audience. Donald Reid sees this as important on many levels, “there’s a commercial value at work here; local producers feed the local economy by employing members of the community and by dealing with neighbouring suppliers, also keeping the supply chain short”. He adds that “the cultural history and heritage of growing and producing is preserved too”.

And so to the table

Slow Food Edinburgh runs a ‘Slow Food Recommended’ scheme too, with local restaurants, cafes and shops, to direct customers to where they can eat and buy ‘slow food’. Some restaurants include Edinburgh’s first Michelin-starred restaurant, Martin Wishart in Edinburgh and Loch Lomond, David Bann’s stylish and contemporary vegetarian restaurant in Edinburgh, which has recently been awarded the Best Vegetarian Restaurant in Britain by the BBC food magazine Olive and the consistently good Stockbridge Restaurant situated in Edinburgh’s bohemian quarter, Stockbridge. Jane Walker, proprietor of The Stockbridge Restaurant, is passionate about their use of seasonal, local food, “it’s great to cook the first Scottish asparagus of the season or serve Firth of Forth mackerel. We have a huge sense of pride in telling our customers about the origin of the produce and the suppliers”.

In Glasgow there are many restaurants, cafes and shops that share the Slow Food philosophy. Italian food at Cookie is as authentic as it comes. Cookie’s roots are in the Umbrian town Amelia where they grow their own olives. Local producers work their magic to turn it into the olive oil that is used and served in the restaurant. It doesn’t end there; the restaurant’s hams, salamis, cured meats, preserves and even the house wine is all grown, reared and produced in the town. Further afield, The Three Chimneys on the Isle of Skye has long championed local, seasonal food. The restaurant’s ever growing list of awards and accolades was added to with their recent inclusion in the UK’s Top 50 restaurants beside the sea by The Sunday Times Travel magazine.

Pick of the crop

Scottish produce really is worth taking your time over. From langoustines and scallops to world-class beef and lamb. From a rainbow of berries to award-winning dairy products, the larder really is jam packed. Spring is an exciting time in the food calendar and May and June in Scotland heralds the arrival of wild salmon, sea trout and sardines back to our plates as well as the short (but much anticipated) asparagus season. New potatoes, broad beans and peppery watercress are all in season now as are rhubarb, tayberries, raspberries and gooseberries. Lamb and duck are at their best too.

So maybe it is time to slow down. Donald Reid is in agreement, “life is a constant rush, we need to slow down and re-assess our values. Time is precious so we should spend it on the important things. Let‘s start with sitting down with food, friends and family”.