We didn’t want to use any ‘industrial’ food. We did want to cook and use locally sourced food as much as possible. That said, we knew we needed to buy in bread, so carefully sourced our paninis and baguettes, both of which we finish cooking ourselves. Our brown bread is from Argyll Bakeries, which we mainly use for toast, or with our prawns and smoked salmon. Until my horseradish really takes off,
we buy the horseradish sauce in. Our local greengrocer The Fruit and Nut Place has great produce and we like the fact that we can go down with our shopping bags and pick it out ourselves. It’s also a source of inspiration for such dishes as our Moroccan style stew and our fennel chicken. For our vegetarian curry I raid the shop, which means the ingredients can change slightly, according to what’s on offer. The same can be said for our chutney. It can vary slightly, as we use Scottish fruit/veg in season. Most of the soups we make are vegetarian, but Cock-a-Leekie is also a great favourite. Our Chowder was the result of an unpleasant experience in another eating place. I just thought ‘people deserve better than that’ and devised my own. The base stays the same, but the fish content changes with the fishermen’s catch. Most of our fish comes from Andy Race, who has a fish smokery and wholesale department. We all agree his smoked salmon is the best we’ve ever tasted. Some, such as langoustines and langoustines tails, come from the Margareta II. Local fishermen supply us on an ‘ad hoc’ basis – which is great as it gives us a variety in the kitchen. Our main meat supplier is based in Aberdeen and has just the best sausages I’ve ever tasted. His meat is always as local as he can get it. The Rowan & Apple jelly is made by us crab apples from my garden and rowan berries picked by all of us whenever we find a tree the birds haven’t stripped first. Gooseberries from my garden make great jam and other fruit is from the Fruit and Nut place. Charles MacLeod of Stornoway (Charley Barley) is our preferred black-pudding, but as Grants’ recipe appears to have originated in Stornoway, it is a very close second. With Nurse Morag’s recipe for sticky toffee pudding and Jeannie’s recipe for carrot cake, our desserts & cakes are not just home made, but very local also, especially when my rhubarb is plentiful enough for a crumble. As we had to put a poly-tunnel in the garden to deal with the bedding plants for the garden centre, it made perfect sense to keep a border for growing organic salad leaves for the Bistro. Alongside the chives and the parsley from the garden, this means a fairly constant supply. Rizza’s Ice Cream is made in Huntly, Aberdeen and is a great favourite with all of us. Although they do a huge selection, their vanilla remains the perennial favourite and is the perfect accompaniment to many of our desserts. One of our latest aims is to make as many of our dishes gluten free as we can. This is possible because G.F. plain flour has become more readily available. This means our Chowder and Casseroles, etc. are all, now safe for celiac sufferers. This, with our range of Dairy free dishes and many vegetarian options, means we offer dishes for a variety of dietary demands.
