Top 5 Scottish Ingredients

Scotland has a diverse range of food on offer to suit every taste bud. Who better to ask about Scotland’s top five ingredients than the owner of Edinburgh’s first Michelin star restaurant and Scottish Chef of the Year, Martin Wishart. So in no particular order:

Scallops

“Scallops from the west coast of Scotland have to be one of my favourite Scottish ingredients because they’re consistent, very firm, sweet and very, very clean.”

Shetland Lamb

“I love Scottish Shetland lamb, which I buy from a crofter in November. I picked lamb because it’s natural, very sweet, very tender, very consistent and has a nice, slight taste of peat.”

Finnan Haddock

“Finnan haddock is a traditionally smoked fish, and I like it because it has a very fine, creamy taste. It takes a common fish like the haddock and really exploits it for its best interest.”

Berry Fruit

“I love Scottish berries, like raspberries and strawberries. They’re limited to certain months of the year but when they’re ripe you get beautiful colours from them and just the right amount of sweetness as well.”

Beef and Game

“Can I pick two? I have to say it’s between beef and game. I would choose beef because we’ve got the perfect weather for raising cattle. We’ve got a climate that’s not too dry and suits livestock perfectly. We’ve got great open space with plenty of green grass and our heritage for raising cattle is renowned in the world. When it gets to the chef the marble in the meat is fantastic.

“We also have a great selection of game in Scotland, such as woodcock and pheasant. All wild species are good, venison is fantastic too.  People come to shoot game, so they are good for tourism as well.”

Favourite Scottish Ingredient

(Hesitates) “If I had to pick one it would be Finnan Haddock because it is very common. It’s not the kind you get from the supermarket, which is yellow in colour. I am talking about the unsmoked and unbound kind from Findon, which is established just outside Aberdeen.

“Finnan Haddock features at my restaurant all the time, with reference to the seasons, of course. For example, there are no game birds on the menu at the moment. But lamb is in season, and scallops are available all year round. But I think lamb is fabulous; Shetland lamb is the best.”

“I like too many foods so I can’t pick a favourite. I suppose it would have to be good seafood. I also like products like ham that have a good heritage, have been handed down the generations, use no preservatives and that have been produced naturally.”

Being Scottish Chef of the Year

 “It is a great honour for me and for my peers in the industry to be recognised.

“One of the reasons why I love cooking is because of the ingredients. I’m working with something that is changing all the time, that allows me to travel and is aimed at different countries. It’s challenging and very rewarding.

“Whether you’re eating in Beijing or San Francisco you can still get the same food wherever you go. Scotland is a small country so we have to give people just the same good service and good food they would expect in other places.”

Martin Wishart

Martin Wishart was named Scottish Chef of the Year 2006. Focussing on Scottish food with a French twist, his restaurant was the first to win the Good Food Guide Scottish Restaurant of the Year title twice, and achieve Edinburgh’s first Michelin star.

Restaurant Martin Wishart
54 The Shore
Leith
0131 553 3557
www.martin-wishart.co.uk