Chefs around the world are sourcing the best quality ingredients from Scotland, fusing them in exciting new ways to produce mouthwatering modern cuisine from traditional ingredients.
Chefs around the world are sourcing the best quality ingredients from Scotland, fusing them in exciting new ways to produce mouthwatering modern cuisine from traditional ingredients.
When we stop to consider how rapidly Scotland's food production has grown in the last two decades, the figures alone are staggering: Scotland's booming food and drink industry generates over £7.5billion per year for the country's economy. The industry comprises in excess of 1500 companies, including famous global brands and small, speciality firms.
In the world of fruit and vegetables Scottish producers now grow 2,400 tonnes of raspberries and 4,600 tonnes of strawberries each year and over a million tonnes of potatoes. 900 million eggs are produced annually, 1,300 million litres of milk and there are more than two dozen cheese-makers across Scotland, ranging from the industrial cheddar creameries to much smaller-scale cheese producers. However, beef is now the single most important sector of Scottish agriculture, worth around £400 million a year: more than fruit, dairy and poultry combined!
The jewel in Scotland's crown is her fish with nearly 200 shellfish farming companies. Salmon farming is the most important economic development in the Highlands and Islands over the past 30 years, and the retail sales value of Scottish salmon is around £300 million per annum. Scotland is the world's third largest producer of Atlantic salmon and enjoys a reputation for quality fresh and added-value products such as smoked salmon.
Traditional Scottish foods like haggis, oats, heather honey and Scottish sweets like tablet (a brittle fudge) are still made in Scotland. Scottish oats are some of the best in the world and porridge is now universally recognised as a healthy food whether taken with a pinch of salt in the traditional Scottish way, or with sugar or a teaspoon of heather honey! Haggis is a Scottish delicacy but is eaten more widely than in the past and perhaps its the Burns' Supper, now celebrated around the world which can be thanked for this widening of horizons. And as for Scottish tablet - who can resist?