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Review
JO MONROE Star of India: The Spicy Adventures of Curry
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lake, for exarrrple, the uniformity rrr lllt‘lllle, ‘.‘/ill(iil is odd ornerr the vast drxert‘rt'. ot lrrdran tood rrr Asia. It It; partially i lire to the tart that rrrost of the trrst restaurateurs math the notable ext». ~r rtrorr of these rrr (irasiiowi were run li‘. rrrrrrrrorarrtri trorrr one region rrr Hanglade +sh_ iVit irir: ‘tf says :‘orrrrrrer‘(:ral sauce rrrarrrrtacturers; also <:ontrrhuted to horrrotienerty'.
lerturres have been rnade rrr the trade. ot course. and one such suit: iss stor\ is Cobra beer, It may seern hoth genurne and uhrtiurtous today. but the lager is the 19908 brainchild ot a torrrrer (Earnhrrdge llrrry'ersrty law student who convinced a Mysore based brewery to begin production that subsequently rrioved to Bedtord once the beer became popular. loday' rt's sold in CNN (3.000 lndrarr restaurants and exported to 30 t‘tlllllill(?53. including India. which rs more than \otr can say about that other great British curry concoction. trlska rrrasala. But that‘s another tale. entirely. iBarry Shellwi
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108 THE LIST 3—‘ 7 Fet‘ 203:"
EAT&DR|NK
riar ‘r McNefi
_ Classics of cookery
With two timeless tomes of Scots cooking now reissued by Mercat Press, Barry Shelby finds respect being restored to the nation’s culinary traditions.
e justiliably celebrate
the l‘ortnightly larrners'
markets in our larger cites and towns bringing produce grown and raised in Scotland directly to the consumer. We think oi this as ‘pr‘ogr‘ess‘.
('ompared with a decade ago. it is. But oyer 2()() years ago. lidinburgh‘s Tron Market was a twice weekly affair and Glasgow's market offered a range ol‘ seasonal Vegetables t‘rom t‘resh potatoes and peas to caulillower and aspar'agtrs.
Somewhere between then and now. Scotland dey'eloped a reputation as a culinary desert: an estimation. how'ey'er deserved giyen much of our modern diet. that's inaccurate. ()ur Scottish ancestors were no slouches: in The Scots Kite/zen. [5 Marian McNeil] (ISSS—-l‘)73) brings l‘orw'ard not only traditional ‘old-time' recipes but — better still — illuminates some of the cultural and social history ol’ l’ood in Scotland.
"l‘he art of a country always has its roots in the soilf she writes. ‘l)espite certain natural disadvantages. Scotland has always been in a special sense a food-producing country Nowhere in the world are t‘arming and gardening prosecuted with greater skill and enterprise.‘
First published in IUZ‘). McNeill‘s book illustrates that food was once as much at the heart of the countrys culture as it is perceiy'ed to he in Italy or l‘rance. Indeed. Scotland was no worse than its continental cousins. [{uropean Visitors recognised this and extolled the t'easts they enjoyed up into the lSth century.
Perhaps predictably. English explorers were less impressed — except when it came to the
morning meal. ‘The breakl'astl‘ exclairns a character in Susan l‘err'ier”s early l‘)th century noyel .llurrr'ugr'. "l‘hat‘s what redeems the land.‘ Sllli IS S(‘()'l"l‘lSll.
'I'I‘m/i'lr'oiru/ Scouts/r (ho/wry by the late 'l‘heodora i‘iit/(iibbon is a more straightt‘orward recipe book. using modern measurements. in anything l‘rom ‘baw'd bree‘ (hare soup) to venison sausages or 'roastit lmbbly-jock' (traditional roast turkey) » and a pear soul‘l'le based on an 1890 recipe from .-\berdeenshire.
(‘hapters are arranged by main
‘THE ART OF A COUNTRY ALWAYS HAS ITS ROOTS IN THE SOIL'
ingredients l'ish. poultry or Vegetables ~~ as well as courses leg soup and puddings). For meat. she addresses the mystery ol‘ Scot's historic hesitance towards pork. It was ‘almost taboo until the l‘)th century] she writes. ‘owing to a superstition that it was inhabited by the devil — a yiew to which James \"l of Scotland subscr‘ibed.'
As a compendium. 'I'rm/r'rimru/ Scottish ('ookery may have been equalled by more recently published Cookbooks. with their smart modern photography. But it is not at all clear that Fit/Gibbon has been bettered.
The Scots Kitchen, F Marian McNeill, Mercat Press; Traditional Scottish Cookery, Theodora Fitzgibbon, Mercat Press.
News to nibble on . . .
I The gm new Michelin , Guide viceft '- (piCtUred) is out and GREAT BRITAIN there are a. rRELAND "0 2005 changes in . the con- stellation of single stars that
the publication has bestowed in Scotland. In Edinburgh, Restaurant Martin Wishart and Number One (at the Balmoral) continue to hold the accolade, as do Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles and Braidwoods in Dalry, Ayrshire. Others further afield include Ballachulish House and Inverlochy Castle near Fort William. Scotland still lacks any restaurant with two or three Michelin stars. A Michelin ‘bib gourmand’ (which indicates good food at reasonable prices) has been awarded, well, posthumously to Rogue in Edinburgh, which closed after the guide went to press. Two Ayrshire venues earned bib gourmands for the first time: the Sorn Inn outside Mauchline and Troon's Apple Inn. They join Atrium, Edinburgh, Anchorage, Tarbert, and Creagan House, Strathyre, while Glasgow's No Sixteen has lost its bib gourmand.
I Sushi rs the featured food at two new bars in Edinburgh and Glasgow. By Haymarket Station in Dalry Road. Sushiya rs a tiny place wrth a reasonably generous selection of sushi, bento and soba-style noodle soups. In Glasgow. Miso has opened where the Duke of NY land Maclachlan's before that) traded on West Regent Street. The menu otters nigirr, maki and inside out rolls. as well as sashrmi (raw Slices of tuna and salmon). bento boxes and some starters such as yakatorr chicken skewers.
I Keeping in the Japanese theme, as least as far as the name goes, Bento Bar has opened in Glasgow’s West End at 1 Lynedoch Street (at Woodlands Road). Most recently Insomnia Underground, whose new management is headed by Laura McGee, Bento Bar plans to introduce a range of international selection bento boxes later this year, each with Japanese, Thai, Scottish, or Italian food, for example. In the meantime, the menu has focused on sandwiches and specials such as Cajun chicken salad.