At the Highland Show in June it struck me forcibly just how many food-related businesses are still family concerns in Scotland. I could start by giving our own example. Here at Kinloch we are now in the second generation of family running our hotel business.
It is so heartening to see different generations working so well together. Take the Graham family, for example. At this yearís show they launched the wonderful milk, butter and cream from their herd of Jersey cattle. Then there is the Contini famil
y in Edinburgh, who have contributed so vastly to food appreciation and awareness, with Valvona & Crolla, Vin Caffe and Centotre. At the Highland Show I met Mr Crombie, whose father started the Crombieís butchery business in Broughton Street in Edinburgh. They now have a third generation working in the business.
In rural Scotland, there are many farms in second, third and even fourth generations. And so many have evolved into other businesses as well. Macbethís, the Forres butchers, is owned by Michael Gibson who farms locally, with his wife Sue and their son Jock. There is the Mackie family in Aberdeenshire, who provide Scotland with wickedly good ice-cream ñ I could cite example after example if I had space. The one main ingredient for all these concerns is hard work, invariably combined with good humour.
Todayís first recipe could combine the ingredients of three family businesses ñ cream from Grahamís dairy, lemon curd from the Claire Macdonald range if you run out of time to make your own, and strawberries from Bruceís of Balmyle in Perthshire, who are closely related to Scarlettís, the terrific honey family next door.
PEPPER ROULADE WITH STRAWBERRIES AND LEMON CURD CREAM
Jubilee strawberries fruit for another month, so this pud is still seasonable.
SERVES 6
4 large eggs, yolks separated from the whites
4oz/110g caster sugar
25 grinds of the peppermill on a fine grind (as opposed to coarse)
1 rounded tablespoon of self-raising flour, sieved twice
a pinch of salt
For the filling:
1oz/28g caster sugar
6 tablespoons lemon curd ñ either make your own or bought
1/2 pint/285ml double cream, whipped lightly
1lb/450g hulled strawberries, sliced finely
To make the roulade, stick a bit of butter in each corner of a baking tray 9in/22cm by 12in/30cm. Line neatly with baking parchment ñ the butter in each corner helps anchor the paper.
In a bowl, beat together the egg yolks and caster sugar with the pepper until the mixture is very pale and very thick. Sieve in the already twice sieved flour and fold it quickly and thoroughly through the mixture, with a flat whisk ñ the best implement for this.
In a clean bowl and with scrupulously clean whisks, add a pinch of salt to the egg whites and whisk them up till stiff and glossy. Fold this through the yolks mixture. Then pour and smooth evenly into the prepared baking tray, and bake in a moderate oven, 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4, for 20-25 minutes. The roulade should be golden brown and puffed up and slightly shrinking in from the sides.
Take the roulade from the oven, and leave to cool.
Make the filling by folding the caster sugar and lemon curd into the whipped cream. The texture must be spreadable without being too runny. Whip it a bit more, if this is needed, but the lemon in the curd stiffens up the cream itself.
To assemble, put a sheet of baking parchment onto a work surface, and dust it with a scant spoonful of sieved icing sugar. Tip the roulade face down onto this, and carefully peel the paper from the back, tearing it in strips parallel to the roulade itself.
Spread the lemon curd whipped cream over the entire roulade. Cover this as evenly as possible with the thinly sliced strawberries. Roll up the roulade, lengthways, away from you. I catch the far long end of paper as I roll. Slip the roulade from its paper onto a serving dish.
This can be assembled several hours ahead of eating, but sieve a further small spoonful of icing sugar over the roulade before slicing it to serve. A bowl of strawberries marinated in elderflower cordial makes a very good accompaniment.
SAUSAGEMEAT AND APPLE PIE
Buy sausages from one of the many fine butchers in our towns and cities. This pie is real family comfort food; good and convenient to make.
SERVES 6
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, skinned and diced neatly
1-2 garlic cloves, skinned and neatly diced
3 cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped
2lb/900g pork sausages, each slit (with the point of a sharp knife) and skinned
1 tablespoon tomato purÈe
1 fairly level tablespoon flour
1/2 pint/285ml stock ñ I use Marigold stock powder made up with boiling water and unsweetened apple juice
a pinch of thyme leaves, stripped from their stalks
2lb/900g potatoes, peeled, boiled till tender, then drained, steamed dry, mashed thoroughly, then beaten ñ with a wooden spoon ñ with
2oz/55g butter and
1/4 pint/140ml warmed milk and
salt, pepper and grated nutmeg to taste
Heat the olive oil in a wide sautÈ pan and fry the diced onions until soft and transparent. Add the diced garlic and chopped apples, and cook for a few minutes, then scoop the contents of the pan into a bowl. Add the skinned sausages to the pan and mash them down, with the back of a wooden spoon. Do this over fairly high heat, and when the sausagemeat is browned, replace the onions, garlic and apples in with the mashed sausages and add the tomato purÈe. Stir in the flour, cook for a minute before adding the stock and apple juice, and thyme. Stir until the mixture bubbles, and let it bubble very gently for 10 minutes or so. Tip this into a Pyrex or pie dish and cool. When cool, cover with the mashed potatoes, and fork the surface to a tidy pattern.
Bake the pie in a moderate oven, 180C/250F/Gas Mark 4, for 20-25 minutes from room temperature, until the potato is turning golden brown on top, and the sausagemeat mixture bubbling around the edges. This is good with cabbage, or kale.
COLD HAM, PARSLEY AND CHEESE TART
This recipe pays homage to all the many herb growers, pig farmers and cheesemakers in Scotland.
SERVES 6
For the pastry:
4oz/110g butter, hard from the fridge and cut into bits
6oz/170g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
about 15 grinds of black pepper
Put the ingredients into a processor and whiz to the consistency of fine crumbs. Press firmly over the base and up the sides of a flan dish about 9in/20cm diameter. Put the dish into the fridge for an hour, then bake from the fridge straight into a moderate oven, 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4, for 20 minutes or until the pastry is pale golden brown. Allow to cool.
For the filling:
2 large eggs, plus 2 yolks
1/2 pint/285ml full milk or single cream
15 grinds of black pepper
a grating of nutmeg ñ the cheese and ham give enough salt for most people
2 tablespoons chopped parsley and snipped chives, mixed
1lb/450g roast or boiled ham of the best quality, trimmed of fat and any gristle, and diced neatly and evenly
3oz/85g grated cheese ñ I use Mull Cheddar
Beat together the eggs, yolks and milk or cream and season with pepper and nutmeg. Mix in the parsley and chives.
Spread the diced ham over the base of the cooled pastry case, pour the egg mixture over, then top with the grated cheese. Bake in a moderate oven, as for the pastry, for 20-25 minutes, or until when you gently shake the tart, the centre scarcely wobbles.
Serve cooled, with salad leaves.
The full article contains 1333 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
