With Christmas on the horizon, thoughts at What’s On HQ invariably turn to food! Namely what locally grown produce we will be piling on our plates this festive season and the abundance of restaurants and hotels that will be serving up a host of treats on their menus.
So, to satisfy ourselves we caught up with three chefs around the Cairngorms National Park to discuss all things food and ask them how they will be celebrating the 2011 festive season. Prepare to abandon the diet until New Year!
Rebecca Ferrand is head chef at Muckrach Lodge
Chris McCall is head chef at The Old Bridge Inn
Neil Keevill is head chef at Loch Kinord Hotel
- How did you become a chef?
NK - I was meant to go to Abertay Uni to study chemical engineering, but spent the summer working as a KP in a hotel and when the commis chef failed to appear one day I stepped in – that was 17 years ago and I have still to go to uni!
RF - Muckrach was my first experience of running a hotel with a restaurant, and a very steep learning curve indeed. I delight in discovering new tastes, new food experiences, and I wanted to impart some of this joy in the food we served.
- What’s your perfect Christmas day meal ?
CM - For me, it’s breast of wild Gunknowe Loch grouse with all the traditional trimmings.
RF – With the great company of friends and family I much prefer goose to turkey. Goose is harder to cook and takes time and patience but it is really worth the effort as the meat is rich, dark, gamy and warming. Goose fat roasted potatoes with thyme and a sprinkling of sea salt makes a perfect partner with this wonderful bird. And of course finished with a Christmas pudding. I try and make mine in late August, so it has months for the flavours to meld together.
NK – Roast goose, bread sauce and all the trimmings
3. What food or smell puts you in a festive frame of mind?
NK – nice aromatic flavours like cinnamon and cloves
RF – The delightful smell of mince pies cooking in the oven with slightly puffed pasty and the wonderful tangy taste of the mince meat. The sweet bonfire smell of cinnamon and rum and the dark alluring scent of molasses sugar. The bouquet of pine cones and mulled wine with its lovely aroma of stewed plums and of course the tangy, zesty fragrance oranges.
CM - The warm aroma of mulled wine and chestnuts roasting on an open fire.
4.What local produce is always on your shopping list?
NK – at the hotel we get our meat from small local independent suppliers – our pork and lamb come from Wark Farm in Cushnie and pure Aberdeen Angus beef comes from Cairnton Farm near Lumphanan.
CM - White mountain hare, Sikka deer – especially the haunch for smoking on our in-house smoker and the loin for searing – and Clava Brie.
RF – The venison is outstanding, so it’s always on the menu when it is available – it’s wild off the hills around Tomintoul and has dark rich meat that goes so well with Juniper, a local plant. We serve it with the truly remarkable and very special venison haggis, which is the king of Scotland’s famous pudding. I also love the local Speyside smoked salmon with rich oaky flavours that just comes alive with a little lemon juice and a sprinkle of cracked black pepper.
5. Best Christmas Eve or Boxing Day dish?
RF- Cold goose with baked potatoes loaded with softly melting Stilton, buttery and creamy, soft velvety brie and hard pungent cheddar. Crisp crunchy homemade coleslaw; tart, vinegary pickled onions that crunch when you bite into them, soft and yummy warm bread, pickles and homemade chutney. All washed down with a good glass of red wine. Then fried Christmas pudding and mince pies with a glass of port.
NK – I love having cold turkey or goose on Boxing Day with bubble and squeak made from the left over vegetables
6. Who cooks at Christmas in your household?
CM – I normally cook but I tend to leave the mess for everyone else to clean up!
RF – Since we’ve been here and I’ve been cooking I tend to. Last year the family came up and we all had a great time!
- Any Christmas foods you wouldn’t touch with a barge pole?
RF - Cheap, nasty mince pies – you know, 48 pies for 20p. Intensively reared deep frozen turkey that dries to dust as soon as you put it in the oven. Tinned Christmas pudding – eugh!
8. And lastly, what’s the best thing about Christmas in the Cairngorms?
NK – The fact that you are almost guaranteed a white Christmas!
RF – The snow, the reindeer, the scenery, the whisky, the wonderful crisp cold weather, warm fires and the smell of pine and finally the great people.
CM - The stunning scenery and being with my good friends at the Old Bridge Inn!
