Mention the Scottish Highlands to a foodie, and haggis jumps to mind. But rest assured, this wildly gorgeous and sparsely populated region of Scotland offers gourmet travelers much more than sausage made from sheep’s pluck. The food and drink delights of the Highlands match the region’s eye-popping scenery in glory-be allure.
Consider world-famous salmon, smoked to perfection in family-run smokehouses.
Consider haddock, langoustines, oysters, crab, lobster, scallops, mussels and more that flow to plates dripping fresh from Highland lochs, rivers and the surrounding sea.
Consider sheep growing plump and juicy grazing in graceful green glens, and wild deer, rabbits and game birds waiting for cooks in the Highland’s craggy mountainsides, hilly grasslands and heather-packed moors.
Consider hairy Heelin coos (Highland cows) thriving in harsh-climate pastures. Not needing to grow fat for warmth, the beef comes to diners lean yet tenderly flavorful. (It’s said that the queen of England will eat beef only from her fold of Highland cattle.)
Consider afternoon tea with warm scones and clotted cream; and shortbread that melts in the mouth like cotton candy; and fresh-from-the-farm cheeses; and rich meat pies; and such tongue-twisting local favorites as clootie dumpling (boiled fruitcake), cullen skink (smoked-haddock soup) and cranachan (a dessert of whipped cream, honey, whisky and berries).
And consider whisky. The Highlands’ cup runneth over with distilleries producing some of the best single-malt whisky to be found anywhere in the world. And sampling is staggeringly easy, as most bars stock a lush collection of boutique bottles, and many distilleries open doors to the public for touring and tasting. (Incidentally, Scottish whisky is spelled without an “e.” One Irishman claims it’s because “the Scots are just too thrifty to add an extra letter.”)
And lastly, consider, or reconsider, haggis. Once past the description (sheep heart, lung and liver mixed with suet, oatmeal, onions and spices, packed into a sheep’s stomach and boiled), haggis is delicious. But don’t take my word for it. Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet, was inspired enough to write a poem (I think without tongue in cheek) calling haggis the “great chieftain of the sausage race!”
So where do tourists find the great chieftain and all of the other Highland specialties? Easy. Everywhere. In plain and fancy restaurants, bars and pubs, tearooms and cafes — and the government helps by publishing designated itineraries devoted to specific interests: the Seafood Trail, Real Ale Trail, Scottish Cheese Trail and Malt Whisky Trail.
Travelers short on time can cut to the chase and find the best by heading to one of the Highland hotels famed for sumptuous food and superb hospitality.
Cameron House Hotel (tinyurl.com/cameronhotel), a luxury resort just north of Glasgow on the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond, excites a variety of tastes. In addition to an 18-hole championship golf course, pampering spa and wide range of activities, the resort boasts four distinct restaurants. Martin Wishart at Loch Lomond earned a Michelin star for fine French cooking, and The Boat House and The Claret Jug restaurants offer casual international favorites, but the property’s Cameron Grill strikes the best chords in singing the praises of Scotland’s bounty. The Grill features a salmon bar loaded with smoked and cured delicacies, a butchery with beef from Scottish herds and a see-into kitchen preparing seafood just pulled from local waters.
Cameron House garnishes its restaurants with a dramatically wonderful bar serving over 260 different whiskys. Wee dram be damned! Here is the place to indulge and not drive, as the resort has 132 rooms and suites for enchanting stays.
Inverlochy Castle Hotel (www.inverlochycastlehotel.com) double dips with delights, having won the Scottish Hotel Association’s top two honors for 2015: Restaurant of the Year and Castle Hotel of the Year.
Built in 1863 as a private home at the foot of Ben Nevis, on the shore of Loch Lochy, Inverlochy has polished and perfected the art of public hospitality since becoming a hotel in 1969. The property’s 17 bedrooms and assorted public rooms wear period furnishings of bygone elegance, with furniture in three dining rooms presented as gifts to Inverlochy Castle from the king of Norway.
Inverlochy provides an array of Scottish pursuits, including deer stalking, fishing, falconry and tomahawk throwing, but dining is so key that daily dinner menus are left in guest’s rooms for study and preordering.
Although men are requested to wear jackets and ties to dinner, the atmosphere of Inverlochy is far from stuffy. The ambience suggests a house party at the country estate of aristocratic friends who employ a great chef to create marvelous meals.
One can’t get more Scottish than Godfrey Macdonald, today’s high chief of Clan Donald. And one can’t find more sense of Scottish heritage, history and hospitality than staying at Lord and Lady Macdonald’s Kinloch Lodge (http://www.kinloch-lodge.co.uk) on the Isle of Skye.
Built in 1680 as a shooting lodge for the Macdonald family, Kinloch Lodge remained a family home until the Macdonalds opened it to the public in 1973.
A new addition brings the bedroom count to 15, but the lodge still radiates a homey welcome with comfy furniture, fires in fireplaces and family photos throughout.
Although chef Marcello Tully earned a Michelin star for the lodge’s kitchen, it is Lady Macdonald who brings the most attention from the food world. A renowned food writer and culinary authority, Claire Macdonald works with Tully not only to showcase the best local ingredient but also to teach visitors how to prepare them. The lodge holds three-day cookery courses as well as assorted classes on request.
Now a word about Scottish Highlanders. They are a hearty but sophisticated lot, full of informal good humor. Scottish hospitality is the same, with the best Scottish restaurants focused on the quality of ingredients prettily presented – a total food experience that is high on pleasure, low on pretense.
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