As much as I love the culinary delights London has to offer, it was fantastic to escape the hustle and bustle of the capital for a couple of days recently and jet off to sunny (no really) Scotland for the weekend.
The weather was glorious, the company splendid and the wine plentiful, but it was the food that really stole the show. We were on The Isle of Mull so as you can imagine restaurants were hardly on every corner so we were forced to fend for ourselves. On the second day of the holiday we got up early and met the boats at the harbour and haggled with the fishermen to get the best price for their freshly caught lobster, crab, langoustines, oysters, mussels and scallops. It was then up to us to transport these still very much alive creatures back to the house. To this day my car still smells vaguely of the sea.
Once back at the ranch I was given my marching orders in the kitchen and was soon getting my Nigella on, shucking oysters and marinating moules like a pro. I even cooked my first lobster (4 minutes in boiling water I’ll have you know). It was brilliant.
By early evening the table was set and positively groaning under a veritable feast of fresher-than-fresh seafood. We started with the oysters, served with lemon juice and Tabasco, followed by the langoustines, lobster, mussels, crab and scallops, all served with hunks of bread, green salad and a good dollop of mayonnaise. It was truly one of the most magnificent meals I have ever had and yet it was so simple. And it tasted all the more delicious because we had cooked it ourselves. It was the highlight of the holiday, and definitely something we’ll be doing again when we head back to the west coast of bonnie Scotland next year.
