Food, Producers, Seil

Food glorious food

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I managed to miss Scottish Food and Drink Fortnight in September. Probably too busy serving it to guests, and eating it on birthdays! So I though I could showcase just some of our lovely local foods here.

First of all, the things we serve at breakfast time. Our eggs and meat products are all from local farms.

Eggs come from Balvicar Farm, the Wee Pig Company (yes I know pigs don’t lay eggs) or Taste of Argyll where Katherine sells eggs from her own hens and those of other small producers.

Sausages and bacon come from the WeePig and Taste of Argyll and also our very near neighbours at Auchnasaul. If you’ve been served beef sausages they’ve come from there. My home cured bacon was made using pork from the Wee Pig Company.

When we’re not in lockdown we have a good choice of food at our local pubs, the Tigh an Truish which is almost next door, or the Oyster Bar at Ellenabeich. And both have adapted amazingly to the changing conditions over the past few months and are currently offering takeaway options outside the restricted opening hours.

Peas on sourdough, and plaice and chips at the Tigh an Truish.

Oyster bar grill which we enjoyed at home last week

Did you see the sourdough? That’s made by Holly at Solace Bakery. I think I’ve written elsewhere about the pizzas which did so much to cheer up our lockdown. Well since then the range has been expanded to include delicious breads, pastries, and cakes. Including the cake I was treated to for my birthday.

And it’s not just food, the coffee we serve (and drink ourselves) is roasted here on the island by Hinba Coffee. You can also enjoy it at their shop in Oban.

Lunch with a view, Hinba coffee and a savoury from The Puffer Food Company

The Atlantic Islands Centre on Luing also serves up great food but at the moment is running a local take away service only.

We’ve enjoyed two delicious meals recently from Etive restaurant in Oban, via their Etive at home scheme.

And some of our guests tucked into a delicious platter from Drew at The Fisherman’s Kitchen

So I think you’ll agree that we have some of the very best of Scotland’s Food and Drink right here on our doorstep.

Featured image courtesy of Giulia Giannetti

Fisherman’s Kitchen picture courtesy of The Fisherman’s Kitchen

Food, Producers

Bacon

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Just before lockdown I made my first attempt at home curing. No pictures from that, but it was pretty good,  so I decided to have another go.

Just to make sure it wasn’t beginner’s luck.

I bought another pork loin from the Wee Pig Company who raise free range pigs on their croft at Kilmore. Their own bacon is a regular on our breakfast menu at Sheiling.

Anyway, as it was just the two of us we roasted half the loin and cured the rest.

I used this  recipe from the School of Artisan Food.

Cure: 50grams per kg of meat made up of

25grams soft dark brown sugar

25grams salt.

And that’s all there is to it!

We’ve been very impressed and plan on adding it to our breakfast menu.

I’ve also wondered about using maple syrup in the cure for a slightly different taste.

What’s most important is starting from a really good product, after that it’s just a matter of time.

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But all good things are worth waiting for.

Like our guests, and we’ll be here for you when you can come back.

Caroline x

Producers, Tourism, Uncategorized

Sunshine in uncertain times

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Gosh such a lot has happened since I wrote my Happy New Year post.   I was quiet on the blogging front as January is panto time on Seil and George and I were both involved.

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can you spot us?

February saw us planning the jobs we needed to do before Spring,  and an exciting new venture for us. Did you notice the badge? We were accepted into the Sawday’s family of Special Places to Stay.  We were also still busy with the drama club,  George producing and me acting in the Seil entry for our local drama festivals. We wondered whether we could sneak in a quick trip to Spain or Portugal for a bit of sunshine before we started welcoming visitors again.

we decided on some new suppliers and had some lovely photos taken*

And then March. Well I don’t need to tell you what happened then,  and over the past week our lives have changed drastically as things closed down and events were cancelled.  We had our first cancellation today and I’m not expecting to see many,  if any guests this year.

But, Seil is still beautiful, we have plenty of marmalade – though we might have to get inventive about what we spread it on as flour seems in short supply! Our lovely local community is pulling together to support those who are having to isolate and distance themselves. Our super local shop is setting up an order and delivery system and our farm shops and shellfish fishers have lots of delicious food for us. I finally got around to curing our own bacon, report to follow….

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it’s that marmalade stack again 

Who knows what is going to happen over the next few months? It’s going to be very difficult for people in the tourism and hospitality sectors and for many, many other small businesses.  If you have them in your area, support them, buy a voucher, order a take away meal.     You’ll want them to be there when restrictions are lifted.

We hope to get all those little jobs done, improve the garden and be here for when you can travel again.

 

Keep safe,

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Bramble deep in contemplation

 

Caroline, George and Bramble

 

*photographs courtesy of Giulia Giannetti