What a busy weekend it has been at the Shetland Food Fair – local chefs cooked up a storm in the food theatre and Shetland foodies were treated to a great selection of fantastic, mouth-watering fare.
We were thrilled to be involved in the event and had a great time organising and running the cookery demonstrations.
The audience had a chance to watch some of Shetland's inspiring chefs in action and sample delicious local produce including Shetland beef, lamb, pork, white fish, mussels, scallops and crab cooked in both the traditional and more modern way. You can read the full review of the Shetland Food Fair here.
Also this year Shetland Food Producers Group teamed up with Shaw Marketing and launched the Shetland Food Champion Awards which recognise local producers, retailers and suppliers for bringing quality Shetland food to the fore. The awards attracted more than 300 votes, nominating over 60 local businesses.
The overall winner was Scoop Wholefoods for their contribution towards supporting local producers and stocking a wide range of local seasonal produce.
The winners of the individual categories were:
Best Eatery:
Hay's Dock cafe restaurant with runners up Frankie's Fish and Chip Shop and Drumquin House
Best Producer:
Shetland Fudge, with runners up Transition Turriefield and Shetland Cheese
Retailers:
Scoop Wholefoods, with runners up Scalloway Meat Company and J.K. Anderson
It was amazing and utterly inspiring to see how many people in Shetland are really passionate about cooking and using local produce. We are already looking forward to next year's event but first we want to have a go at making Peter Sinclair's famous bannocks - here's the recipe.
Photos by Dave Donaldson and Promote Shetland.
Peter Sinclair's Shetland Bannocks
Course: Main
Servings: 20 bannocks
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Ingredients:
- Voe bakery self raising flour - 20 oz
- Stork - 2 oz (or butter/margarine if you prefer)
- Caster sugar - 1 oz
- Shetland Dairies buttermilk - 284 ml
- Shetland hen's egg - 1
- Plain natural yogurt - 250-300 grams
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 160°C (fan oven)/gas mark 6 and flour a baking tray.
- Combine flour and butter into a bowl and rub together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
- Add the sugar, buttermilk, egg and enough natural yogurt to make a sticky dough.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead, adding enough flour just until the dough is no longer sticky, but it is still light.
- Using floured hands gently press the dough down to a thickness of one inch.
- Cut with a biscuit cutter and place slightly spread apart on the floured baking tray.
- Bake for 12 minutes until well risen and golden on the top.
- Transfer to a wire baking rack to cool (if you can wait that long!)
Bannocks can be cooked on the stove top if you prefer, simply press your dough out slightly thinner, cut and cook on both sides over a moderate heat until browned and well-risen.
Misa Hay
I came to Shetland ten years ago and I've been loving it since. For me Shetland is an adventure playground with boundless opportunities, things and places to explore and enjoy.