Sue Lawrence | A Cook's Tour of Scotland
Sue Lawrence travels the length and breadth of the country in her book A Cook's Tour of Scotland: From Barra to Brora in 120 recipes. In the following extract, Sue visits Skye to sample seafood 'less than half an hour from boat to plate'.
‘Imagine Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” frozen in stone and hung up like a colossal screen against the sky. It seems as if Nature, when she hurled The Cuillin up into the light of the sun, said, “Their scarred ravines shall lead up to towering spires of rock – unlike any other rock so they will never look the same for very long, now blue, now grey, now silver . . . always drenched in mystery and terrors”.’
The writer H.V. Morton wrote those words in the 1920s about a visitor’s first impression of Skye’s Cuillin Hills. And as I stood one balmy evening at Elgol harbour looking beyond the beach and the fishing boats bobbing on the water, at the silhouette of the sun setting behind The Cuillin, I had to agree wholeheartedly. Even seasoned travellers cannot help but feel in awe at the sight of these mountains.
From the pier at Elgol you can look over to the islands of Soay, Canna, Rum and Eigg. There is a daily boat trip on the Bella Jane from here, taking you into one of Scotland’s most breathtaking lochs, Loch Coruisk, visiting seal colonies en route and enjoying probably the finest views of the Cuillin Hills you will ever see. Or if, like me, hunger overtakes the need for adventure, you can wait on the harbour to see fisherman Colin Lamond come to shore in his boat the Caella Rose, bringing in creel upon creel of fabulous langoustines, crabs and squat lobsters.
Although most of these are taken immediately by refrigerated van to Broadford then ultimately to Spain, much is still distributed around the island. My hosts for the night, Robin and Lesley Banks at Coruisk House Hotel, manage to negotiate daily with Colin for enough for their guests’ dinner. And so a mere 20 minutes after watching the creels unload, I sat in front of a towering platter of freshly boiled seafood with a glass of Muscadet and some home-baked bread, and pondered the word ‘fresh’ when applied to seafood.
Lesley had boiled the langoustines and squat lobster tails for a couple of minutes, the crab claws for ten, then served them warm with home-made mayonnaise. For me, there is no other definition for fresh seafood than dinner at somewhere like Coruisk House, with less than half an hour from boat to plate.
Jim McFarlane has lived in Port Ellen, on the southern tip of the island of Islay his whole life. Now aged 66, and having fished since he was 12, he knows a thing or two about the art. And so, as he explains to me how it has changed over the years, he also shows me his hand-built wooden sgoth (Gaelic for skiff), which was the traditional Islay fishing boat for some 200 years, from the mid-eighteenth century.
After the ‘golden years’, as Jim calls it, from 1975 to 1985, fishing changed on Islay as everywhere else. Sadly nowadays, no one air-dries or salt-cures the saithe or lythe – or the skate wings that were hung up for about a week before being skinned then boiled and eaten almost daily. Nowadays, with lobster stocks depleted, it is crab the Islay fishermen bring in, mainly large brown crabs but also velvet crabs to which the Spaniards are partial. For, as on Skye, the vivier trucks have transported Islay shellfish to France and Spain since the early 1980s.
Fortunately, however, things are changing again – this time for the better. More local restaurants are using Islay shellfish, such as the fabulous crab claws and seafood platters served in the Port Charlotte Hotel. Now that tourists can order in restaurants and locals can buy the wonderful Islay crab, lobster and scallops, it seems that, at last, we Scots are appreciating what wonderful produce there is around our shores.
Langoustine and Pea Risotto
An exquisite risotto that needs no introduction – only bowls and forks.
Serves 4
about 900ml/30 fl oz chicken stock
50g/13/4 oz butter
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
300g/101/2 oz risotto rice (arborio or vialone nano)
100ml/31/2 fl oz dry white wine
about 16–20 peeled langoustines (or large prawns, peeled, deveined and cooked)
150g/51/2 oz peas (blanch frozen for 1 minute then drain well; cook fresh until just done but still bright green)
the grated zest of 1 large unwaxed lemon
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3 or 4 large basil leaves
shredded salt and freshly ground black pepper
1. Bring the stock to a simmer, and keep simmering.
2. Heat 25g/1 oz of the butter in a large pan, and cook the onion until soft. Add the rice, stir until coated in the fat and beginning to make a slightly crackly sound, then add the wine, and cook until evaporated. Add the hot stock ladle by ladle, stirring continuously, and adding another ladle only once each ladleful been absorbed.
3. Meanwhile, to cook the langoustines, immerse live in boiling water and boil rapidly for 2 minutes. Then plunge into cold water and leave for 3–4 minutes.
4. After cooking the risotto for 15 minutes, add the langoustines or prawns and the peas.
5. You may not need all the stock; it should take 18–20 minutes, or until the rice is al dente. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the lemon zest, then the Parmesan and the remaining butter. Cover and leave to stand for 5 minutes. Finally, stir in the basil and taste for seasoning.
6. To serve, ladle into warm, shallow bowls.
Crab and Rocket Tart
Although Lewis fisherman Dods Macfarlane reckons the best way to cook crab is on a peat fire (turn once blackened, turn again, crack open and devour on the beach), not all of us can get the peat. Fortunately, there is good-quality cooked crab meat available from fishmongers for us to use in this simple tart, made with only a handful of ingredients. The combination of crab and rocket with the tang of crème fraîche and lemon is wonderful.
Serves 4 - 6
200g/7 oz plain flour, sifted
125g/41/2 oz unsalted butter, diced
1 large free-range egg, beaten
salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the filling
25g/1 oz freshly grated Parmesan cheese
450g/1 lb crabmeat (mainly white meat)
50g/13/4 oz rocket
3 large free-range eggs
the grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
200ml/7 fl oz/1/3 pint crème fraîche
1. For the pastry, place the flour and butter in a food processor with a pinch of salt. Process briefly then, with the machine running, add the egg. Alternatively, rub in the flour and butter mixture by hand and stir in the egg. Bring together with your hands, and then wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes or so
2. Roll out to fit a deep, 23cm/9 in tart tin, prick all over and chill well – preferably overnight. Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5. Line the pastry case with foil and fill with baking beans, and bake blind for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for a further 5–10 minutes, or until just cooked. Remove and sprinkle the Parmesan cheese for the filling over the base while still hot. Then cool.
3. Stir the crab and rocket together (I only chop the rocket if the leaves are very large) then add the eggs, lemon zest and crème fraîche, seasoning with plenty of salt and pepper (taste it if you can bear to, to ensure you have just enough seasoning, adding more salt and pepper if necessary). Pour into the pastry case and bake for 40–45 minutes, or until set and tinged with golden brown. Serve warm or cold with salad.