Scottish beef tagliata style
You will have heard a thousand times that the United Kingdom does not eat particularly well, a statement that may be true in the big cities but that fades as soon as you go into more rural areas and that the new generations of chefs they are willing to question.
But it is that even in that **Scotland has a personality of its own.** And within it, the Highlands, with much less population and many more kilometers of coastline per inhabitant than the rest of the island, they not only have great seafood (particularly scallops and Norway lobsters) and game meats, but has been able to preserve some pubs that in more industrialized areas are already a memory and continue to serve traditional cuisine based on the best local products.
A gastronomic route through the Scottish Highlands
It is now, in winter, when the clientele is essentially local, it gets dark early and the fireplaces are lit, when it is worth going through the door of one of these eating houses, order a first pint of beer and enjoy one of the great secrets of Scotland: its gastronomy.
This is our selection of addresses in the Highlands for you to design your gastronomic itinerary through the far north of the islands:
** THE MOULIN INN (Pitlochry) **
Although administratively not part of the Highlands, Pitlochry is the last more or less large town you will find, if you come from Edinburgh, before entering the Cairngorms National Park, already in the Highlands.
On the outskirts of town, in a small hotel, this restaurant has made a name for itself based on specialties such as its chicken breast stuffed with Scottish blood sausage and smoked cheese, served with a whiskey sauce.
The Moulin Inn restaurant offers specialties such as brisket stuffed with Scottish black pudding
** THE DORES INN (Dores) **
Just 15 minutes from the center of Inverness and on the less touristy shore of Loch Ness , this little slate-roofed joint is a must on any list of pubs in the north of the country.
Simple cuisine, served with views of the lake, in which specialties such as Scottish mussels with cider butter and garlic or the mackerel pâté with pickled cherries and low-temperature egg.
Views of Loch Ness from The Dores Inn
** THE OLD FORGE (Inverie) **
To get to this pub, considered the most remote of Scotland, you will have to take a train to Mallaig, which is not exactly on the way (although in return you will cross a spectacular route: the scenes from the Harry Potter movies of the train that goes to Hogwarts were recorded on it) and from there do a ferry crossing of about 40 minutes which will drop you next to half a dozen houses in the village.
The other option is to leave the car on the road to Kyle of Lochalsh and walk about three hours through mount. The regulars (yes, it does) say that since the old owner retired it is no longer the same. But once you get here, even the simplest bite tastes like heaven.
And if you want something not so simple, go for it, for example, with its Loch Nevis scallops with fondant leeks, potatoes and toasted hazelnuts.
** THE CLUANIE INN (Glenmoriston) **
About 12 miles from Loch Ness in the direction of the islands this **Inn (pub with bed and breakfast) **, situated on a bend in the road amidst spectacular scenery, offers simple local fare.
Smoked kippers at The Applecross Inn are one of the specialties on the menu
Don't forget to try your haggis, a local sausage based on lung and oats that is much tastier than it seems and that they serve with mashed potatoes and turnips and, above all, a second place, attached to the one that serves meals, specializing in locally produced whiskey.
** THE APPLECROSS INN (Strathcarron) **
To get to Strathcarron, in a small bay with stunning views of the Isle of Skye , you'll need to drive between valleys and lakes for about two hours from Inverness. But when you arrive you will see that it will have been worth it.
Find a table by the window and dive into the specialties on the menu, all based on local produce or, at best, from other regions of Scotland.
If you don't know where to start, go ahead with the Orkney kippers , with the bay crab served with smoked salmon or with its scottish cheese board served with homemade chutney and oatmeal cookies.
Local product or as far away, from other Scottish regions
** THE STEIN INN (Stein, Skye) **
On the outer shore of the Isle of Skye, Away from the tourist centers, the village of Stein seems stuck in time. At this remote point, even by Highland standards, The Stein Inn, the oldest pub on the island, it has been serving food since at least 1790.
In addition to proposing dishes such as loch dunvegan scampi with garlic mayonnaise or the venison stew with a touch of chocolate, the place offers five rooms, on the top floor, which with its views of the islands of Uist and Harris are quite a temptation.
The Stein Inn, the oldest pub on the Isle of Skye
** THE CHLACAIG INN (Ballachulish, Glencoe) **
If much of the valleys of the Highlands are a spectacle, the valley of glencoe (excuse the redundancy: glen means valley in Scottish Gaelic) is surely the most impressive of all.
If you want to get an idea of its landscapes and have seen the movie Skyfall, that's where James Bond's birthplace is, to which he retreats along with M, to hide.
And in the heart of the valley, The Chlacaig Inn, one of the most awarded pubs in the Highlands, serves its own specialties, such as its Highland Game Pie, a savory tart, somewhat similar to a pie, filled with a stew of rabbit, pheasant, pigeon and partridge cooked with cranberries, juniper berries and local gin.
The Chlacaig Inn, one of the most awarded pubs in the Highlands
If this selection is not enough for you or you want to take Highland cuisine to another level, you can complement the tour with a reading of ** Distilling Scotland, ** the book that has just been published by Editorial Librooks and in which the rock brothers, from El Celler de Can Roca (Girona), considered one of the best restaurants in the world, They give their particular vision of Scottish gastronomy.
If our list had not finished convincing you, surely a look at their dishes just did.
We eat the Highlands!