A Taste of Shetland

A C E L E B R AT I O N O F S H E T L A N D F O O D & D R I N K

The Larder is... Full to Bursting! 4

Blaand, Stap and Krappen: Shetland’s Food Heritage 6

The Best Lamb and Beef 12

Welcome to Seafood Heaven 16

Sweet, Savoury and Shetlandic 20

Eating out in Shetland 26

London Connection 30

Frequently Asked Questions 32

Recipes from Shetland 33

Published by Promote Shetland.

Photography: Lisa Barber, Joe Plommer, Shetland Museum & Archives, Misa Hay, Alastair Hamilton, Mark Sinclair.

Disclaimer: Although Promote Shetland has taken reasonable steps to confirm the information contained in the publication at the time of going to press, it cannot guarantee that the information published is and remains accurate.

Shetland Museum & Archives Photo collection contains over 60,000 images showing all aspects of Shetland life. Prints can be ordered at http://photos.shetland-museum.org.uk

4 A TASTE OF

he Shetland Islands are far to the north

of Britain, as close to the North Pole as

parts of Greenland or Alaska. Hardly a

gourmet’s paradise, you might think. But in fact

Shetland offers some fine and very distinctive

food and drink.

In crystal-clear coastal waters, Shetland’s

fishermen catch some of the finest fish you’ll ever

taste. Closer inshore, mussels grow naturally to

a remarkable size. What’s more, much of that

saltwater bounty is now certified for sustainability.

On the land, Shetland’s crofters and farmers

tend cattle and sheep, with the unique native

Shetland lamb being recognised in the same

way as delicacies such as Prosciutto Toscano

or Roquefort. There are traditional crops, too,

like the Shetland Black potato, perhaps the

perfect roaster.

Until recently, much of Shetland’s produce was

little known outside the islands and islanders

themselves may even have taken some of it

for granted. That is rapidly changing. Shetland

mussels, lamb, beef, smoked salmon and much

else are now enjoyed worldwide and, within the

islands, there’s a refreshing new focus on food

that’s local.

In recent years, two cheese-makers have become

well-established, with an excellent range that

goes very well with the legendary local oatcakes.

Producers of fine chocolates, fudges and

preserves satisfy the sweeter tooth and it can all

be washed down with a great range of local beers.

It’s a great, high quality menu, featuring food

that’s been produced with care and integrity in

one of the finest, cleanest environments in the

world. Enjoy!

T H E L A R D E R I S . . . F U L L T O

T

6 A TASTE OF

rus and Sparls. Stap, Krappen and

Blaand: just a few of the things that

would once have graced a Shetland

table 150 years ago.

In those days, Shetland’s recipes were shaped by

necessity and hardship, but the ingredients were,

as now, of the highest quality. That led to some

imaginative ways of cooking and preserving.

Not to mention some memorable names in the

local dialect!

Fish was plentiful, particularly cod, haddock,

herring, mackerel, ling, saithe and tusk. Shellfish

would have been readily available, too. The

land produced meat from sheep, cattle and

occasionally pigs, along with milk. Hens and

ducks were kept by many.

There are breeds of sheep, cattle, poultry and

ducks specific to Shetland. On their croft on the

island of Trondra, Mary and Tommy Isbister have

devoted a great deal of time – and detective work

– to preserving Shetland breeds. They managed

to bring together two Shetland ducks and a drake

and, Mary says, ‘all the Shetland ducks alive today

– and there are ones as far away as North America

– have come from that’; today, she has eighteen

ducks and three drakes. Tracking down Shetland

hens was no easier, and their origins are intriguing.

They bear a resemblance to the South American

Araucana breed and it seems at least possible

that they may have arrived in Shetland with

shipwrecked sailors from the Spanish armada:

old people in Shetland’s west mainland call them

‘galleon hens’.

Vegetables grown in the islands included kale,

cabbage, potatoes, turnips and carrots. Some

cereals, including oats, barley and bere, an ancient

grain, were produced. Fruit, when it was seen at

all, would have been imported, but rhubarb grows

extremely well in Shetland.

Historically, Shetlanders had to cope with the

same challenges as cooks anywhere. Lack of

refrigeration meant that techniques for preserving

food were vital. Until the mid to late 19th century,

cooking in many houses in rural Shetland would

have been done in pots or pans suspended

over an open fire. Stoves with ovens spread only

gradually, appearing first in Lerwick and in lairds’

homes, and only in Lerwick was there ever a

public gas supply, though the use of bottled gas for

cooking is widespread today.

B L A A N D , S TA P & K R A P P E N :

F O O D H E R I TA G E

K

8 A TASTE OF

Milk was used in several different ways. Eunice

Henderson recalls her father’s explanation of

the process: “They would take the cream off first,

and make butter with it, and then they would have

buttermilk. Buttermilk would be broken down again

to make kirn milk by adding boiling water to the

buttermilk. That produced cottage cheese, which

could be pressed into a block. Then there would be

the water off that, which was called druttle, and you

could drink that or make porridge with it. There was

no wastage of anything.”

Blaand, also derived from milk, is a drink that was

common not just in Shetland, but throughout

Scotland and elsewhere, including Scandinavia

and Russia. To make it, whey was left to ferment

until it sparkled, producing an alcohol content said

to be similar to that of wine.

Nothing from animals was thrown away, either.

When a cow was slaughtered, scraps of meat and

gristle would be minced together, seasoned and

heavily salted, stuffed into an intestine (a sparrel or

sparl), brined again, then left to cure in the rafters

for several weeks, or longer.

Salt was, of course, one of the keys to preserving

food in the days before refrigeration. Reestit

mutton, a classic on the Shetland menu, is mutton

that’s been steeped in brine, then air-dried. It’s an

essential element in Shetland weddings and other

celebrations such as Up Helly Aa. Traditionally,

it was hung in the rafters, where it would also be

gently smoked by the peat fumes rising from the

fire. Reestit mutton is one old Shetland dish that’s

still very much in favour today. It is cooked by

boiling and the stock is invariably used to make a

rich and very tasty tattie soup. The reestit mutton

joint may either be put in the pot with the soup

ingredients or the stock from boiling the meat

can be drawn off and used as the base for the

soup. The cooked meat is then eaten, often

with bannocks.

S T U F F E D F I S H H E A D S !

The best picture we have of Shetland’s

old food traditions comes from a book

of Shetland recipes first published in

1925. ‘Cookery For Northern Wives’

is a collection of recipes gathered

by Margaret B Stout. Her daughter,

Margaret Stuart, sums up her mum’s

approach: “ ‘Native food for native folk’

was what she said. She was a dietician and

she helped with economy cooking for the

war effort. She hated waste. Food should be

nutritious and she thought that the native

food was very nutritious. It was missing in

some things, maybe, like oranges, but you

were making that up with fish livers. You

had certain vegetables, root vegetables, but

a lot of it was made up of fish.”

Some of these dishes were very simple,

like Liver Krus, which were fish livers

in a cup of dough, roasted on the

hearth. Stap was a seasoned mixture

of fish liver and fish flesh, often taken

from the head. Krappen (or Krappin)

was made by combining fish livers

and oatmeal (or sometimes beremeal).

These ingredients were mixed

together and seasoned, then stuffed

into a fish-head and boiled.

10 A TASTE OF

Another classic Shetland dish is saucermeat, or

sassermaet, which in Margaret Stout’s version

involves allspice, cloves, ginger, white pepper,

black pepper, mace, Jamaica pepper and

cinnamon, as well as salt.

Fish was either eaten when very fresh, or

preserved. During the herring season, huge

quantities were salted and packed in barrels for

export. For home consumption, fish could be

salted and either spread on a beach or hung up on

a line to dry; drying fish are still occasionally seen

outside Shetland homes. Sometimes, fish was

simply air-dried. Mary Isbister remembers: “Fish

would never, ever be used unless it was absolutely

fresh, unless for things like soor skate! My father

just loved that. It was skate hung and dried in the

sun without salt until it was full of ammonia. It was

horrible! But in his day, it was really looked for.

That’s very much Icelandic, Faroese, Norwegian.”

Since ovens were not available in many homes,

the basic form of bread was the bannock, a simple

combination of flour or beremeal, baking soda,

cream of tartar, salt and either buttermilk or

sour milk. Tattie scones and oatcakes were also

popular. All could be cooked on a griddle or skillet

over the fire. In places, they still are. In Shetland,

the necessities of the past can be the delicacies of

today. And tomorrow.

S A L T Y !

It may seem that a diet involving a lot

of fat and salt, and notably lacking in

fruit, was not particularly healthy.

However, as Eunice Henderson points

out: “If you were eating your kale on a

regular basis, you were getting quite a lot

of nutrients from a green leafy vegetable as

well as your B vitamins and your minerals

like iron. Food was wholesome, good and

filling and kept folk full, because they had

to go out and work manually, and you need

fat for that kind of lifestyle, for energy and

for warmth, when you were working out in

quite harsh conditions.”

What’s more, the salt and fat content

of our forebears’ food might look

worrying but many of today’s

supermarket ready meals contain

large amounts of both.

12 A TASTE OF

f you’re in the mood for a succulent

steak or some tasty lamb, meat from

Shetland should definitely be top of

your shopping list.

Shetland lamb enjoys protection under the

European Union’s Protected Designation of

Origin (PDO) scheme, which puts it in the same

category as champagne, Parma ham or Melton

Mowbray pork pies. Beef is also produced,

though in much smaller quantities, and it, too,

is of excellent quality.

It’s also important to realise that not all Shetland

lamb tastes the same.

The flavour of lamb is widely believed to be linked

to the animal’s diet. Lambs that roam over heather

moorland taste different from those reared mainly

on grass, and different again from the smaller

numbers that include seaweed in their diet.

A number of different breeds and cross-breeds of

lamb are to be found in Shetland but it’s the native

lamb that carries the PDO label.

The farmers and crofters in Shetland who rear

native Shetland lamb know that they have

something special to offer. Bit by bit, they’re

finding a wider market for it both in the islands

and farther afield.

T H E B E S T

I

14 A TASTE OF

Aaron Sinclair is one of them. His family has

crofting in their blood, but in 2000 he acquired

a larger farm at Sandlodge, along with a grazing

lease on the nearby island of Mousa, which also

happens to be the site of the best-preserved

broch (an iron-age stone tower). He decided to

sell Mousa lamb direct to customers, delivering it

personally in boxes, carefully butchered.

Most of Aaron’s customers are within about fifteen

miles of the farm in Shetland, so this is very much

local food. A few are in the Aberdeen area and

they collect their boxes from the overnight ferry

when it docks in the city each morning. Demand

for Mousa lamb is strong and Aaron says that they

could sell more.

Ronnie Eunson, who farms near the village of

Scalloway on Shetland’s west coast, has chosen

like Aaron to focus on native lamb. “Native breeds

are unusual in the marketplace,” he says. “I thought

that going completely over to the native Shetland

breed meant that there was no confusion about

what we were doing. I felt that we had to have

that credibility.”

Ronnie made contact with a high-class butcher,

Lidgate of Holland Park in London. The firm

encouraged him to go fully organic, which he

has done.

Ronnie has recently begun selling beef from

the Shetland breed of cattle. He says it has

a special quality of its own, with “a lot more

flavours than you’d find in ordinary beef.” Some

of it is sold through a wholefoods shop, Scoop,

in Lerwick and some through Lidgate in London,

who’ve christened it ‘Iron Age beef’, Mr Lidgate

being fascinated by that period in Shetland’s

archaeology.

“It’s a discernibly different product for customers coming into a shop. They can see that it’s smaller, they can see that it’s darker and if they take the time to look at the posters and read about it, then they see that they have something that’s not available anywhere else in the market. It had the eating quality, it had the flavour and I was anxious to see if it could find a niche in the market place alongside the lamb. The lamb season is only ten weeks at the back end of the year but we’re hoping that the beef season will run on into the spring.”

Ronnie Eunson

15A TASTE OF

“Now that we’re taking it right through to delivering the lamb into the hands of the housewife, at their door, it’s very, very satisfying. Sometimes we deliver as many as 40 boxes in a day and it’s great to be there when the housewife opens the box and is delighted with what she sees. We make sure that we’re handing over quality and folk can identify where it’s come from.” “There’s nothing revolutionary about Mousa lamb: it’s just bred and fed and grown in a natural environment. What makes it special is that it’s slaughtered in season, when it’s at its best.”

Aaron Sinclair

“Some of my customers say that they don’t like lamb... but they do like Shetland lamb. Customer feedback is that the product is very good.”

Richard Briggs

Richard Briggs moved to Shetland from

Gloucestershire in 1990, when his wife was

appointed to a job with the then Nature

Conservancy Council, now Scottish Natural

Heritage. He had kept sheep before moving north,

grazing them on nature reserves, and managed

to acquire land in Shetland in order to develop a

business. Richard has customers in Shetland and

farther afield, particularly around Edinburgh. Like

Aaron Sinclair, he particularly enjoys delivering

meat in person.

Richard is also convinced that the taste of lamb

is influenced by what the animals eat. He quickly

realised that the lamb reared in Shetland tasted

quite different from what he had been producing

in Gloucestershire. The nearest parallel he can

think of is Alpine lamb but it’s subtly different, he

says, from anything else that’s available.

Native Shetland lamb and beef will always be in

limited supply, because the available land and

the growing conditions constrain the number of

animals that can be reared to the high standards

insisted upon by crofters and farmers like Aaron

Sinclair, Ronnie Eunson and Richard Briggs.

However, there’s certainly scope to make these

meats more widely available through mail order or

in a limited number of outlets like Lidgate or James

Allan. Demand is bound to increase as customers

realise just how good they are.

16 A TASTE OF

W E L C O M E T O

t’s wild sea-fish that’s my thing, and

as far as wild sea-fish is concerned,

Shetland is the best place in the UK bar

none” So says Dave Parham, and he should know

- he’s a former fisherman who learned that trade,

straight out of school, in the English Channel.

These days, after a varied career that has included

scuba diving all around the world, a few years in

Germany, a spell as an expedition photographer

and running photographic businesses in Devon

and Aberdeen, Dave operates a fish business in

Lerwick, smoking fish and selling it, with results

that bring customers back again and again.

Dave settled in Shetland after dropping in on a

geological expedition to Faroe and Iceland. He

worked for a while in a local fish factory and dived

for scallops. On turning 40, in 1998, he realised

that if he was going to strike out on his own in the

fish business, he ought to get on with it.

Several years of very hard work have paid off and

he now feels fairly settled. In fact, business is

now so brisk that he has given up a market stall in

London and a mail-order service, because “now

it’s as much as I can do to service the folk that

come through the door in the shop”.

Dave feels that the seas around Shetland produce

fish that is simply exceptional. “When you speak

about quality, you’re talking about freshness,

you’re talking about the health of the fish, you’re

talking about the diet of the fish, Shetland just has

what it takes. The fish here is nice to eat, with good

flavours, fat, and very, very fresh.”

I“

“My passion is going to the fish market at half-past five

every morning – which is pretty sad but there you

go! At the market this morning, there were 2000

boxes of absolutely pristine fish. Because of all the

decommissioning of boats, the sea is full of fish.”

Dave Parham

18 A TASTE OF

Mussels are a particular success story. Shetland

produces wonderfully large and succulent ones,

rope grown and entirely free from the grit that

is often found in dredged mussels. The mussel

farmers simply hang the ropes in the sea and

the mussels develop. Absolutely nothing is done

to them, apart from thinning out the crop now

and again so that they have more room to grow.

Nothing is added and there’s no pollution.

Michael Tait and Michael Laurenson are two of

the leading mussel growers in the islands. Both

of them moved into the business around 1997.

Michael Tait’s company is Shetland Mussels and

they have more than twenty mussel-growing

sites around the Shetland coast. As he says, what

makes the product good is primarily the Shetland

environment rather than anything that his

firm does.

Michael Laurenson echoes that. His firm, Blueshell

Mussels, is the biggest producer in the UK. At the

last count, there were more than 40 employees

looking after 1354 miles of rope on 218 longlines

located all around Shetland. They also process

scallops. Shetland, he says, is “very pristine, with

very clean shores, the right sea temperature and

an abundance of phytoplankton”. He explains

that the mussels have to be strong enough to

withstand the winter gales, so the shells are thick

and robust. And the mussels can be in London, on

a plate, perfectly fresh, less than 48 hours after the

rope was hauled up in one of Shetland’s voes.

If you eat in the top London seafood chain Belgo,

you’re eating Shetland mussels. Shetland seafood

is available everywhere – fast, fresh and of the

very highest quality.

“It’s just a good area in which to grow mussels. We have a clean, pollution-free environment. A lot of phytoplankton comes in here with the Gulf Stream. The size of the shells is very good.”

Michael Laurenson

19A TASTE OF

Over at the Shetland Seafood Centre, Ruth

Henderson of Seafood Shetland and Carole

Laignel of Shetland Shellfish Management

Organisation are particularly keen to stress the

work that’s been done on making Shetland’s fishing

industry sustainable. For example, the catching

of species including brown crab, velvet crab, king

and queen scallops and lobster around Shetland

has been managed since 1999 by a Regulating

Order under the Sea Fisheries (Shellfish) Act

1967. Management is in the hands of the Shetland

Shellfish Management Organisation, a company

limited by guarantee. The company’s efforts were

rewarded in 2012 by certification by the Marine

Stewardship Council (MSC) for velvet crab, brown

crab and king scallops.

However, such accolades aren’t confined to those

species, or indeed to shellfish. Mussels from

Shetland are now MSC-certified and so are North

Sea haddock and herring, so that a very large

proportion of Shetland’s superb fish and shellfish

is now not only sustainably managed, but also

has the proof in the form of certification from the

leading organisation in the field.

Carole points out that Shetland’s fishing industry

has huge strengths. From her office on Lerwick’s

waterfront, she can see the boats arrive alongside

the fish market.

“They’re all family-owned vessels. You know who they are, you know where they’ve been and you know what the product is, there’s that whole traceability element. I mainly deal with the inshore shellfish vessels. We’ve 120-odd licensed vessels, both scallopers and creel boats, that are going out and then landing their catch, generally every day. So you’ve got a good-quality product, you’ve got an awareness among the fishermen of the product that they’re delivering to market, you’ve got the clear waters of Shetland.”

Carole Laignel

20 A TASTE OF

hetland may be best known for fish,

shellfish and lamb, but many small

producers specialise in making a

wide range of really delicious sweet and savoury

delights. There are chocolates and fudge, jams,

pickles and even some honey. Cheese has been

made since around 2007 and several bakers offer

their own oatcakes to go with it.

W H E R E ’ S T H E F U D G E ?

Gillian Ramsay, whose small team hand-makes

fudge and chocolates in her shop in Lerwick, had

been making and selling crafts for several years.

Soon after she opened a new shop in Lerwick,

visitors began asking her about fudge. However,

Puffin Poo is probably the product that has

attracted most attention. It came about after

someone had submitted a photograph of ‘sheeps’

pearls’ for an exhibition at the shop, and someone

suggested that she make Puffin Poo. “It was after

the exhibition, and a few bottles of wine later, that we

said, well, what would Puffin Poo be made of? White

guano, yes; and someone said that it must have crunchy

bits for the fish bones. So I went away and looked at what

ingredients I could use, thinking ‘this will never work!‘

But it did.”

D E L I C I O U S C H O C O L A T E S F R O M U N S T

When they were thinking of a move away from the

south of England, Aaron and Cassie Foord hadn’t

originally had Shetland in their sights. Wales

seemed a more likely option. But then they saw a

picture of a cottage in Shetland’s northernmost

island, Unst, and in no time at all they had left

their old jobs behind and were contemplating the

opportunities to make a living in the far north.

Making chocolate was, Aaron says, “a daft idea, one

evening, that didn’t seem quite so daft the next morning.”

They borrowed a book from the library, did some

research on line and ordered what they needed to

get them started. “It worked and we’re still here! Simple

as that, really.”

Now the company has customers all over the world.

“Through the summer,” Aaron says, “we get a lot of

European, Scandinavian and American visitors. They all

buy chocolate or try chocolate here, then order from home,

so we do a lot of mail order online.” The chocolates can

also be found in all the shops on Unst and in two

or three shops elsewhere in Shetland. The Foords

don’t advertise: the chocolates’ reputation has

spread by word of mouth.

S W E E T , S AV O U R Y A N D

S

22 A TASTE OF

O A T C A K E S F R O M N O R T H A N D S O U T H

North OatsSeveral Shetland bakers make oatcakes to go with

all that wonderful cheese, and they are to be found

at all points of the Shetland compass.

In the north, at Baltasound on Unst, the long-

established Skibhoull bakery has been turning

out bread, cakes, oatcakes and their famous ships’

biscuits since 1885. However, in 2007,

Penny Thompson thought that there was possibly

a space in the market for food with fewer additives.

She was also interested in long-life products,

because they’re much easier to export.

Penny takes up the story. “With the help of Liz

Ashworth, who’s a food expert, we tried our basic oatcake

recipe without any additives and then we had the idea

of using sea-water, which meant we didn’t have to add

salt. The recipe was just pure oatmeal, vegetable oil,

shortening and sea-water. They also had no wheat,

because quite a few people don’t like wheat. To our

surprise, the oatcakes actually stuck together and just

worked really well, though they’re quite tricky to make.”

Penny thinks that the combination of seawater and

oatmeal may not be entirely new, for she has found

evidence that fishermen in Orkney took oatmeal

with them and moistened it with sea-water to keep

them going when they were out fishing.

South OatsMeanwhile, at the other end of Shetland,

Sheila Fowlie also makes oatcakes. She says: “I’ve

always loved cooking, and making things, and I like

inventing things”

Sheila has developed her own recipes for oatcakes

and there are several varieties.

She makes them with oatmeal, oat bran, wheat

germ and bere meal, which she uses as a substitute

for flour. They’re lower in gluten than normal

oatcakes, she says. Some are flavoured, black

pepper being especially popular.

As far as possible, Sheila uses pure, natural

Shetland ingredients, including Shetland butter

and Shetland buttermilk. Her products are

available in many shops throughout Shetland

and she also attends farmers’ markets. However,

passers-by can also choose what they want from

an honesty box outside her house, and simply leave

the appropriate payment.

Sheila’s range of products, which are called

Fowlie’s Hand Made, extends well beyond oatcakes.

She makes jam, chutneys, pickles, fudge and fruit

curds and she’s particularly pleased with her fudge

biscuits, which are very crunchy.

23A TASTE OF

T A B L E T A N D B L A C K P U D D I N G F R O M B U R R A

In the village of Hamnavoe, on Burra Isle,

Jessamine Newlands makes mouth-watering

‘Boannie Isles’ tablet. From the beginning, she has

used a recipe given to her by her mother. “I’ve

experimented’, she says, ‘but hers is the basic recipe. It’s a

secret recipe – we can’t tell anyone about it!”

It was her husband Leslie who came with idea for

black pudding. A former butcher, he found himself

at home with a disability and, prompted by a

friend, decided to try out some recipes. The results

were very good indeed and Jessamine now spends

one day a week making not only black pudding but

also mealie puddings, haggis and a fruit pudding

that is made from an old Unst recipe.

A B I G C H E E S E I N S H E T L A N D

Until just a few years ago, there had been no

commercial cheese production in Shetland. Then,

by coincidence, two people began making cheese

within a few months of each other.

Caroline Henderson, who makes her cheese in

Lerwick, was brought up in Shetland but had

moved away. She wanted to return and, noticing

the lack of any local cheese, decided to go on a

cheese-making course in the West Highlands with

a view to setting up a cheese business in Shetland.

By 2009, she was ready to begin production and set

up Artisan Island Cheese in 2009.

Caroline calls her main range of eight soft cheeses

‘the birls’ because they’re spun with their flavours.

She says that the ideas for these have come, over

time, from friends and family. She says: “They work

really well. We incorporate things like Böd Ayre’s seaweed,

which is very popular; garden herbs that you’d find

growing in Shetland; oatmeal and black pepper. Garlic

pepper is very popular and we do a mixed spice. These are

firm favourites and they sell very well”

“The wonderful thing about using Shetland milk”,

she says, “is that it gives slightly different variations

throughout the year depending on what the cows are

eating and where they are. And you can get so many

variations from just a slight adjustment to temperature

or time taken during the preparation process. Because of

this we have had lots of serendipitous accidents; they’re

absolutely amazing sometimes, which is why you keep

good records.”

Shetland Artisan Cheese is available in local shops

and some is sent outside Shetland by mail order at

Christmas. Caroline says: ‘We do cheese boards in a

bag. It’s a vacuum-packed selection so you can have three

to a dozen or even more cheeses and we can post it out, but

we need to know in advance.’ She also receives some

unusual commissions, for example a three-tier

cheese wedding cake.

24 A TASTE OF

A N O T H E R B I G C H E E S E I N S H E T L A N D

In 2007, at the same time as Caroline was

contemplating a Shetland cheese business, a

City-based chartered accountant’s wanderlust had

brought him and his family on holiday to Shetland.

Jay Hawkins knew that he’d reached a stage in his

life when he was looking for something different,

as he puts it, “something a bit more creative, a bit more

productive; and I’d always liked cooking, so I was on the

lookout for opportunities”.

By the time they set off for home, Jay was thinking

hard about the notion of making cheese in

Shetland – having been told none had ever been

made in the isles. In August 2008, he and his

family moved to Shetland and Jay began putting

together his cheese-making plans. He put in a bid

for a former salmon smoking building at Skeld,

on Shetland’s west side, went on a cheese-making

course at Nantwich, in Cheshire and practised at

home, giving away the results of his experiments

to friends or at local functions.

Production began in earnest in May 2010, in

time for cheese to be ready for the 2010 Shetland

Food Festival. Unlike Caroline Henderson,

Jay concentrated on hard cheeses. Production

remained on a small scale until October 2011,

when a much larger vat arrived.

By 2012, the cheese was becoming available in

more and more shops in Shetland – 19 or so at

the last count – and Jay’s thoughts had turned

to offering specially-made cheeses to hotels and

restaurants and to the possibilities of exporting.

Jay makes several different cheese, including a

coloured one, Sandstinger, which is similar to

Dunlop and sells very well in Shetland. Flavoured

cheeses are made with chilli, piri-piri, cumin,

chive and caraway. For the future, Jay would love to

be able to use unpasteurised milk, because that’s

what the most discriminating markets demand

but, he says, there are strict hygiene rules for any

herd used to produce unpasteurised milk, with all

the cows having to be checked annually.

Jay’s techniques are very traditional and he avoids

the accelerants and flavour enhancers that are

used to make mass-market cheeses.

“We try to follow the traditional way of doing it, which

is that, when it comes out of the press, we then, for the

cheddars and the Sandstinger, smear it with vegetable fat

and put cheese cloths round the outside, which is a way

of slowing down the moisture loss from the cheese. We

then put it onto wood shelving and it’s rotated every few

days for however many months you want. To get a decent

flavour in a cheddar, I’m looking at 150 days.”

“We try to follow the traditional way of doing it, which is that, when it comes out of the press, we then, for the cheddars and the Sandstinger, smear it with vegetable fat and put cheese cloths round the outside, which is a way of slowing down the moisture loss from the cheese.”

Jay Hawkins

26 A TASTE OF

here’s a good choice of places to

enjoy a meal in Shetland. Restaurants,

bistros and cafés compete for custom

throughout the islands and – as in the rest of the

UK – the standard of food is much higher than it

was a generation ago. The emphasis is usually

on cooking good local ingredients simply, so that

the flavour of the distinctive local lamb or the

freshness of, say, a piece of ‘stanebiter’, as wolf-

fish is called in Shetland, can shine through.

Of course, our cafés and restaurants have a head

start, because the raw materials are fresh and of

superb quality. Shetland native lamb is a particular

speciality and Shetland mutton, too, is delicious.

Look out, too, for Shetland beef, which may come

from the native Shetland breed or from other

breeds reared in Shetland. Fish and shellfish are

available in great variety; much of the fish that’s

landed in Shetland is from fisheries certified as

sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council.

Mussels – also a very sustainable, natural seafood

– are large and succulent, making an excellent

starter or main course.

Many of our local chefs use locally-produced

vegetables in season. Several varieties of potato

are grown in the islands but pride of place goes

to the Shetland Black, which when available is a

real treat, especially roasted. Other traditional

crops include cabbage, kale, carrots and turnips.

Rhubarb grows particularly well and turns up in

crumbles or tarts or perhaps with mackerel, which

it partners beautifully. Menus may occasionally

feature Shetland-grown strawberries, raspberries,

tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers or celery. Local

herbs are available, too.

Eating out in Shetland isn’t confined to restaurants

or cafés, of course. Our country halls do wonderful

Sunday afternoon teas throughout the summer

months, with the profits going to a wide range

of charities. You’ll find a fantastic range of home

baking and there will almost certainly be delicacies

like reestit mutton bannocks, involving mutton

that’s first been salted in brine then air-dried.

Then there are picnics: fresh rolls come from

several local, independent bakeries to be found

throughout Shetland and there’s local butter, too.

You might fancy some Shetland cheese and locally-

made pickle, Shetland eggs or poached salmon.

Delicious, and all the more so in the fresh air.

Last but not least, there’s fish and chips. Everyone

has a favourite chippie, but all the Shetland ones

use the freshest of fish straight from the market,

cooked to perfection, and you’ll sometimes see

mussels or scallops on the menu, too.

E AT I N G O U T I N

T

28 A TASTE OF

R A Y M O N D S M I T H M O N T Y ’ S B I S T R O

Back in 1996, Shetland food-lovers were delighted

to welcome a newcomer on Shetland’s dining

scene. Monty’s Bistro opened in Mounthooly

Street, one of the lanes that leads up the hill from

Lerwick’s historic waterfront. The pioneering

venture offered local food, beautifully cooked,

in a friendly setting. It wasn’t long before other

chefs realised the potential of Shetland’s raw

materials but, to everyone’s delight, Monty’s is

still going strong.

Monty’s was founded by Raymond Smith, whose

roots are in the islands. His mum’s from the village

of Aith and the croft has been in the family for 500

years. He was brought up partly in Shetland and

partly in England, but has travelled far and wide

during his cooking career.

Raymond’s first job was in the Lerwick Hotel, after

which he went to college in Inverness, where he

got the top marks in Britain in the City and Guilds

examinations. He moved to Bermuda and worked

there for two years. However, teaching appealed

to him, so he returned to Inverness as a lecturer

on the professional cookery course at Inverness

Technical College.

‘Then’, recalls Raymond, ‘I just thought, well, it’s too

young to be doing this, so I got a job in London and put

myself through another two-year college course. I worked

in two hotels in London, one a private hotel and one a

Sheraton. Then I got a job in Dubai, doing five years in the

Hilton and two years in the World Trade Club for

the Sheikh.’

Raymond then planned to come back and work

again in Britain. He drove home, all the way

from Dubai.

‘But when I got back, I discovered that I’d been offered a

job in Hong Kong, so a week later I was out there. I did five

years in Hong Kong , two and a half years for a private

company and then two and a half years for a group of

friends that had invested in a private restaurant.’

During these long spells abroad, Shetland was

never far from Raymond’s thoughts and he made

regular visits home.

‘This place came on the market and I came up to have a

look at it. It just seemed to be the next stage in my life. I

knew I’d be leaving Hong Kong and did another stint in

London. I put in a bid in November 2005 and, after a bit

of hassle, we finally got the building in June 1996.

We gutted the place and set it out as a restaurant,

opening that September.’

From the start, Raymond has focused on serving

the best food available from producers in Shetland

and the north of Scotland. ‘We work with local

farmers like the Cromarty and Williamson families

in Northmavine. In season, we have native Shetland

lamb on the menu. My approach is to keep it simple and

offer as much that’s local as possible. We use Shetland

produce like lamb, fish, crab, mussels, scallops and

rhubarb. We also take some produce, including beef, from

Aberdeenshire and the Spey valley and mushrooms in

season from the Black Isle, near Inverness, or sometimes

from Shetland. Over the winter, the menu ranges a little

more widely, to keep local interest. For example, we’ll

be having an Egyptian starter this winter. The menu

changes bit by bit, seasonally; you do need a certain range,

but the main thing is to keep it simple.’

One of Raymond’s mottoes is ‘the right season for

the right things’. It’s clear that locals and visitors

alike really appreciate his approach and are

grateful that, after all his adventures, he decided

to bring his skills and enthusiasm for good food

back to Shetland.

“My approach is to keep it simple and offer as much that’s local as possible. We use Shetland produce like lamb, fish, crab, mussels, scallops and rhubarb”

Raymond Smith

30 A TASTE OF

ocal produce and some of the isles’

classic dishes have been causing

great enthusiasm among the London

glitterati, thanks to the efforts of three Shetland

women – Helen Nisbett, Eunice Henderson

and Jane Moncrieff.

Helen, who lives in London, is behind two hugely

successful ‘Shetland Nights’ in the UK capital,

featuring an isles feast, dancing and music.

The most recent starred Michelin-starred chef

Joseph Trivelli of the legendary River Cafe, and

had him brushing up on his bannock-making

skills and learning about sassermaet. Shetland

mussels and mutton have featured in the feasts,

to a great reception.

And Jane Moncrieff and Eunice Henderson,

presenters of BBC Radio Shetland’s Shetland’s

Larder programme, mixed with the UK’s media

stars of food and drink at top store Fortnum and

Mason after their food show was shortlisted for the

first of the annual Fortnum and Mason Food and

Drink Awards. They were runners-up to BBC Radio

Four’s Food Programme

“We were delighted,” said Jane. “It was the most

surreal yet enjoyable experience, and to have been

honoured for excellence in broadcasting nationally

is such a thrill. There was lots of interest in Shetland

and what is produced food wise.”

L O N D O N

L

32 A TASTE OF

Where can I buy Shetland food outside Shetland?It’s not too difficult to find Shetland food on restaurant or bistro menus in many parts of the UK. For example, Shetland mussels are widely available and you’ll come across Shetland fish too. The better restaurants always tell customers where their ingredients have come from and, if it isn’t obvious from the menu, the server should be able to tell you. Some products using ingredients from Shetland – smoked salmon, for instance – are widely available in supermarkets and smaller shops, though you may need to check the small print to see if the raw materials came from our islands.

Food from our smaller producers is not, of course, so widely available but is well worth seeking out. If you contact the firm, they’ll often be happy to post things to you. There’s a directory of producers on our website, with contact details.

Does Shetland also produce beef? Yes, several producers keep beef cattle. The beef from our native Shetland cattle is especially good, beautifully

textured and wonderfully tender when it’s been properly hung. In Shetland, just ask at any butcher’s shop. If you live outside Shetland, you can contact one of the producers listed in our directory.

Are mussels grown naturally? To grow mussels, our producers simply hang ropes in the sea, suspended from buoys. The mussels develop on the ropes in clear, unpolluted water and are harvested after about two years. There’s no human intervention in the process, so it’s a totally natural food. Shetland mussels are big, succulent and absolutely delicious, however they’re cooked.

Are there many organic producers in Shetland?Yes, it’s possible to buy lamb and farmed salmon that’s been reared to organic standards and you can also find locally-grown organic vegetables. However, the organic movement in Shetland doesn’t just focus on food: there’s organic wool, too.

Is Shetland a good place for fish and chips? Oh yes! We start with fantastic ingredients. The fish – usually haddock – usually comes straight from the market and is as fresh as it can be. Other fish options are often available, too, and at least one chippie regularly features scallops. There are several chippies in Lerwick and one in Brae, and local community halls also run occasional fish and chip nights.

How easy is it to find exotic ingredients in Shetland?Much easier than you might think. If, for example, you want to do something a bit different with a piece of Shetland fish or lamb, you’ll be able to find a remarkable range of ingredients in local shops. Shetland is home to people from a wide range of cultures and Shetlanders are inveterate travellers, so there’s a healthy appetite for food from every part of the globe.

Is any Shetland fish or shellfish MSC-certified?Yes, lots of it. Shetland producers have been very active in pursuing Marine Stewardship Council certification. MSC certification means that they’ve been caught or farmed in a sustainable way, so that stocks will be maintained. You can choose from MSC-certified north sea herring and haddock, north-east Atlantic mackerel, Shetland rope-grown mussels, Shetland inshore brown and velvet crab and Shetland inshore scallops. There are full details on the MSC website (www.msc.org).

Are local eggs available in Shetland?Yes, many producers offer local eggs in the islands. Look for them in country shops, delis and, quite commonly, on sale by the roadside, where you simply put your money in an honesty box. Duck eggs are sometimes available, too.

F R E Q U E N T LY A S K E D

33A TASTE OF

S H E T L A N D L A M B C O O K E D I N T H E G R E E K S T Y L E

by Bo Simmons, the author of ‘A Taste of Burrastow – Seasons in

a Shetland Kitchen’

SERV ES 4 PR EPA R AT ION T I M E: 30 M I N U T ES

COOK I NG T I M E: 1-2 HOU R S

1kg (2.2lb) stewing lamb, shoulder is good, trim and cut into 4cm (1.5 inch) cubes.

1kg (2.2lb) shallots or pickling onion

250ml (8fl oz) olive oil

1 tbsp tomato paste

125ml (4fl oz) red wine

60ml (2.5fl oz) vinegar

4 cloves garlic

2 bay leaves

1 cinnamon stick

1 tsp cumin

Salt and pepper

Brown the meat in half of the oil, barely cover with hot water and stew for 40 minutes. Then add the tomato purée, spices, wine and vinegar. Add the remaining oil, whole peeled onions to meat, stir, cover and cook gently for a further 15-20minutes. Occasionally rock the pan to and fro. Stand before serving.

Serving suggestion:

Serve with French bread and a mixed green leaf salad or with potatoes and a steamed green vegetable.

This recipe can also be made with Arctic Hare or Shetland beef.

R E C I P E S F R O M

B A N N O C K S

SERV ES 6

1lb of plain flour

1 tps (large) baking soda

1 tsp of cream of tartar

1 tsp of salt

Buttermilk for mixing

Mix the dry ingredients together, Make into a soft dough with the buttermilk, Just as soft as can be easily handled.

Turn on to a floured board, Turn in rough edges and roll out gently until 1⁄4 - 1⁄2 inch thick.

Cut in Squares or rounds, Bake on a moderately hot griddle or in fairly hot oven for 10-15 mins.

34 A TASTE OF

B E S T S W E E T A N D S O U R C A B B A G E S O U P

by Ethel G. Hofman, D. Univ, the author of ‘Mackerel at Midnight – Growing up

Jewish on the Shetland Isles’

SERV ES 18 -20

In World War II, when the Jewish soldiers brought a precious package of brown sugar, to the late Jean Greenwald, my mother, it came with a request for her famous cabbage soup. Onions are chopped in the food processor or at a pinch, use frozen chopped onions.

2 tbsp olive oil

2 large onions, coarsely chopped

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp beef bouillon granules

1 (16 ounce) package coleslaw mix or 4 - 5 cups shredded cabbage

1 (46 ounce) can tomato juice

1 can (14 1⁄2 ounce) chopped tomatoes

4 bay leaves

Juice of 2 large lemons

1⁄2 cup brown sugar or to taste

White pepper to taste

In an 8 quart pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and salt. Stir and cover. Cook over low heat for 30 minutes or until soft and golden.

Stir in the bouillon and coleslaw mix or cabbage. Cover. Cook over low heat 30 minutes. Add the tomato juice, canned tomatoes, 1 1⁄2 cups water, bay leaves, lemon juice and brown sugar. Stir.

Season to taste with white pepper.

Partially cover and simmer 40 minutes longer. Add a little more brown sugar if desired. Remove bay leaves before serving.

B E R E M E A L G A L E T T E S

by Marian Armitage

SERV ES 2

Marian is a Shetlander who, after studying at the Anderson High School trained as a teacher of ‘Domestic Science’ in Edinburgh in the early 70s. For almost 35 years he taught Food and Nutrition mostly in London state secondary schools in Islington and Hammersmith & Fulham. She now spends increasingly longer periods of time at the family home in Scatness and is writing a book about Shetland Food and Cookery which will be published by the Shetland Times next year.

May is a time, when all over Shetland, Jam makers are ‘oxter’ deep in rhubarb. Here is a delicious recipe to enjoy with rhubarb jam or lightly poached rhubarb compote.

Beremeal is a traditional Shetland cereal although it is no longer produced commercially here. The beremeal used in this recipe is from the Birsay Heritage Trust in Orkney and is available from Scoop Wholefoods in Lerwick who also distribute to over 20 country shops.

These galettes are light and fairly fragile pancakes with a slightly sour flavour from the beremeal and the buttermilk. If you prefer you could substitute some plain flour for some of the beremeal. They are equally delicious with sweet or savoury accompaniments. Add a teaspoon of sugar to the batter for sweet galettes.

For a steadying breakfast try with 2 slices of crisply fried smoked Shetland bacon and a poached deuk’s egg. Delicious!

100g Beremeal

Pinch of salt

2 duck or hen’s eggs

200ml Shetland Buttermilk

100ml water

Mix all ingredients in a bowl with a whisk, or use a blender. The consistency will be like a fairly thick batter.

Pour on to a hot lightly greased pancake pan and tilt to spread – aim for a thin pancake. Turn or flip over when slightly browned – 2-3 mins each side.

35A TASTE OF

T H A I S H E T L A N D B E E F & C H I L L I S A L A D

By Jane Moncrieff from Shetland’s Larder

SERV ES 4

This recipe is from “On Salads” written by former BBC Masterchef winner Sue Lawrence who was one of the earlier guests on Shetland’s Larder. It’s one of my family’s favourites and often gets requested for birthdays. I try and use Shetland beef whenever possible and usually double or treble the quantities as it is very moreish. I often add extra ingredients to the salad bed like mango and cucumbers and alternative good cuts of steak work equally well, but be careful not to overcook the meat if it’s thinner.

500g (1lb 2oz) piece of beef fillet tail

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

4 tsp Thai fish sauce

6 tbsp sunflower oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 heaped tablespoons coriander leaves

1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped

1 plump stalk of lemon grass, outer leaves removed and inner stalk chopped

4 spring onions

The juice of one lime

2 generous handfuls of mizuna, rocket or watercress (or whatever type of lettuce you can get your hands on in Shetland)

Place the beef in a small dish. Mix together the soy sauce, sugar, half the fish sauce and 1 tablespoon oil then pour this over the meat, coating it well. Season with plenty of ground pepper and leave to marinate for 1 hour.

Now make the dressing: place the coriander, most of the chilli, lemon grass, spring onion and lime juice in a food processor and add the remaining fish sauce and oil. Blitz until thoroughly combined, then add salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat the oven to 220 C/425 F/gas mark 7. Put the beef in a small roasting tin, pour the soy sauce marinade over, and roast for 25 mins, then remove and rest for at least 10 mins.

Pile the salad leaves onto a shallow serving dish. Slice the beef thinly and place on top, adding any juices. Spoon over the dressing, garnish with any remaining chilli and serve.

R E E S T I T M U T T O N S O U P

by Ethel G. Hofman

SERV ES 8–10

1lb reestit mutton

Cold water to cover

1lb potatoes, peeled and cut in 1 inch chunks

2 large carrots, peeled and cut in 1⁄2 inch thick slices

1 small turnip, peeled and cut in chunks

2 medium onions, peeled and coarsely chopped

Place mutton in a large pot. Add enough cold water to come about 1 inch above the mutton. Bring to boil over medium heat. Skim off foam as it rises to surface. Water will be very salty, so pour off and discard. Add more cold water to cover.

Stir in the potatoes, carrots, turnip and onions. Return to boil, skimming off any more foam. Cover and simmer for at least 2 hours or until meat is tender and vegetables are breaking down.

Remove mutton and set aside. Mash the vegetables with a potato masher or large fork. Remove the meat from the bone. Cut into small dice and add to the soup. If too thick, add a little vegetable broth. Heat, ladle into bowls and serve with brown bread and butter.

/promoteshetland @promoteshetland

Shetland Museum and Archives, Hay’s Dock, Lerwick, Shetland ZE1 0WP T: +44 (0) 1595 98 98 98 E: [email protected] www.SHETLAND.org

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