No, it’s not what you’re thinking. Actually, what were you thinking? Purple Love Week is, in fact, all about supporting independent retailers and encouraging people to go into their local food shops to find out what’s in store. During Purple Love Week, hundreds of participating delicatessens and farm shops across the country will be offering special in-store tasting events. You’ll be able to find out who is participating right here on BigBarn by searching in your area and looking out for purple icons on the map. Purple Love Week runs from 10th – 17th February and is backed by our friends at Olives Et Al.

And in case you’re still wondering, Purple Love is so called because there is actually no such thing as a black olive. ‘Black’ olives are actually purple olives which have been tampered with. So purple stands for pure, unprocessed, good food. And love means… well, we’ll leave that to you.

Farmhouse Breakfast Week runs from January 21st – 27th this year and is all about encouraging people to eat a good breakfast as part of a healthy lifestyle. And that’s alright by us because we consider breakfast to be one of our very best friends. In fact, ask Carrot Man how he gets his superpowers and the first thing he’ll tell you is that every day he has a bowl of what he calls his ‘Breakfast of Champions’. It’s an odd-looking concoction that looks like it would be more at home in a rabbit hutch than a bowl, but it seems to do the trick.

There are lots of events taking place for Farmhouse Breakfast Week. You can find out more about these and get lots of rather yummy-looking breakfast recipes by visiting the Farmhouse Breakfast Week website. And once you’ve worked out what exciting new recipes you’re going to start your day with, check to see where you can buy the ingredients locally, right here on BigBarn.

Visit the Farmhouse Breakfast Week website by clicking here.

By Norman MacLeod
Much in life falls into that category of ’seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time’ and this was no different. A simple reminiscence about Christmas morning breakfast with black pudding became a suggestion that we make a quick trip to buy some from the best producer in the Highlands of Scotland, a mere 300 miles away. Throw in some minor detours to pick up some other specialities and, before you know it, we had ‘an adventure’ on our hands.
At 6. 30 am father and son – ‘bonding’, my wife later told me – set off from Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. It was the week before Christmas and thick fog shrouded the east of the country. At Scotch Corner we turned off and climbed up over the Pennines. Clear of the fog, the rest of the journey was through frost-gripped countryside and under a cloudless blue sky.
Our route took us past a couple of potential foodie highlights and, so, just past Stirling we turned off the M80 to visit Bridge of Allen. The Bridge of Allen Brewery advertises a Christmas Ale. E-mails and phone messages had not received any response so we wanted to verify that the brewery was still operating. The shop was closed and looked as though it had not opened in a long time. Enquiries around the town indicated that there was still life in the place but the future of the brewery seems uncertain. However, while we were in town we stuck our heads round the door of Clive Ramsey’s, an excellent deli on the main street with a good coffee shop. A few doors along is WoodWinters, wines and whiskies. Winner of the 2006 International Wine Challenge Scottish Wine Merchant of the Year, WoodWinters deserves a Bigbarn mention for its own bottling Islay Malt. It’s called ‘the Four’ because it’s a blend of Bowmore, Laphroaig and Caol Ila (yes, that’s only 3 but the label will explain). A limited edition of 681 bottles, it is worth the trip. We know. We tried it.
As we made to leave, purchase under our arms and whisky on our breath, 2 officers of constabulary came through the door. An envelope was discretely passed from manager to uniform. ‘Protection?’ I asked. ‘Christmas Raffle’ came the reply. At that we beat a retreat.
The A9 up from Perth to Kingussie, in the Spey Valley, runs through glorious countryside and, as we came over the Pass of Drummochter, the afternoon sun lit the snow-covered tops of the Cairngorms. Bags deposited at the Crubenbeg B & B, we headed into Aviemore and the Cairngorm Brewery. Robbie Walker, the MD, kindly gave us a tour of this thriving micro-brewery. Producing 16 beers, 8 of which are available in bottles from the shop, the Cairngorm Brewery has many awards to its name. We sampled 4 (back at Crubenbeg, I should add). Black Gold is a sweet stout and Champion Cask Ale in 2005. Blessed Thistle, as the name suggests, uses thistles to bitter the beer. The addition of a hint of ginger makes this a very palatable, intriguing drink. As for the others�. Well, they do mail order but go visit for yourselves and enjoy the hospitality of Robbie and his team.
After a breakfast of haggis and black pudding on potato pancake, topped with a poached egg (John and Irene used to run the Rowan Tree Hotel and Restaurant by Aviemore before taking Crubenbeg House so expect more than the average B&B) we set off on the homeward run. First stop – and the initial reason for the trip – was George Gow’s in Kingussie. We have bought our beef for Christmas Day last year and 3 years ago when we have taken a cottage nearby. Gow’s is in the tradition of many Scottish village butchers, producing sausages and pies as well as providing excellent meat butchered and hung the way meat should be. George’s black pudding wins prizes and his haggis has a subtle flavour that is as far removed from some of the awful supermarket liver-flavoured offal sacks sold as haggis as you could possible imagine. If you have never had haggis, then try Gow’s and you’ll wonder why you left it so late to start. Shops like George’s act as outlets for other local producers. On the counter was honey. Called ‘Highland Wildflower Honey’ you can taste the flowers as you eat it. Trust me. I’m typing this with a spoonful in my mouth. As an aside, the honey comes from Lynchat, a cluster of houses between Kingussie and the Highland Wildlife Park, just a few miles down the road. Lynchat was also the home of one of the many witches that form part of the folklore of this district.
Dragging ourselves away, we started off on the return journey. Cloud in the Spey Valley denied us one last view of the tops but as we climbed through Drummochter skies cleared. The road lets down past Blair Athol and a hard overnight frost, with the morning sun just clearing the skyline, gave us a magical prospect of beautiful countryside. At Dunkeld we turned off to head east to Arbroath, the home of ’smokies’. As a child I used to spend the summers with my Grandparents in Aberdeen. In those days, the harbour was an adventure playground for a young lad but my lasting memory is of trawlers moored alongside – hundreds of them. Now, you are lucky to find a couple of oilrig support vessels. However, fish still play a part in the life on the east coast and in Arbroath they take haddock, spilt them, tie the tails together and hang them over rods. Racks of fish are then put in the smokehouse. The product is the famous Arbroath Smokie.
Much of the business is still conducted in small, family-run operations centered in the old harbour. In what must have been old fishermens’ cottages lining the harbour, fish are brought in and processed. When we were there, fish from the morning market in Aberdeen were just being delivered. Six or seven people standing at bench spilt the fish before they are dry salted to remove some of the moisture. They are then washed, tied and hung on racks and left to drain. Finally, they are smoked for a minimum of 30-40 minutes. The end result varies from old gold through pewter-coloured.
Although they insist they are not related, smokie production seems to be dominated by various branches of the Spink family. We visited Alex Spink in Seagate and Martin Spink around the corner in Marketgate. Another Spink, Iain, was an award-winner in the recent BBC R4 Food Awards and he can be seen at Farmers Markets in Fife and Edinburgh. We also dropped by Scott’s in Seagate where we picked up kippers. All the smokers will vacuum pack but this process forces the smoke from the skin of the fish through the flesh. Vacuum packing will keep the fish fresh for a couple of weeks but the longer you leave it the smokier the flesh becomes. Iain reckons that smokies are best straight from the pit. Next best is to spilt the fish and remove the bone, dab with butter and grill for 3 minutes. We ate one of Alex’s fish this way the day after we got home. The flesh was succulent and very delicately flavoured. The smell of smoke is strong but it does not overpower the taste. We will keep the vacuum-packed fish from Scott’s to put Iain’s theory to the test. We had the hot-smoked salmon fillet from Martin Spink the day after we got back. Superb. I served it on a bed of wilted spinach but it would be fantastic mixed with pasta. I can also recommend just tearing apart with your bare hands and eating it unadorned. You’ll just have to take my word for that last serving suggestion. At least the major portion made it to the bed of wilted spinach.
We left Arbroath at noon to cross the Tay Bridge at Dundee and head down to Auchtermuchty. The next stop was Fletchers Venison Farm. John and Nichola don’t just run a deer farm, they are champions of humane deer production. Nichola has a postcard in the shop showing half a dozen deer in a frosty field. ‘this is our intensive farming system’ she said. John is a vet with a special interest in deer and the couple work with the Deer Commission to bring about raised standards of deer production and management, both farmed and wild. Having said that, ‘farmed’ is a term that sits ill with what the Fletchers do. The farm is well signposted from Auchtermuchty and is in an idyllic setting at the end of a narrow country lane. Of course, our visit was badly timed as most of the producers we visited were sold out, it being Christmas and all. However, we bought some medallions and a stew pack as well as jar of home-made rowan jelly. Nichola provides idiot-proof cooking instructions which even I managed to follow. Forget everything you thought you knew about venison; the medallions exceeded expectations. We will follow her stew recipe in the New Year.
Nichola is also an author so I bought my wife a copy of her fascinating history of feasting as a Christmas present. Or, at least, it will be if I can finish reading it and get it wrapped in time (note – never did get wrapped and wife not pleased with getting a dog-eared present a week after Christmas).
Next stop was Puddledub Pork at Clentrie Farm, Auchtertool. Tom Mitchell produces the best bacon in Scotland so we collected some middle, oak-smoked and dry-cured for comparison. Tom’s pigs are kept indoors and the whole production process from rearing to smoking is done on- site. Only slaughtering is done elsewhere. Scale and quality are Tom’s major concerns and by keeping the scale under control they can sustain the quality. We looked in at the 2 small units where pork and bacon we being sliced and packed at a frantic pace to meet the Christmas orders. The welcome we received, and this was true of all our unfortunate victims, was outstanding, especially given the pressure to fill orders. Once they grasped the stupidity of driving all that way in a day just to buy, in this case, some rashers for breakfast in Christmas Day, everyone was helpful and kind in answering our questions.
The sun was starting to go down as we made for the final destination; Gartmorn Farm near Alloa. Gartmorn Farm is a well-kept secret. Seriously. It’s not signposted so you’ll never find it. It sits at the foot of the Ochil Hills which were burnished copper in the setting sun. There’s lost of redevelopment work going on and, although you can collect orders from the farm it’s best to find Susan at the various Farmers Markets she visits. Turkeys and geese, chickens and duck are their staple. Given that they, too, had sold out for Christmas, we settled on a small chicken. It took 2 of us to manoeuvre this corn-fed ostrich-sized monster into the space left in the boot of the car.
Shopping done, we finally headed south at 3.30pm arriving home at 9.45pm. Thirty nine hours and 1200 miles later, it was time to start cooking!

Norman MacLeod is one of BigBarn’s Fine Food Crusaders. To become a Crusader yourself, email ed@bigbarn.co.uk