Tag: food and drink

Wild spirits pioneers Buck & Birch celebrate lockdown sales surge

Multi award winning spirits producers and wild flavour alchemists Buck & Birch are toasting a 350% increase in online sales over the last year.

The East Lothian-based brand, which curates foraged flavours of the wild and conjures them into unique spirits, liqueurs and ready to drink cocktails has launched nine new products in the past 12 months, picked up a gold and bronze award at the IWSC  for their Amarosa rosehip rum  liqueur and Aelder elderberry liqueur respectively and seen online sales soar.

Success has also seen Buck & Birch partnering with  premium national distributor Sip & Savour which will see their products introduced to the very best on and off trade venues across the country.

Creative director and co founder Tom Chisholm says: “As a small company in the competitive world of drinks and spirits it has been vital for us to partner with a distributor who has the connections, industry knowledge and passion to help us grow our brand.

“Working with Sip & Savour is hugely exciting and we cannot wait to see where it leads us”

Jamie Walker, Managing Director of Sip & Savour said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Buck and Birch in driving their distribution in the UK. Their philosophy of working in harmony with their environment to create exceptional liquids is inspirational.

“Tom and Rupert have been challenging the status quo of drinks production for five years and we are honoured to have the opportunity to expand their footprint and spread their philosophy.”

The founders have also developed their beautiful new tasting room at the distillery, in preparation for visitors to come and discover and sample the expanded range along with wild nibbles from their pop up restaurant beginnings.

This will also double as the R & D facility for their new consultancy arm of the business which has already seen success over the last 18 months working with various large, international drinks brands.

“It’s such an exciting time for us,” said director Rupert Waites. “It has been a very difficult year for many in business and we too have had our challenges, but we’ve been very fortunate and have seen our online sales really take off and the new consultancy arm of the company proving really popular which has kept us going.

“At the Buck & Birch we are fanatical about flavour. Our mission is to create accessible and versatile drinks that are expressions of our landscape and what has been so rewarding over the past year is we have been able to share this with so many people despite the restrictions.

“If searching for a silver lining as a result of the pandemic I would say it is that people have a new found love for the outdoors and our brand is more relevant to consumers and other businesses as a consequence.”

In the interest of sustainability, the innovative duo has also used the national lock down as an opportunity to refurbish their facility based in Macmerry, using a loan from the Energy Saving Trust to make considerable alterations. This has enabled them to improve their production methods as well as insulating the factory space and installing a new heating system – all to minimise energy usage.

Buck & Birch have also recently secured SALSA accreditation for food safety and production, and have confirmed a premium national distributor, Sip & Savour. The team are now working on a range of new domestic and international projects due to be released later this year to further enhance the business.

With hospitality in lockdown, Tom and co-founder Rupert Waites launched a range of six ready-to-drink wild bottled cocktails last spring, including the Dandy Lion and the Thornstar Martini.

They’ve since followed that with an exclusive wild cocktail collaboration with The Botanist gin, their Gibson Martreeni (a birch and wild garlic twist on the classic Gibson) with Miran Chauhan; long term collaborator and now bar manager at the new Johnny Walker experience in Edinburgh, and a collection of three wildflower cocktails with Foraged by Fern, the Sussex-based foraging guide and cook.

2020 was the year that also saw Buck & Birch awarded with the Most Innovative Brand title in the Mid and East Lothian Chamber of Commerce Food & Drink Awards and Best Artisan Spirit 1st runner up in the Scottish Rural Awards for Amarosa which is further testament to the hard work of the entire team.

With big plans for the future the team at Buck & Birch are gearing up for a crowdfunding round later this year, which will enable them to continue to develop their business.

For more information visit www.buckandbirch.com

The Deadliest Catch: Morrisons marine scheme recycles 100 tonnes of ‘ghost fishing gear’

– ‘Net Regeneration Scheme’ has seen fisherman in the South West recycle 100 tonnes of old fishing gear –

– Morrisons is the only supermarket to support a programme tackling ‘ghost fishing gear’ marine litter in British waters –

Morrisons has extended its partnership with Odyssey Innovation for another year to continue tackling ‘ghost fishing gear’ and to help save British coastal wildlife and habitats. 

Over the last four years Morrisons has worked with Odyssey Innovation, a company that recovers and recycles waste marine plastic, to found and run the Net Regeneration Scheme which has seen fishermen in the South West responsibly recycle 100 tonnes of waste fishing gear to date.

Morrisons is the first and only supermarket to back a scheme which aims to tackle ghost fishing gear in British waters. Working with Odyssey Innovation – and in collaboration with Exeter City Council, Plymouth University and Seafish – Morrisons has helped to install waste skips at 10 ports across the South West to help fishermen to recycle unwanted or unusable gear.  

‘Ghost fishing gear’ includes any abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear, which often goes unseen. It is one of the deadliest wastes for sea wildlife, accounting for 10 per cent of global marine litter. The United Nations expects the amount of plastic in oceans to treble in the next 20 years.

Odyssey Innovation’s Net Regeneration Scheme is the only one in the UK to offer free recycling of all types of fishing nets. It includes polyethylene trawl, nylon and other plastic generated by the fishing industry.

Everything that can be recycled in the UK is done so, with specialist companies in Europe recycling problematic materials. The scheme covers the cost of transporting gear and the full recycling loop, with some plastic waste being turned into sea kayaks.

The programme also helps to reduce CO2 by putting recycled plastic back into the economy, which has a significant CO2 saving over using new virgin plastic. 

Joe Prosho, Aquaculture Manager at Morrisons, said: “Morrisons is one of the UK’s biggest suppliers of fresh British fish with our own fishing business in the South West and we are determined to play our full part in cleaning up the oceans to preserve marine life and protect the planet.

“We want to continue our partnership with Odyssey Innovation by supporting the Net Regeneration Scheme to contribute to reducing old fishing gear that is a problem for so much wildlife.” 

Rob Thompson, Director at Odyssey Innovation, said: “The Net Regeneration Scheme has only been made possible through collaboration and through it, we work closely with the fishing communities, conservation groups, universities and government bodies.

“Working with Morrisons on this project has been an essential part of creating a collaborative scheme that benefits everyone involved. Getting the support from a big British fish supplier to help us, and others, tackle a problem that is growing in our seas, has the added benefit of giving consumers confidence that the seafood they are consuming has been sourced in the most sustainable way.

“Discarded and unwanted fishing gear that is left in the seas can do real damage to our sea wildlife and the Net Regeneration Scheme supports the fishing industry to become the best possible custodians of the sea.”

Morrisons has committed to a 50% reduction across its own-brand primary plastic packaging by 2025. Initiatives introduced over the last 12 months will remove 9,000 tonnes of unnecessary or problematic plastic each year. Over 83% of Morrisons own-brand plastic packaging is now able to be recycled. 

In 2019 Morrisons was voted the most environmentally responsible company in the UK for its work on plastics reduction at the Responsible Business Awards, run by HRH The Prince of Wales’ Business in the Community Network. 

For more information, visit: www.morrisons.co.uk .

Chicken welfare: KFC leads while Subway & Starbucks lag behind

KFC is leading UK fast food chains in the welfare of chickens raised for their meat while Subway, Starbucks, Domino’s and McDonald’s fall far behind according to a new report from World Animal Protection.

‘The pecking order 2021’ ranks fast food restaurants globally on how they are performing on their commitment, ambition, and transparency on chicken welfare in their supply chains. This year’s report shows that while the hospitality market has changed profoundly since the last report due to the global pandemic – alarming trends are still rife.

“Many big brand restaurants are denying billions of birds the chance to see sunlight, grow at a healthy rate or behave naturally.”

Most of the chicken meat served by the major fast food brands comes from chickens who live in cramped and barren environments with no sunlight, and many suffering from lameness and skin lesions. Intensive farming methods also often rely on routine antibiotic use as a quick fix solution to keep stressed and sick animals alive. This over-use of antibiotics is fueling the deadly superbug crisis that kills over 700,000 people a year and rising. Not only are these chickens suffering – human health is also being jeopardized.

For the first time, in addition to the global assessment, 14 local rankings have been also created to reflect the realities in different geographies. The brands assessed are Burger King, Domino’s, KFC, McDonald’s, Nando’s, Pizza Hut, Starbucks and Subway.

The UK companies in ‘The pecking order 2021’ received the highest scores meaning it places first out of the 14 countries included in the global assessment, with an average company score of 45%.

‘The pecking order’ assesses companies via publicly available information on three areas:

  • Commitment (corporate commitments), their policies clearly state how important the welfare of chickens is to the company;
  • Ambition (objectives and targets), a defined timeline that demonstrates the objectives, targets and promises a company has made to improve chicken welfare and when they will meet them; and
  • Transparency (performance reporting), through their performance reporting, and how clear the company is about living up to its promises on chicken welfare.

The key findings for ‘The pecking order 2021’ in the UK are:

  • KFC, out of all eight global brands assessed, is the clear leader of ‘The pecking order 2021’. It is the only company in Tier 1 (Leading) in the UK. This is through alignment with the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC) and KFC reporting on its performance against the company’s chicken welfare standards in Western Europe.
  • Nando’s, Burger King and Pizza Hut also scored high points in 2021 due to signing up to the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC) in the UK, and to other markets in some cases.
  • Starbucks and Subway both scored zero points and are right at the bottom of the ranking sitting in Tier 6 with a score of ‘Very poor’.
  • Domino’s sits in Tier 5 (Poor) and McDonalds in Tier 4 (Getting Started) these are the last remaining fast food companies in the ranking that have not committed to the BCC.
  • Despite moving up one tier, from ‘Poor’ to ‘Getting started’, McDonald’s, unlike many of its competitors, is still unwilling to sign up to the BCC in any market globally. The company has some standards that align with the commitment.
  • Burger King, Nando’s and Pizza Hut – have aligned with the BCC in the UK since the previous assessment. They are starting to demonstrate a serious intention to improve chicken welfare in this market. As a result, Burger King and Pizza Hut – have moved up two tiers, and Nando’s has moved up one tier. This is encouraging as it will improve the lives of millions of chickens. World Animal Protection urges other companies featured in the UK – Starbucks, Subway, McDonald’s and Domino’s – to follow suit soon.

Jonty Whittleton, Global Campaign Head at World Animal Protection says: “Many big brand restaurants are denying billions of birds the chance to see sunlight, grow at a healthy rate or behave naturally. COVID-19 has taught us that the welfare of animals and human health is interlinked – there should be no business as usual. Commercial motives are driving cruelty and suffering, and this needs to end.

“KFC once again has shown leadership in the UK and Europe since they signed up to the Better Chicken Commitment in 2019, which will improve the lives of millions of chickens. But it is disappointing that companies such as Starbucks, Subway, McDonald’s and Dominos are refusing to change for the better.

“As more people take an active interest in the ethics of their food, more companies are willing to act. Now is the time for real change to happen, and companies that fail to move with the demands of the market are not only causing misery to millions of animals but are also risking their reputation.”

World Animal Protection is calling on these global companies to lead and ensure that any chickens that are being served at their restaurants are guaranteed a life worth living.

To find out more, visit: www.worldanimalprotection.org.uk

Four new brands set to open their doors at St James Quarter

Edinburgh’s St James Quarter is extending its enviable line for visitors once again, as it announces a further four new openings taking place this month.

French fashion retailer, The Kooples, and global skin care brand, Aesop, are both joining the 1.7 million sq ft city centre development at the end of the month.

And that’s not all, local independent Maki & Ramen and Bonnie & Wild both opened their doors earlier this week, adding some firm foodie favourites to the already mouth-watering line up of eateries within The Quarter – ensuring there is something for everyone to enjoy morning, noon and night. 

Bonnie & Wild (above) is Scotland’s largest single food and drink site that offers a variety of locally sourced produce, served by some of Scotland’s best restaurants and award-winning chefs.

Whilst Maki & Ramen which offers authentic Japanese dishes, served with a side of Instagrammable interiors, including a large Cherry Blossom tree in the centre of the restaurant, and a brand-new cocktail menu exclusive to St James Quarter customers.

The Kooples, known for their rock-chic and contemporary apparel, will open on 23rd July, followed by Aesop, which will open its second Edinburgh store on 30th July. 

Nick Peel, Managing Director at St James Quarter, said: “We’re delighted to be announcing a further four retailers who are opening their doors this month, two of which are allowing us to extend our already incredible food and beverage offering within the Quarter.

“Our goal is to provide visitors with an enjoyable and memorable experience with something new to see, do, and experience every time they come back to The Quarter.

“Bonnie & Wild, Maki & Ramen, The Kooples and Aesop are four incredible brands that each have something different and unique to offer, and I look forward to seeing them thrive over the coming months.”

The Inside Scoop! Morrisons all set for World Ice Cream Day

With a heatwave here and temperatures set to hit 27c on Sunday, Morrison’s have big plans for World Ice Cream Day (Sunday 28 July).

Prices start from just 99p. Customers can choose from exciting kid-friendly cones to more grown-up, indulgent ice creams, or decadent loaded tubs to share, or keep to yourself!

Morrisons customers help raise £20 million for British farms

– Sales of Morrisons ‘For Farmers’ dairy and egg ranges help British farmers invest in sustainability and animal husbandry –

– Scheme has led to increased woodland and insect habitats, more grazing and free roaming time, and new cow comfort initiatives –

Morrisons customers have raised £20 million to support farms and the countryside by choosing to pay a little more for products in Morrisons For Farmers range. 

The funds have been ploughed back into a range of farm schemes to improve biodiversity and further improve animal welfare, in a period when British farmers have faced financial uncertainty due to Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic. 

In October 2015, Morrisons was the first British retailer to launch a dairy product where part of the purchase price went directly back to farmers. Milk For Farmers was the original product – at 10p-a-litre more than Morrisons own label standard milk – with the full difference passed on to its dairy farmers.

The range now includes Cheese For Farmers, Cream For Farmers and Eggs For Farmers which similarly give customers the opportunity to pay a little more to support farmers directly. 

Funds from the For Farmers range have helped the farmed and natural environment. Morrisons For Farmers ‘Chuckle Eggs’, costing an extra 1p per egg more, has enabled farmers to invest money in planting woodland and creating insect-friendly wildflower habitats for their free-range chickens to roam around in. To date 169 acres have been planted. This month a similar insect habitat scheme is being rolled out across all Morrisons milk farms. 

Money from the Milk for Farmers range has enabled more investment in animal husbandry from the 140 dairy farmers aligned to Morrisons. Farmers directly selling into the Morrisons Milk For Farmers range grazed their cows for an average of 224 days last year – over a hundred more days than are required. 

Dairy farmers have also put the additional money towards new rotating brushes, mattresses and scratch pads for cows, along with foot baths to reduce lameness. 

Sophie Throup, Head of Agriculture at Morrisons, said: “Our farmers continue to face some uncertainty due to the impact of Brexit and the pandemic. So we are pleased to have passed on £20 million from our For Farmers range to help fund initiatives which may otherwise have suffered from under-investment.

“It’s great to see many customers want to pay more to support British farmers – and want to buy dairy products from cows that have been let out to graze and eggs from free range hens who can roam in enriched woodland and grassland areas.”

Morrisons is British farming’s biggest supermarket customer and buys directly from over 3,000 farmers and growers. Morrisons is 100% British for its fresh meat, milk and eggs and always buys British produce first when in season and when available.

Morrisons has already embarked on a programme to be completely supplied by net zero carbon British farms[1] by 2030, five years ahead of the market. 

Over the next nine years, Morrisons will work with its 3,000 farmers and growers to produce affordable ‘net zero’ carbon meat, poultry, fruit and vegetables. As part of the programme, Morrisons will also work with universities, farming and countryside organisations and carbon experts.

For more information on the Morrisons For Farmers range, please visit:  

https://www.morrisons-farming.com/backing-british/for-farmers-range

Heart Research UK Healthy tip – Healthy BBQs

This week is the 25th anniversary of BBQ week and many of us will be heading outdoors to fire up the BBQ. Foods traditionally cooked on BBQs, such as burgers and sausages, can be high in calories, fat and salt.

We have some tips for enjoying a heart-healthy BBQ without compromising on taste:

Choose a healthy source of protein

Foods that are high in saturated fat, such as red meat, sausages, burgers, butter and hard cheese, can increase your risk of heart disease.

You can cut down on saturated fat by swapping red meat, sausages and burgers by threading cubes of chicken, firm fish or tofu onto skewers with slices of bell pepper, courgettes, mushrooms, red onion and cherry tomatoes before grilling.

Swap white bread rolls for high-fibre alternatives

Increasing the amount of fibre in your diet can reduce your risk of heart disease. Why not switch from white bread rolls to wholegrain rolls or wholegrain pitta, brown rice or jacket potatoes.

Add some colour

Include plenty of salad and vegetables to make your BBQ colourful and nutritious. Avoid using too much salad dressing as it can be high in calories. Try rubbing a spicy marinade on pieces of courgette, bell pepper, onion, corn-on-the-cob and mushrooms and grill them on the BBQ.

Healthy grilled desserts

Ditch the high-fat puddings and switch to grilled slices of pineapple, bananas, peaches, nectarines or plums. The natural sugars will caramelise on the BBQ, giving them a lovely sweet flavour.

Serve with a spoonful of thick, creamy yoghurt and sprinkle with a handful of chopped toasted nuts, such as hazelnuts or almonds.

Grate Idea … Strawberries and CHEESE?

Head berry breeder Lucy claims Scots should ditch cream and sprinkle parmesan over strawberries

A berry breeder has suggested that Scots should ditch the cream on their strawberries and instead sprinkle PARMESAN CHEESE over them. 

Lucy Marie Slatter claims that the hard cheese, usually scattered generously over pizza and pasta dishes, is the perfect pairing as it is known to bring out the berry’s unique flavour characteristics. 

In fact Lucy, who is head breeder at AVA Berries, says firm favourite pouring cream should be kicked to the kerb as it does nothing to enhance flavours.

Apparently, it’s not just the Italian staple that goes well with strawberries, with herbs and spices such as basil, mint, black pepper, and chilli pairing well too – along with balsamic vinegar and even crab. 

And it seems it’s not just the toppings where the public are going wrong to get the best out of their strawberries. 

Research commissioned by AVA Berries revealed that nine out of ten Brits are storing and preparing their strawberries wrongly. More than a third (37%) remove strawberries from the fridge and wash with cold water, which Lucy says drastically reduces the sensory experience. 

The study found that only one in ten Brits remove strawberries from the fridge and leave to reach room temperature before tucking in. Lucy says that leaving strawberries to come to room temperature for at least an hour is crucial as warmer temperatures allow taste buds and nose sensors to take full advantage of the complex flavours and aromas in strawberries. 

Brits should also treat whole strawberries as though they’re an expensive whisky and ‘nose’ the fruit, according to Lucy. Smelling your strawberries helps you to pick out flavours and aromas that you wouldn’t be able to detect through eating alone. 

Lucy said: “It may seem a little eccentric to top strawberries with parmesan cheese and pass on the cream, but if you’re adventurous enough to give it a go, you won’t regret it. 

“By choosing this cheesy topping, and allowing your strawberries to sit at room temperature before serving, you’ll have a delicious bowl of strawberries that will be the envy of everyone – including those munching on them at Wimbledon. 

“Smelling them is an important part of getting the most out of strawberries. 

“Strawberries have incredibly complex flavour profiles and the act of nosing allows you to get a much fuller flavour on the palate. 

“Serve them too cold and washing them with cold water right before eating them is not going to get the best flavour out of them.” 

AVA Berries offer the best flavour, sweetness and quality and are grown by an exclusive group of growers in the UK to produce exceptional strawberries every time. 

The survey also revealed strawberries top the list of fruits most likely to be used to woo a potential partner with 44% choosing them, while 12.57 is when the nation is most likely to eat strawberries. 

Of the 2,000 Brits surveyed, many said they’d tried the berries with traditional pairings including chocolate, cream and yoghurt. 

A quarter (25%) admitted they paired their strawberries with ‘unusual’ ingredients including black pepper, balsamic vinegar, and even peanut butter. 

It’s not just the experts who have some left-field suggestions of what to serve alongside the red berries. Adventurous foodies listed nettles, mustard, beans, haggis sausages and fish fingers as pairings they’d given a go, with one revealing they’d even rustled up a strawberry and anchovy milkshake! 

To help consumers navigate all these different pairings, AVA Berries has developed a strawberry flavour wheel that shows the different flavour characteristics of this deliciously complex berry and which recipes would be worth giving a try. 

AVA strawberries are currently sold as premium lines in some of the UK’s top supermarkets, find them in M&S stores and Aldi’s Specially Selected, Morrison’s The Best, Co-op’s Irresistible, and Sainsburys’ Taste The Difference ranges. 

For more information and to try out the AVA Berries flavour wheel, visit: 

www.avaberries.com/flavour-wheel/ 

Thousands of lucky Scots treated to free strawberry delivery ahead of Wimbledon finals weekend

Premium berry brand, AVA Berries has teamed up with McQueens Dairies Milk Delivery Company to deliver thousands of punnets of Scottish AVA strawberries to households across Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Fife tomorrow (Thursday 8 July) ahead of the Wimbledon finals weekend. 

Strawberries and Wimbledon are a match made in heaven and the two brands have joined forces to surprise almost 2,000 McQueens Dairies customers with punnets of freshly picked Scottish AVA strawberries, which they will receive with their usual milk delivery. 

On the partnership, Jill Witheyman, Head of Marketing at AVA Berries, commented: “We teamed up with McQueens Dairies last year when Wimbledon was cancelled, and their customers went crazy for our strawberries.

“So, with the tournament going ahead this year, we decided we’d work together again to surprise thousands of their customers with strawberries so they can enjoy a punnet while watching the women’s and men’s finals this weekend.” 

AVA Berries offer the best flavour, sweetness and quality and are grown by an exclusive group of growers based across the north-east coast of Scotland, Perthshire and Fife, where there is the ideal micro-climate for producing the perfect strawberry due to its warm days, cool nights, and just the right amount of daylight hours.      

The Scottish AVA strawberry season usually begins in May and lasts until early October, with sales peaking in June and July. 

Calum McQueen, Commercial Director at McQueens Dairies added: “It is fantastic that Wimbledon is on again this year, and we wanted to surprise our customers with some delicious AVA strawberries as a treat to enjoy during the finals weekend.

“Nothing says summer more than tennis and strawberries, and we hope this partnership with AVA Berries will spread a little summer cheer.” 

BBQ hack to keep midges at bay!

The great Scottish summer is upon us, and that means one thing – midges! With a bumper hatch expected this year, experts have revealed a delicious way to evade the ferocious Highland Midge using a simple combination of ingredients.

Developed by Scotch Beef PGI, Scotland’s leading midge expert Dr Alison Blackwell and chef Paul Green of The Torridon Hotel, the marinade is made from a tasty combination of midge-proof herbs and spices, including rosemary, thyme, bay leaves and garlic. When added to beef and barbecued, the game-changing recipe releases aromas that form a natural midge deterrent, meaning you won’t be eaten alive while eating outdoors.

As well as devising a marinade, chef Paul has also developed an accompanying dip to be served alongside for maximum midge busting, using ingredients like lemon balm, basil and garlic.

The hack comes as holiday season kicks off, with the landscapes, lochs and hills of the Scottish Highlands making it one of the most popular UK destinations for both staycationers … and midges!

Lesley Cameron, director of marketing and communications at Quality Meat Scotland, the industry body that promotes Scotch Beef PGI, said: “There’s no better way to enjoy the Scottish outdoors than with a barbecue surrounded by family and friends cooking top quality Scottish ingredients – that is until you’re suddenly swarmed by unwelcome guests in the form of midges.

“With the news that this year’s season is set to be particularly ferocious, we’ve consulted the experts to devise our midge-busting marinade as a brief respite from being eaten alive. As well as being a delicious addition to Scotch Beef PGI, it’s proven midge-proof properties are guaranteed to make it a winner at any summer get-together.”

As well as stocking up on the marinade ingredients, those planning an outdoor activity are advised to check Scotland’s Midge Forecast, which was developed by Dr Blackwell using data from biting midge traps around the country.

Dr Blackwell said: “This year there’s due to be a bigger hatch than ever of Scotland’s famous Highland Midge – but that doesn’t mean you have to hide indoors all season. Using a combination of natural deterrents like rosemary, thyme, garlic and bay leaves can help save summer by making midges less of a nuisance.

“Each year the season is becoming even longer, so having an arsenal of ingredients to call upon will be key to outwitting the midge. As well as the ingredients used for the Scotch Beef marinade, other herbs like mint, dill, lavender, geranium leaves and lemon balm are also effective, pairing well with beef as well as meats like Scotch Lamb.”

The marinade was devised and put to the test with the help of chef Paul Green of The Torridon Hotel on Scotland’s west coast; an area with some of the country’s most spectacular scenery.

Paul Green, head chef at The Torridon said: “I was very excited to be asked to help create a midge deterring marinade for Scotch Beef – midges are definitely an unwelcome guest to any Scottish summer feast.

“I’m always inspired by the robust and resilient produce that can grow in the Scottish Highlands, and what better way to fight nature than with nature, creating the best midge deterring recipe using some of the finest natural ingredients that can be grown in Scotland, like rosemary and thyme.”

Scotch Beef PGI is sourced from selected Scottish farms, adopting best practice which includes animal welfare and production methods, as well as supporting Scotland’s rural communities. For more information, visit www.makeitscotch.com and @makeitscotch on Instagram.

Midge-proof marinade recipe (serves two)

Ingredients

5g rosemary

5g thyme

2 bay leaf, torn

2 cloves garlic, crushed

60ml olive oil

15ml Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp Dijon mustard

A few drops Tabasco

A few black peppercorns

Good squeeze of lemon juice (and zest if you have a zester)

3-400g Sirloin or Ribeye Scotch Beef steak, cut up into pieces

Sea salt

Method

  1. Begin by mixing the herbs, garlic, mustard, pepper, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, tabasco and oil together in a bowl
  2. Add the chopped pieces of beef, coating well. You can also add vegetables to this marinade e.g., peppers, aubergine or even baby gem lettuce.
  3. Cover and leave to marinade for at least one hour, but you could also leave overnight in the fridge.
  4. Season with sea salt and cook on the BBQ.

Midge proof dip

Ingredients
1 shallot
2-3 garlic cloves
1 green chilli
50g flat leaf parsley
20g basil
15g lemon balm
200-250ml  extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste

Method

  1. Finely chop the shallot, garlic, chilli, parsley, basil, and lemon balm – or you could use a pestle and mortar to grind all the ingredients up.
  2. Drizzle in the olive oil and season with sea salt – you can add more oil to your own preference.