An Edible Voyage

April 2021 Many people told me I was mad planning a weekend in Aberdeen.  "What are you going to do there?!". To me it seemed to have the promise of a cool city with an up and coming food and coffee scene.  And that's just what it is! Impressive, austere granite buildings and suburbs each with their own character.   I set off for the leafy suburbs of the West End, lured by Figment Coffee, who roast beans as well as crafting Aberdeen's best flat white alongside exciting brunch options and cakes.  I particularly enjoyed the summer special Sunshine Brew - orange infused, sparkling cold brew coffee - sunshine in a glass! On the food front, sourdough toast topped with Scottish Crowdie curd cheese, poached pears and rhubarb ketchup was an exciting way to try one of Scotland's most ancient cheeses, whilst  vibrant raspberry and peanut butter overnight oats was everything I wanted after a long run. Find Figment Coffee on Countesswells Road.  They sell their b...

April 2021 During my weekend in Aberdeen, I made an exciting discovery.  A few miles outside of the city, close to Kinellar, is Forest Farm Dairy - an organic dairy surrounded by lush green pastures where their cows roam free.   Not only can you get their delicious non-homogenised milk straight from the source via Scotland's first milk vending machine, you can also get many other delicious products made on the farm.  In the cheese line up, there's Scottish curd cheese and some of Connage Highland Dairy's cheeses, as well as Forest Farm's own haloumi - I'm a big haloumi fan anyway so didn't need much convincing, but this was a whole other level - absolutely gorgeous cooked over a BBQ until the outside caramelises and the inside goes all gooey... Anyway, I digress.   Artisan gelato is the highlight of any trip to Forest Farm.  Made in small batches on the premises, it has zero food miles and flavours change regularly.  The honeycomb is an absolute m...

April 2021 Before I set off for Scotland, a friend told me that under no circumstance could I leave until I'd tried a Macaroni.  Being a big fan of macaroni cheese, I happily accepted this challenge.  My main issue was finding one.  Although they are widespread, they're not the kind of item to frequent the shelves of the kind of sourdough bakeries and coffee micro roasteries that I gravitate towards.  What I needed was one of those traditional, family run since 1964 bakeries full of sandwich loaves and iced buns.  Fortunately there are plenty dotted around the streets of Aberdeen, including Thain's which is rumoured to be open 24/7 for all those mid-night pie cravings. It was exactly as expected - gooey, stodgy macaroni cheese in a pastry case which seemed to serve no purpose other than to make it holdable.  I decided I couldn't leave without sampling another Aberdeen essential - the buttery, or rowie.  Described as a savoury roll, it lives up to it's ...