Langoustines, Gin and More Chocolate in Fife - Part Two

After our feast of chocolate at the Pittenweem Chocolate Company, it was er...time for lunch!  We headed just along the coast to St Monans, one of the quieter East Neuk villages, well it used to be quieter but it seems to be emerging from it's sleepy image and starting to challenge the tourist packed Crail, Anstruther and Pittenweem.  The focus of our visit and lunch was the East Pier Smokehouse.


I had been to the East Pier Smokehouse about four years ago when my Mum and I bought some smoked langoustines, at that time there was only the shop and it was pretty basic, however things have changed and the East Pier Smokehouse now boasts it's own restaurant as well as selling seafood to take away.


I think you will agree that the views from the restaurant are absolutely stunning and Claire from Foodie Quine and I were treated to an absolute feast, starting with a rich and creamy courgette and goats cheese soup and a box of smoked langoustines, the meat in Scottish seafood is really sweet which  is down to the cold water around our shores!  We also tried the smoked salmon and cranberry Quiche with a turmeric pastry, which was the special of the day, very good indeed.


This was followed by the arrival of a range of the dishes that are served at the East Pier Smokehouse, lobster, crab cakes, salad and smoked salmon all served in cardboard boxes, it's a bit like going for a picnic on the deck of a ship!  All of the seafood was totally delicious and next time I'm in Fife, I'll be making a reservation for an evening meal.


We were quite taken aback when owner, James Robb, opened the door of he smokehouse and we saw just how small it was and really just a cupboard in the wall, but the smell of the cold smoked salmon was incredibly enticing.  It's well worth a visit to the East Pier Smokehouse, but get there early for lunch as you can't book.

Claire and I were now completely stuffed, as we jumped back into our luxury mini-bus, complete with water bottle holders, and were ably driven by Andy through St Andrews and on to the Eden Mill distillery and brewery at Guardbridge.



The Eden Mill is Scotland's only distillery and brewery on a single site, based on the site of a former Haig distillery, it produces award-winning beer and gin as well as small batch single malt whisky.


We started with a taste of a new Chilli Ginger Porter which Eden Mill expect to have on sale for Christmas.  I'll certainly be looking for a few bottles of this brew in my stocking, it was smooth, not bitter at all, but with a lovely warm kick.


We then had a tour of the brewery and distillery with Kathryn Baker, where we learned about the gin basket which holds the botanicals during distilling, and saw the private casks of whisky, one signed by a former First Minister of Scotland. We then moved on to our task for the day; Gin and Chocolate matching, it was a hard job, but someone  had to do it!


Eden Mill have five different types of gin and the chocolates we tasted with the matched gin came from Iain Burnett, The Highland Chocolatier who uses a unique single origin cocoa from the volcanic Island of Sao Tome. This intense cocoa is carefully selected for its exceptional range of fruity aromatic and spicy characteristics and painstakingly matched with unblended fresh Scottish cream from a particular herd of cows in Perthshire.

Original Eden Gin - the interaction between Seabucktorn berries, lemon balm, and bitter citrus results in a light yet complex spirit.  The Eden Gin is classic, crisp, refershing heavily citrus flavoured gin (and my favourite)
This was paired with White Lime and hint of Chilli Velvet Truffle  "Fresh notes of the Lime and sharp citrus of the gin are well matched, with the subtle heat of the cayenne highlighting a similar dryness in the Eden."  Gorgeous combination, the chocolate seemed to bring out the gin flavour and vice versa, suddenly I'm convinced that matching chocolate and gin is a good idea.

Hop Gin - A logical progression from brewing into distilling, using Galaxy hops to craft this first gin, This unique creation has a zesty freshness, and slight bitterness on the finish.  The unusual colouring is as result of he hops, and persists once tonic is added. I quite liked the Hop Gin, although it is an acquired taste and I think would be good with something like ginger ale.  This gin was paired with a Blonde White Langue de Chat "the simplicity of the creamy Madagascan vanilla which let's all the fruity flavours of he gin take centre stage"  I didn't think the white chocolate added much to the gin and felt that the gin overpowered the chocolate.

Love Gin - Bringing together an outstanding blend of local botanicals, Love Gin is also infused with rose petals and whole hibiscus flowers to give it a subtle pink colour.  Rhubarb root and raspberry leaf ensure a delicate sweet finish. This is one of the most popular of the Eden Mill gins, it is very smooth without the 'edge' that I associate with gin.  Paired with a White Raspberry and heather honey Velvet Truffle "an excellent match of both sweet fruit and Madagascan vanilla in the white chocolate play along with the summer fruits and even the honey doesn't dissipate the sweetness of this gin"  The chocolate was lush, but I found the overall effect of the sweeter gin and the sweet chocolate just a bit much for my palate, the honey seemed to dominate the after-taste.

Oak Gin - matured in oak-aged beer casks, this gin carries hints of vanilla and toasted caramel.  With a warmth and spice reminiscent of whisky, this gin can easily be enjoyed neat. Paired with Ginger Velvet Truffle "the warm ginger is reminiscent of the warm spices of the gin and its gentle oak woodiness is as subtle as the oak notes which follow at the end of the dark Sao Tome chocolate."  This combination certainly delivered on the warm flavours.

Golf Gin - flavoured with hickory (reminiscent of the hickory shafted golf clubs made by the St Andrews Golf Company) this gin is described as a modern classic with notes of sweet lemongrass with a burst of mild pepperiness, strong hints of lime, coriander and aromatic spice.
We had two different chocolates to try with the Golf Gin, Garden Mint Velvet Truffle, what a chocolate, it tasted just like fresh mint, I've never experienced anything like this in a chocolate and I would definitely recommend it.  Tasted with the Golf Gin the story is that "this fresh light herb is the perfect segue to the aromatic gin in a ply of pepper and menthol", personally, much though I loved the chocolate, I felt that the strong mint flavour overwhelmed the gin.
The second chocolate was a Lemongrass and hint of Lime Velvet Praline "a strong and heavy introduction to the grass and spices of the Golf"  oh yes, now this was more like it.  Again the freshness of the lemongrass was outstanding but, for me, a better compliment to the gin, of course lemon and lime are very much a traditional match for gin.


The truffles had the most incredible intense flavours, a fresh and fruity explosion in your mouth,  they went remarkably well with the different gins they had been matched to, something I wouldn't have imagined.


The Visitor Centre is well laid out with plenty of space for large groups and these amazing stained glass windows. You can drop in, but if you'd like to have a tour and tasting it's worth booking ahead.

BREWERY TOUR - £7.50 per person (£5 for students/concessions) - 7 days a week - 11am, 1pm, 3pm & 5pm
GIN EXPERIENCE - £10 per person (£7.50 for students/concessions) - 7 days a week - 12pm, 2pm & 4pm
Subject to availability

Chillies and Chocolate in Fife - Part One

Coming in Part Three - Courses for Cooks

Disclaimer: I was the guest of Welcome to Fife and I'd like to thank them and the host organisations  who made this a truly memorable trip.

Labels: crab, East Pier Smokehouse, Eden Mill, Foodie Quine, Gin, Langoustine, lobster, quiche, Seafood, smoked salmon, St Andrews, St Monans, The Highland Chocolatier, Velvet Truffles, Welcome to Fife

posted by Janice @ 19:38 12 Comments

Knife Skills, Candied Bacon and Lobster 101 - The Kilted Chef Pt 2

Now to the exciting part of my day with The Kilted Chef!  It's time to cook,  there may have been wine involved, but not until we had  learned to use our large, sharp and scary knives. Alain taught us  how to hold the knife, avoid cutting our fingers off and then we moved on to our victims practice pieces which were carrots.  We learned to chop them into different shapes and sizes, a great way to practice using the knives.


Then we were ready for the first recipe: Curried Carrot Soup.  All the carrots we had chopped went into the pot!  I'll be posting the recipes separately when I have made them at home,  I've made some already but for now this is an overview of the fabulous time you can have at a Cooking Class with the Kilted Chef

The Soup is in the big pot that Licia is stirring, later it was blitzed in the Vitamix. Up a the top  Buttery Asiago Bread Sticks (butter soaked bread with a sprinkling of grated cheese then baked in the oven) are being prepared,  these were served with a lobster chowder.   In the pan is Candied Double Smoked Bacon, big chunks of smoked bacon sautéed and coated in maple syrup.

I don't seem to have any photos of the making of the Northumberland Snow Crab Cakes with Dill Remoulade, quite possibly because I had my hands in the crab mixture forming it into cakes and others were up to the elbows in egg or breadcrumbs!


The main course was Slow Roasted Beef Tenderloin  with Maple Ginger Sauce.  The beef is rubbed with mustard and seasoned before searing and then slow roasting.  In the top photograph we are all carefully watching the Maple Ginger Sauce, waiting for the right moment to add the sesame seeds, maple syrup, fish sauce and chilli sauce into the ginger and garlic.
Alain is known for cooking with seafood and so it was time for 'Lobster 101'.  We had already learned how to get the lobsters into the pot, removing the rubber bands from their claws and not getting nipped!  Now it was time for a demonstration of how to get the meat out of the lobster as simply as possible. You can watch a video of Alain doing just that on his website How to Break down a Lobster.

We had a few 'moments', top left is Alain demonstrating how lobsters have sex!  Then once the lobster was deconstructed, I was offered one of the thin 'legs' to suck out the the 'sweet goodness' - you can see I didn't believe it and I have to say it really didn't do it for me, my face said it all and we all ended up laughing, I laughed so much I cried.  We really had a ball.
Dessert was something I had never heard of, let alone tried.  Rhubarb and Wild Blueberry au Poivre,  this pan of gently stewed fruit gets 50 turns of freshly ground pepper into it!  It tastes fantastic and not peppery at all.  I chose to make this as my contribution to our blogger dinner later in the trip, so you will see more of it later.


We were each given responsibility for one course of the meal and served each other at the table. Here is the full menu:



I'd like to thank Alain Bosse, The Kilted Chef,  and his wife Joanne for their outstanding hospitality. I'd also like to thank Licia, Angela, Erin, Heather and Sarah for sharing the day with me and being such good fun. The day was relaxed and fun but at the same time I learned skills that I have brought home with me.  I'll never be able to work with a small knife again and I've managed to keep holding it as instructed which has vastly improved my knife skills.   I am not sure I will ever be prepping lobsters, but many of the other recipes have already graced my table and I'll be sharing them with you soon.

Labels: Beef with mustard, Candied bacon, Crab Cakes, Curried Carrot Soup, lobster, lobster 101, lobster chowder, Nova Scotia, peppered rhubarb and strawberries, The Kilted Chef

posted by Janice @ 18:44 9 Comments

Cooking at the Farm with the Kilted Chef - Part 1

Alain and the 'pepperettes'

Let me take you back to Thursday, 29th May 2014 and the next part of my Nova Scotia adventure.  I was super excited about this part of the trip because, having done some research online, I knew that Alain Bosse, The Kilted Chef, was Canadian celebrity chef , president of Alain Bosse Consulting Ltd, food editor for Saltscapes Magazine, past president of Taste of Nova Scotia and ambassador of all things culinary in Atlantic Canada.

The Kilted Chef offers a culinary journey from the pasture, to the sea to your plate. Cooking on the Farm is a full-day, hands-on culinary experience you will never forget and this is what I was to experience.

I was delighted to be joined on my culinary journey by some of the staff from Nova Scotia Media, who were quite delightful and by the end of the day I felt like I had known them for years!

We started with a short tour of the farm with Alain telling us about how he came to buy it and what plans he has for the future.  The we headed out for our first stop at  The Pork Shop, The Pork Shop prides itself in using only the freshest products available on the market. All spices are 100% pure and contain no MSG, gluten or any other type of filler in them.  


We then headed to Harold Ferguson's Abattoir.  As a farmer with a grandfather who was an old fashioned butcher, the abattoir was not something which phased me, in fact it was a pleasure to visit a place which operated on a small scale with far less stress on the cattle than in a huge modern abattoir.  The abattoir is staffed by retired butchers and also rehabilitates ex offenders and they are all proud of their skill and the excellent meat they provide.  A quick trip into Pictou to Grohmann's Knives the knife supplier favoured by the Kilted Chef and as we all got a set of Grohmann's knives to keep as part of our day cooking on the farm, I can attest that they are extremely good knives.

It was early in the season for fresh produce at Lakenman's Farm, spring had come late to Nova Scotia the asparagus had just finished and there were only a few vegetables coming through in the polytunnel.  We did find plenty of beet tops and Sarah was presented with the 'bouquet' of beets!



Then we were off to check out the lobsters at North Nova Scotia Seafood. North Nova Seafoods Limited is a fish-processing plant locally owned and operated by Paul Logan. The Logan family has been involved in fishing and fish processing since the 1800s. Logan & Roberts were operating a factory and buying station on this same shore by 1903. Russell Logan, Paul’s father, bought and shipped fish until 1962.In 1987, Paul started North Nova Seafoods which buys and processes seafood including Lobster, Herring, Rock Crab, Mackerel and Snow Crab throughout the year.

Labels: bacon, Beef, beets, Grohmanns, Lakenman's Farm, lobster, North Nova Scotia Seafood, Nova Scotia, pepperettes, Pictou, Pork, The Kilted Chef, The Pork Shop

posted by Janice @ 21:40 2 Comments