Centotre, George Street
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The Scottish Cafe: June’s coming attractions

May 10, 2012

What we’re cooking right now
Well, the May menus at The Scottish Cafe & Restaurant and Centotre are in full swing now… Taking pride of place are some smashing asparagus from Pattullo’s at Eassie Farm, and bright pink rhubarb from Phantassie Organic Produce. They’re making star appearances on our menu!

Megrim: our new star catch
Seafood Scotland is an organisation that I have been keen to find out a little bit more about. I met with Jess who works with them on sustainable fishing in Scotland, so I could get plenty of information on what Scottish seasonal fish we should be using and why.

So: ever heard of megrim before? Me neither…but come and try it on our June menu. 90% of the Scottish catch gets flown to Spain as the “king of white fish” but we hardly use it in Scotland!

Megrim is similar to lemon sole, with a similarly delicate texture. It’s such a shame: we have sustainable produce at our disposal in Scotland that we don’t use. But hopefully the tide is turning on that! (Pun intended!)

June menus: summer’s coming!
We start looking at planning June’s menu soon, which will have a summery feel.

June will bring us some wonderful fresh ingredients via our forager Ben: wild watercress, sea aster & fresh elderflower. We will making good use of them in dishes such as a delicious homemade elderflower jelly.

Casa San Lorenzo: salads and our celebration supper
We are told by Erica, our wonderful gardener, that we will have salad leaves ready to pick by June, as well as some summer vegetables, all from our very own Casa San Lorenzo kitchen garden.

Speaking of Casa San Lorenzo, don’t forget that we’re celebrating our first harvest at a special supper on 20 June. Look out for our special family tasting menu. Tickets are going on sale now – it should be a fantastic night. Book early to avoid disappointment!

Special menu for Slow Food Week
You’ll know from our blog posts that we are proud supporters of the ‘Slow Food’ movement, with its focus on growing, producing and preserving the authenticity of food. We will be featuring a special menu from 18 – 24 June (Slow Food Week) to promote our suppliers who are living the slow food dream!

Art and food: showcasing the best of Bute!
The National Galleries of Scotland’s new exhibition starts on 18 May – Masterpieces from Mount Stuart, showcasing some amazing art. Meanwhile, downstairs in the Scottish Cafe & Restaurant kitchen, we are delighted to feature some terrific Bute produce to run alongside this.

We have sourced Ritchie’s of Rothesay smoked salmon, and beef from Bute Land Limited. And to really get into the spirit of things, we are trying out some archive cake recipes from Mount Stuart, as part of our special afternoon teas.

Looking forward to seeing you soon,

Suzanne

 

 

 

 

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