Fashion-forward foodies are showing that when it comes to local food culture, the future lies in the past.
Heritage endangered species such as Sutherland kale and Soay sheep are being preserved as awareness of their unique cultural signifance grows.
A sign of the new importance of local provenance in the sprawling global food network lies in the number of foods that have PGI (protected geographical indication) status, or are awaiting it. Dundee cake and Ayrshire Early potatoes have applications pending; Stornoway Black Pudding is the latest to get it.
There is also the Slow Food Foundation's Ark of Taste scheme, whereby endangered foods like Scottish beremeal and Musselburgh Leeks are protected and grown in larger volumes to promote biodiversity. This scheme works by gathering alerts from "people who see the flavours of their childhood disappear, taking with them a piece of the culture and history of which they are a part".
This emotional attachment to the foods of our past was further highlighted by Heston Blumenthal's "sweetie shop" menu which recreated not only the tastes but also the smells of his own childhood.
Now the food consultant Simon Preston has devised "signature menus" for former agricultural towns whose ancient culinary identity has been lost - starting with Huntly in Aberdeenshire. The idea was first mooted with Claudia Zeiske of Deveron Arts in Huntly who in 2012 had invited Preston to a three-month residency to the town.
He made a portable dining table, took it to the local supermarket and asked local people, young and old, to sit round this table to discuss local food traditions and cultures and recipes from their past. The reaction was astonishing. Food, he says, has the power to help people "identify with their past as well as their future, and build a lasting self-confidence".
A classic Huntly tattie soup, Strathbogie haggis circle (based on the ancient stones in the town square), Hairst steak pie with neeps and a treacle scone crust, a Gordon barley rissotto and a Huntly Mess were the results. These dishes hadn't been made in recent times, and are being served in local restaurants and cafes.
Sadly, Huntly is not to be included in Preston's BBC Radio 4 programme The Town Is The Menu, starting at lunchtime today and running all week. But Peterhead and Inverness are, and their separate identities are to be condensed into just one dish each. Preston says that when he scratched the surface, "a myriad of extraordinary stories and characters came pouring out, each 'boring' town actually brimming with personality and individuality".
After discussion with local storytellers and fishermen, Peterhead bore forth a Blue Toon Bree, the name derived from the distinctive blue clothing once worn by the fisher folk. The broth comprises local ingredients including cod, coley, mussels, langoustines, vegetables and seaweed, and there is already talk that it should replace Cullen Skink on all menus in the town.
No doubt the search will now begin in other towns. New Cumnock casserole, Cumbernauld ceviche, Paisley pate or Troon truffles, anyone?
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