Meandering Moose & Linderödsvin
If Sweden conjures up images of moose and forest, you wouldn’t be far wrong as you can see from this albeit fuzzy twilight photo!! This moose bull was over 2metres high with 10 points and looked in our window by the bird table!
We were in full apple production mode: conserves, drying, freezing, baking… in Scotland we grow Bloody Ploughman and James Grieve; in Sweden we have Åkero, also on Slow Food Ark of Taste. Fortunately our visiting moose was after a lady moose and not our apples - they have a penchant for pommes and get drunk on too much fruit! If you don’t believe me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFA-h6YHZOg
We were in Sweden last week to celebrate 25
years of the Linderödsvinet with an event at Skånes Djurpark. The animal park was in dire straights a few years back when a couple of Norwegians rescued it for small money and invested heavily, including an incredibly comic Shaun the Sheep feature. I am not usually impressed by such gimmicks but this one is quite inspired! Shaun apart, there’s a good range of Nordic animals in spacious landscaping with great opportunities for learning.
Linderödsvinet Day was excellent with speakers on many food
and environmental topics: forestry and science; meat quality and heritage farming; history and hilarious anecdotes from ‘everyday life with pigs!’ Linderödsvin are on
Sweden’s Ark of Taste and I was asked to give a presentation on the Ark of Taste so compared and contrasted Scotland and Sweden, looking at possible future Ark products. It is very important to maintain the standards and use the Ark to highlight exceptional heritage products and pure landrace breeds.
Linderödsvin are remarkable for their handsome looks –
often affectionately called ‘the gingerbread pig’ – and world class eating qualities. What is also remarkable is that in 1992 there were only 8 breeding sows + 1 boar left in existence and thanks to the (unpaid) work and dedication of Ronny Olsson, Bosse and his fellow Linderöd devotees there are now 520 breeding animals. I call that a result! What’s also wonderful is the many young farmers and smallholders who are interested in native breeds. http://landtsvinet.se We all had a fascinating day and a very good lunch and our thanks to Martin Ragnar for his organization. http://sockerslottet.se
More Members’ News….
Gordon & MacPhail is launching one of the world’s rarest and oldest single malt whiskies - a 70-year-old Glenlivet 1943 (single cask). The whisky was laid down during a key date in the history of WW2. Most distilleries were silent at this time due to rationing, making this exceptionally rare. Just 40 decanters are being released globally with a UK RRP £30,000 https://www.benromach.com
Contini announce New Menu Launch at The Scottish Cafe &
Restaurant. Their menus have an enticing array of light arty open sandwiches and soups and more substantial seasonal mains: seasonal set menu, and Scottish Café Classics…even afternoon teas! Here is my Ramsay Smoked Ham with honey apple dressing…delicious! https://www.contini.com
Congratulations to Campsie Glen, awarded 2 Great Taste Awards for their produce https://www.campsieglen.co.uk
Congratulations to Scottish Fruit Company’s gooseberry mint cordial, shortlisted in the Quality Food Awards 2017 http://www.thescottishfruitcompany.co.uk
Christmas Nights now open for booking at Deans, Perth
This year promises to bring a bumper crop of pumpkins at Craigie’s so don't worry there will be plenty to go round. You can even PYO. https://craigies.co.uk
Scotland the Bread are busy harvesting (and here is Bosse's Dalarna heritage wheat!) and
after mentioning milling recently in my blog here is one for sale for you enthusiasts out there, along with much excellent advice http://www.scotlandthebread.org/product-category/grain-mills/
