Scottish Seafood

The sea surrounding the long Scottish coastline contains dozens of species of fish, many of which are exported to European countries where they are avidly sought after. Yet in Scotland and the UK generally, our consumption of fish is centred round half a dozen or so species, stocks of most of which are dangerously low. A fresh approach to cooking and eating the seafood from Scottish waters is long overdue. Scotland has a wonderful but neglected heritage of gathering and cooking the fruits of the sea, be they seaweeds like carrageen, dulse and tangle, shellfish like limpets, mussels, razor-shell clams, crabs and lobsters, or a whole range of fish species. In this major new cookery book, Catherine Brown draws on this treasury of traditional recipes, from cullen skink to partan bree, Solway scallops and bacon to Musselburgh steak and oyster pie. As well as looking back, however, she looks to the future - gathering together the innovative recipes which are being developed in Scottish restaurants and homes to take advantage of new trends and support sustainable fisheries. Illustrated with delightful line drawings, this is a working cookbook designed for practical use in the kitchen, with straightforward recipes in easy-to-follow stages. Here is a range of delicious new ways with seafood, which has the potential to transform fish cookery in Scotland and further afield.

Catherine Brown became widely known during the 1980s and 90s for her investigative food columns in The Herald (Glasgow) and as a presenter of STV and Grampian TV's Scotland's Larder. In 2001 she was the Guild of Food Writers Food Journalist of the Year. She is the author of several books on Scottish food, including her acclaimed Scottish Cookery. She recently edited a major new edition of F. Marian McNeill's The Scots Kitchen. Her time is divided between a small village in Perthshire and an even smaller village on the shores of Loch Torridon. She can be visited at www.foodinscotland.co.uk.