Juliet's Food Diary - cutie tootsie clooties
There’s plenty of doom and gloom to consider at the moment and despite the FM's reassurance that Santa is indeed a Key Worker I’m not much looking forward to sipping – who am I kidding – glugging mulled wine on my tod.
As the nights draw in one thing depressing me about the pub and restaurant closures isn’t just the lack of atmosphere in town but the absence of reassuring lights, open doors and people. I’m sure I’m not alone in the gratitude the nightime industries do for us all socially but they also offer us safety. Even during the early evening the feeling in town is rather sinister and as usual rarely a police car to be seen.
Crowdfunding has become a welcome way of helping smaller businesses expand and Bross Bagels are inviting the many and loyal lovers of their Montreal-style bagels to help them create their own bakery. You can become a Bross Poss, where £100 gets you £120 of bagel vouchers or a Share Holer where £1000 gives you four years of a £100 bagel voucher with your £1k investment back in full at the end. Both include some party invites and social media thank yous. You’ll notice the latter option is a loan with bagel interest rather than an investment.
Apparently using "Holer", rather than "holder" was "too good a pun to miss", and goodness knows they’ve milked that one more than the asps for Cleopatra’s bath. We must be thankful that Mama Bross was inspired by the savoury treats of her home town Montreal, rather than hailing from Aberdeenshire. Brossbagels.com
Desperate for a half term activity, I followed up a friend’s recommendation try the Chocolatarium on Cranston
Street, just off the Royal Mile. I mean who doesn’t like chocolate? Weirdos, that’s who. My well balanced daughter is reassuringly mad for the stuff so learning about chocolate production and history was an added bonus to an afternoon of indulgent tasting. The experience of the afternoon was made really special by our guide Ava who’s knowledge was equally matched by her enthusiasm and sense of fun. My daughter's favourite part was making her own chocolate bar with unlimited sprinkles available. I particularly liked the huge range of chocolate we got to taste and the end, many made by local artisan producers. Chocolatarium.co.uk
Even more cheerful than Ava, if it’s possible, was the charming lady at the Clootie McToots dumpling shop in Abernethy. Should you know people who dress up cats or dogs in cosplay costumes, please visit this shop and view the madness, or genius, if you will, on an entirely different level of eccentricity. Browsing round the small shop, it’s initially innocent enough - jams, chutneys, artisan chocolate, nothing to be concerned about. However, we had gone in to buy a clootie dumpling, as this company are well known for their excellence in dumpling slapping production. My mother says you have to slap a dumpling or it doesn’t taste right - they don’t call her 50 Shades of Clootie for nothing. We’re invited to try some samples, all hygienically wrapped, and they are utterly delicious. Tasting aside, her other mission is to draw our attention to the clootie dumpling packaged characters - Harry Potter, Mary Queen of Scots, The Big Yin, aka Billy Connolly, and many other dressed up dumplings as well as a bride and groom version. However our hostess's proudest product is an Obi-Wan Kenobi clootie with its own glowing lightsabre.
Have I ever seen anything so delightfully bonkers in my entire life? I think not.
These fascinating figurines also come with a weighted bag so their hand made costumes can live on as doorstops long after their yummy contents have been scoffed. They also have a range wrapped in Doddie Weir tartan with a proceed of profits going to his foundation, a delicious and thoughtful Christmas gift, should you decide to start your shopping early.
If pudding isn’t your thing, a slice of fried clootie with black pudding and a poached egg stacked on top makes an epic winter breakfast. Clootiemctootsdumplings.com