A festive feast of local food
Fishermen, farmers and foodies across the West Highlands are passionate about their produce
ASK yourself, this Christmas, why would you buy mass produced for your Christmas feasting when you have some of the finest foods here on your doorsteps?
We all agree on one thing: the West Highlands is one of the best places you can live.
The waters are clear, the air and land unpolluted and the pace of life is more measured, less fast with a more considered, caring, attitude to life.
And what makes for a great environment to live, work and raise a family also makes for a superb setting to produce some of the finest food in the UK.
Don’t just take The Oban Times’ word for it: just look around you. Whilst we might have the occasional grumble about wet weather, the mild, moist Atlantic air makes for superb pasture, from the rolling fields of the Kintyre peninsula with its award-winning dairy herds, where the majority of the milk goes for making cheese and specialised milk products, to the rugged hills of Argyll and Lochaber for tender lamb or prime beef.
The waters of the West Highlands provide some of the finest seafood around – Oban boasts the title of seafood capital of Scotland – have you seen anyone come and try and claim it off us? Our seafood is sought after by buyers from all over the world.
Our sea and fresh water lochs are home to some of the best quality farmed fish in Europe; salmon farmed in Argyll has won major international awards and across the West Highlands farms supply the nation’s supermarkets with salmon and trout. We even have companies selling edible seaweed, plus Argyll is home to major research institutes for the sea and sustainability. We lead the way in so many aspects of this industry.
Scotland is famed for its smoked fish and you can find some of the best smoked salmon, trout, mussels, kippers, and oysters here.
With so many great ingredients no wonder we have so many people earning a living as food producers. They can be making a nationally-known product, or one just known here in the West Highlands or even in their own village or through craft fairs. They are all passionate about making superb quality produce.
Breads, cakes, biscuits, jams, chutneys, all manner of preserves and condiments are created here, with enterprising artisans starting off operating from their own kitchens, and going on to expand with help from Business Gateway and the expertise of the environmental health departments at Argyll and Bute and the Highland Council. Some of our biggest names have started small and grown and grown.
And we also import! foodie enthusiasts have started up businesses specialising in oils, vinegars and teas and coffees. The owners of our specialist delicatessens, bakeries and grocers take great delight in selling local products and sourcing others from small companies across Scotland. So if you are staying home for Christmas dinner, fill up your larder, fridge and freezer with local fare. And if you are going to friends or family for the big day, take along a taste of Argyll and the Islands, Lochaber and the West Highlands with you for a unique and special gift.