Nairn - Nick Nairns New Scottish Cookery

contents

To everybody at Lochend

The recipes in this book are drawn from various sources. Some are reworkings of recipes previously published in Wild Harvest, Wild Harvest 2 and Island Harvest, changed to reflect not only my new attitude to diet and healthy eating, but also in acknowledgement that most people do not have the time or desire to reproduce complicated restaurant dishes. Other recipes have come from my column in the Sunday Herald or were written especially for the book.

It would not have been possible for me to carry out all the writing, editing, testing and re-writing without some serious help, so huge thank yous to all involved, in no particular order: the ever wonderful Maxine Clark, home economist and stylist extraordinaire; my consistently level-headed, organized and good humoured assistant Nadine Carmichael; star chefs Derek Blair of Nairns restaurant, John Webber of Nairns Cook School and Colin Halliday of Nairns Anywhere; Gareth Morgans for his quite superb photography.

Last, but by no means least, I must thank the team from my publishers of the last seven years, BBC Worldwide: the boss, Nicky Ross, for her continued faith in my ability to deliver on time, my editor, Sarah Miles, for her patience, perfectionism and enthusiasm, Janet James for her wonderful design work and Julie Tochel for helping pull it all together.

I hope that this book reflects my continued passion for good food and commitment to a healthy diet. My philosophy on food remains unchanged buy the best seasonal produce (preferably Scottish), cook it properly and know when to stop. For those of you who would like to do more than just read the book, I highly recommend Nairns Cook School (www.nairnscookschool.com) for hands-on cooking and Nairns restaurant (www.nairns.co.uk) for a great night out.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the authors and publishers rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

Version 1.0

Epub ISBN 9781446415832

www.randomhouse.co.uk

Published by BBC Books, BBC Worldwide Limited, Woodlands, 80 Wood Lane, London W12 0TT

First published in hardback 2002 and in paperback 2004
Nick Nairn 2002
The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Some of the recipes contained in this book are based on recipes that first appeared in Wild Harvest (BBC Books, 1996) and Wild Harvest 2 (BBC Books, 1997), photographs by Graham Lees, and Island Harvest (BBC Worldwide, 1998), photographs by Jean Cazals. Other recipes first appeared in the Sunday Herald, photographs by Stephen Kearney and Martin Hunter.

New photography for this edition: Gareth Morgans BBC Worldwide 2002, except page 7 Craig Easton

Hardback ISBN-13: 978 0 563 53453 2

Paperback ISBN-13: 978 0 563 52151 8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Commissioning Editors: Nicky Ross and Rachel Copus
Project Editors: Sarah Miles and Julie Tochel
Copy-editor: Deborah Savage
Designer: Janet James
Art Director for jacket: Pene Parker
Art Director for new photography: Lisa Pettibone
Production Controller: Kenneth McKay
Home Economist: Maxine Clark
Stylist: Sue Rowlands

For more information about this and other BBC Books, please visit our website on www.bbcshop.com or telephone 08700 777 001.

In the culinary world, Scotland is renowned for the quality of its ingredients. Whether its wild salmon, organically reared beef, raspberries, shellfish or even whisky, Scottish produce is full of depth and flavour. Combine these ingredients with Scotlands top chef Nick Nairn and the results are outstanding. A self-taught cook, Nick has been a long-time champion of fresh Scottish produce, but his cooking also takes its influences from all over the world. In New Scottish Cookery, Nick combines the very best fresh Scottish ingredients with a myriad of international flavours, to create a mouth-watering collection of recipes destined to become the Scottish classics of the future. Containing the signature dishes that have made Nicks reputation from his bestselling Wild Harvest books, as well as over 80 new recipes, the book is a celebration of good quality, great-tasting food. Beautifully illustrated with 100 colour photos and including a useful guide to where to buy the best Scottish ingredients, Nick Nairns New Scottish Cookery will delight food lovers everywhere.

I came to cooking at a relatively late stage in my life. My mum was a great cook; she always had warming broths, stews and fantastic home-baking on the go. I was extremely fortunate that I ate well; wild salmon, venison and pheasant were all regulars on the menu, albeit simply cooked with no added onions, garlic or spices my dad was not one for fancy food. After leaving school I joined the Merchant Navy as a navigator, to spend seven happy years bobbing around the worlds oceans, and it was during this time that my taste buds were awakened. I vividly remember tasting satay, freshly barbecued over charcoals on the seafront in Singapore and the amazing flavours simply blew me away. It was then that I realized there was more to cooking than mince and tatties. However, it wasnt until I was studying for my naval exams in Glasgow that a lack of funds forced me into cooking for myself. So I went out and bought a frying pan, wooden spoon and a cookery book and, thus armed, rustled up chicken breasts stuffed with bananas, hazelnuts and grapes in a curried cream (it was the eighties after all!). The results were a revelation, more than good enough to eat and from then on I was hooked. I had discovered something that I was good at. A dinner party obsession ensued and, after a time, this led me to believe I could open my own restaurant. Armed with the navety of youth combined with a not inconsiderable amount of hard graft, my first wife, Fiona, and I opened my first restaurant, Braeval, in a converted watermill in June 1986.

We started simply but, as my skills and confidence grew, the food became more and more refined until, by the early 1990s, we were regarded as one of the top places to eat in Scotland. A chance encounter with restaurant customers Colin Cameron of BBC Scotland and television producers Hamish Barber and Muriel Gray led to my first series, Wild Harvest, where I travelled around Scotland meeting producers of the most wonderful raw materials. I met divers, farmers, fishermen and mushroom gatherers, all with one thing in common a passion for the wonderful produce available all over Scotland. Seeing the amazing quality of this natural harvest at first hand led me to be increasingly dissatisfied with complex cooking and encouraged me to continue my set, no-choice menu, allowing me to prepare the best possible food depending on the produce available that day. This practice helped me develop my own cooking style, using the produce as the inspiration instead of finding the ingredients to suit a recipe idea.