The Taste of Shetland Food Festival returned in October 2022 to celebrate all things Shetland produce.
The two-day celebration of all things Shetland food and drink - sponsored by Scottish Sea Farms - was held at the Clickimin Centre in Lerwick and headlined by Scottish celebrity chef and restaurateur Nick Nairn (pictured), who made his first post-pandemic live cookery demonstration.
Around 1,200 visitors attended this year’s Taste of Shetland Food Festival to sample some of its finest culinary offerings, with award-winning Shetland Salt one of the vendors in attendance.
Headed by Kaye Sandison, member of The Leaders Council of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, Shetland Salt was honoured for its locally made and award-winning product to have featured at the festival and used by Nairn during his live cookery demonstration which opened proceedings.
Nairn is fond of both Shetland and its local produce, having been a regular visitor since he first travelled there in the mid-1990s while filming Wild Harvest for the BBC.
Nairn recalled: “I remember thinking at the time: strange place, no trees, nice people. Funny sheep that run down the middle of the road. I started eating stuff here way back then and I thought there's something quite singular about island food.”
“You do have something quite unique here. You've got terroir, you've got something that says this is from Shetland, and the thing that defines Shetland food is just the sheer quality of it.”
During his demonstration, Nairn showed watching attendees step-by-step how to make three different complete meals in under an hour. He started with an authentic tikka marinade for Shetland lamb with served with homemade chapatti, cowchumber and a yogurt dressing, followed by spaghetti with sassermaet meatballs in an Italian tomato sauce and finishing off with salmon with a miso dressing and an Asian slaw.
Everything was made from scratch, from the freshly toasted spices in his garam masala to using a blow torch to create the scorch marks on the flatbreads.
This was followed by a seafood demonstration, where he showed his audience how to clean and prep lobster and squid before making three different seafood dishes: stuffed whole lobster with a garlic butter sauce, pan-seared squid with Bok choi and a salmon ceviche and cucumber starter.
Nairn said: “When I had my first restaurant, my signature dish was a seared fillet of salmon and I put this on the menu written as Shetland Farmed Salmon. Shetland salmon was of such high quality back then, it stood out miles above everything else and I was reminded of that when I was cooking salmon at the festival.”
Nairn was also grateful for the opportunity to cook before a live audience again, after a two-and-a-half-year hiatus owing to the impact of Covid.
“It's been a pleasure cooking in front of a live audience again after two-and-a-half-years and you can see these guys have been queuing here for half an hour to tuck into the food I’ve cooked,” he said.
“So, I’ve got to be doing something right, yeah?”
On the Sunday of the festival, six primary and secondary-age children were invited to cook on stage with Nairn as part of the Peerie Bites competition sponsored by Northlink. The six competitors created their own delightful dishes, all using local produce.
Some of the culinary delights on offer included Shetland sirloin steak with baby tattie wedges, fish bannocks, spaghetti and meatballs with hidden veg sauce and wraps with homegrown carrots, nasturtiums, rocket and peas, adorned with granny's tomatoes.
It ws nine-year-old Erin MacBeath who would win first prize in the competition, with her Polycrub tomato risotto winning first prize in the primary category having wowed a judging panel consisting of Nairn and Northlink representatives. Vaila Thompson was awarded first prize in the secondary category after her Shetland biltong bowl impressed.
The incredible experience for the Peerie Bites contestants will not end there either, since Northlink will be working with them to create a special dish onboard their ferries in the near future.
A new addition to the 2022 festival was the International Cuisine Stall sponsored by EnQuest, to reflect the fact that Shetland is home to people hailing from a wide range of cultures each with their own recipes and food stories. Visitors to the festival therefore had the opportunity to enjoy recipes such as German potato soup with smoked sausage and Latvian grey peas with bacon.
Shetland Food and Drink [SFAD] project assistant, Joanne Williams, hailed the international element as a pulling factor for the festival.
She said: “The International Kitchen was a great draw. It heartwarming to see people enjoying food from around the world and asking lots of questions about that person's home country.”
Masterclass sessions were held during the festival in the Loch Bar, led by some of Shetland’s talented foodies. Kevin Smith hosted bannock making sessions, there was a sourdough bread-making class by Gus Dow and a Swiss meringue buttercream cake decorating class by Emma Leask.
There was also children’s entertainment at the venur including face painting, games, and a tasting stall, while live music was played by the talented Haltadans. Lunch was served on site by the Island Deli café.
Another first at this year’s festival was the introduction of the ‘Shetland’s Best Banger’ competition, with eight different types of sausages from local butchers and SFAD’s very own Mary Andreas competing for the trophy. Uradale Farm, with their native Shetland beef sausage, won the top prize.
Marian Armitage, SFAD chairperson, said: “It was splendid to see so many folk at the Taste of Shetland Festival this weekend. Our members really enjoyed speaking with the public and sharing the stories of their produce.
“Nick Nairn’s demonstrations showed how our wholesome Shetland ingredients can form the base of straightforward and delicious recipes with clever peerie twists to add interest. Please do keep in touch and sign up for our newsletters at tasteofshetland.com.”
Joanne Williams added: “It was excellent to be back to some normality and fantastic to see our members interacting with their customers, old and new, and making new contacts!
“Overall, the festival was a resounding success and I feel really proud to have been part of it!”
Mary Andreas, SFAD finance officer, commented: “What a pleasure it was to be part of the SFAD team running this year’s festival under almost normal circumstances again! Our members did Shetland proud; their stalls were mouth wateringly eye catching.
“A lot of work goes into this event, and it was so gratifying to see folk enjoying it. A huge thank you to everyone involved!”
Image provided by Shetland Food & Drink
