On The Side
A Grand Day Out with the Guild of Food Writers
I suspect we all suffer from impostor syndrome from time to time. In my case I had it in spades a week or so ago, finding myself on a bus with a bevy of beauties, food professionals all. Thanks to the lovely Cat Thomson, journalist and hen keeper extraordinaire I found myself invited on a…
Read MoreThe Tasting Menu is Back: Discuss
Back? Did it ever go away? And where did it come from? Maybe it was just in my newspapers of choice (yes, paper ones, and yes, I do know how that dates me) but I’ve been reading a lot about this recently. Stuart Ralston is one of Scotland’s most influential chefs (Aizle, Noto, Tipo and…
Read MoreChef Watch featuring Darin Campbell of Cromlix, by Dunblane
Chef Watch Darin Campbell Head Chef, Cromlix, by Dunblane How long have you been a chef? I’ve been a chef for nearly 30 years. I started out working in a small local hotel in my home town of Largs. I realised I had a passion and talent for cooking so I moved to Edinburgh and…
Read MoreWater? Water Fuss!
How long would you like the extended warranty to be for? Like all attempted con tricks, this one was delivered with flair, with a smile and, of course, with absolute confidence (hence the name). If, on the first of June this year, you part with some of your hard earned for a five year warranty…
Read MoreA Decade of Tom’s Food!
March 31 was the tenth anniversary of my retiring from the practice of law. One door closes, a hundred restaurant doors open. It wasn’t quite the plan. People have asked why the Tom’s Food! domain name is www.ormidalels.com. Simple, really. It’s short for Ormidale Licensing Services. Glasgow’s coat of arms features a bird that never…
Read MoreNational Food Days
When news is slow, journalists (and, I confess, food bloggers) can struggle to find material. On the food front, a constant source of entertainment is to look up the mutitudinous foodstuffs which have been allocated a specific day or week. There are of course a few which have long standing significance. Perhaps the best known…
Read MoreThink Austro-Hungary: Think Goulash
Come On, You Reds! Today’s column is inspired by a recent visit to Vienna, to visit the grandson (and his parents, of course). The boy’s education is coming along nicely. If you say to him, come on, he will, without bidding, add, you Reds. I’m fairly certain his choice of weekend attire was responsible for Man…
Read MoreRhubarb and Edinburgh
My next vocation will be a hazardous one. It will involve walking through great crowds. There will almost certainly be fire eaters. Chainsaws may be buzzing and the noise will be infernal. That is a modest description of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile during the Edinburgh Festival in August. Eh? Oh, let me explain. I am on…
Read MoreRestaurants Are Too Expensive – Eh?
Anything is expensive if you can’t afford it. Of course I get that. And with the horrendous across the board price increases which we have seen recently, many have had to readjust budgets. Luxuries such as eating out are the first to be culled. I get that too; however, I guess you don’t read a…
Read MoreWant To Be A Restaurant Reviewer? Enter And Win A Prize
Or maybe you like the idea of a free meal for 2 with wine and cocktails at Tapa in Leith, the Tom Eats! Restaurant of the Year in 2023? Yes, for once we are offering a real prize, not just a year’s free subscription. All you have to do is to pen a review of a…
Read MoreFood in Phrase and Fable
After my recent article R is for Rum, my friend Ian I and I exchanged a few emails about phrases in the English language which are food related. My dealings with Ian go back to when he was Clerk to one of Scotland’s major licensing boards. Many of you will know that I was once…
Read MoreChef Watch featuring Paco Martin Romano of Tapa, Edinburgh
Chef Watch Featuring Paco Martin Romano, Head Chef at Tapa, Edinburgh How long have you been a chef? I’ve been a chef too long to remember, but I moved to Edinburgh (from my native Sevilla) to join my sister here in late 2010 and began working in Tapa in early 2011. I had…
Read MoreR is for … Rum
Given the Caribbean theme, today’s subject for the Food Alphabetical shouldn’t have been too hard to guess. In Barbados, where we visited before Christmas, rum is still a very important part of the Bajan economy. Although rum is now made world wide, many connoisseurs still believe that the finest stuff comes from the West Indies.…
Read MoreTom and Lesley Eat a Lot in Barbados
Ravi Shankar Melting pot. It’s a lazy phrase, one used far too easily by people from a predominantly white skinned country. Want a melting pot? Consider our own history. Picts, Scots (from Ireland), Angles, Saxons, Danes and Vikings. And that’s before you get to the Norman Conquest over 1000 years ago, and everything that’s followed…
Read MoreAt Christmas We Feast by Annie Gray
Christmas. Less than three weeks to go. In which camp would you place yourself? The come all ye faithful, let’s get carolling, gingerbread and spice, let it snow brigade? Or the not again, ridiculously over commercialised, well really it’s only for the kids, bah humbug camp? Either way I suspect that come the big day,…
Read MoreSalmon – Are You Sure?
In Britain, we eat a million portions of salmon every day. It is the second biggest Scottish export after whisky. And virtually all of these million portions will be farmed salmon. Wild salmon is no longer fished commercially anywhere in the UK. Most salmon rivers now require anglers to return fish to the water after…
Read MoreQ is for…Quite a Few Things
Well, not much choice for today’s instalment of the Food Alphabetical. The Larousse Gastronomique devotes only six pages to the Qs, and two of these are on quail. A lovely bird, if a bit tricky to cook well. Perhaps for another day. Let’s consider some alternatives. Q is for…Quorn Not in this blog it’s not.…
Read MoreWe Celebrate A Food Hero
First impressions can be important. Let’s take a reaction test. Loganberry Yum! Large luscious fruit. A thornless bush. What’s not to love? Genetic modification I’m hearing a lot of Boo! Hiss! Nasty Monsanto! Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan (MSS) I can hear a pin drop. You’ve never heard of him, have you? No, neither had I till…
Read MoreUltra-Processed – Ultra Scary?
For as long as I can remember, there have been food scares. Eat x, we are told, and you’ll get cancer or high cholesterol or have a heart attack. These things went in cycles, and were usually debunked fairly shortly thereafter. Milk, potatoes and eggs have all come in for the treatment. In recent times, however,…
Read MoreWhy Chopsticks?
I seldom go out for Chinese food these days. It doesn’t really work for me unless you have a decent sized group who can share a wide variety of dishes. For that reason I hadn’t used chopsticks for a good while until our recent trip to Japan. No great hardship – it’s like riding a…
Read MoreChef Watch featuring Brian Grigor of eòrna, Edinburgh
Chef Watch Featuring Brian Grigor Chef/Owner, eòrna restaurant, Edinburgh How long have you been a chef? Just over 25 years now. Why did you become a chef? I started washing the dishes at the local hotel while I was going through the process of starting an apprenticeship in joinery. One…
Read MoreEnjoy A Glass of Wine? Why Not Have 40? Or 85?
I recently lost a wonderful friend who in his heyday was wont to say, 1 bottle good, 2 bottles better. And if you enjoy a glass of wine, why not 85, as recommended by Decanter? To clarify, that is their recommendation for the maximum number of wines that a taster should sample in a single…
Read MoreIn Japan S is for Soya
Don’t be confused with the Tom’s Food! alphabetical. Yes, I know we haven’t done Q or R yet. When we get to S, we may do sprouts or succotash or some such, but that won’t be for a while yet. We are in Japan, where S is undoubtedly for soya. With every day that passed…
Read MoreJapan: Some Initial Food Thoughts
Sushi Tokyo Fish Market Some of you who noted the absence of Tom’s Food! these past few weeks may have been labouring under the impression that I was on holiday. As if! Those who follow me on social media will have known that L and I have been in Japan, researching frantically to keep these columns…
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