Tastes of the Islands

Apr 10

The award-winning food writer Marian Armitage previews her new book with recipes that celebrate Shetland ingredients

“A larder of Shetland's quality needs a cookbook to match, and Marian Armitage has answered the call.”

The beautiful south end of Shetland, da Ness, is where my father’s family came from. Scatness is the fascinating peninsula of land that points southwards, between Sumburgh Head and Fitful Head with Fair Isle on the horizon, and witnesses the most extreme variations of Shetland weather. The fierce south-westerly gales that lash the black cliffs send waves and spindrift high into the air and then right across this bleak headland.

A walk to the ancient blockhouse at the end of the Ness of Burgi fills me with awe and wonder at who might have lived there and how they survived. There are regular sightings of seals throughout the year, the most breathtaking carpet of sea-pinks in May and mirror-calm rock pools for swimming in fine weather. You can see ancient boat noosts, hollows where the traditional Ness yoals were pulled well clear of the sea, and over a dozen remains of plantiecrubs in which the local folk used to grow vegetables – particularly their kale plants.

In mid-summer, including the dazzling sunrise behind Sumburgh Head, and the spectacular sunset over Fitful, there are 22 hours of daylight in the “simmer dim”. In winter the “mirrie dancers” (aurora borealis) light the sky and the reassuring three-flash signal from the Sumburgh Head lighthouse sweeps through the house every 30 seconds.

Within the horizon, fishing boats, the Good Shepherd IV on her voyage to Fair Isle, the NorthLink ferry, cruise ships and sailing boats of all sizes have to face the challenge of the Sumburgh Roost – the pull of the strong tidal stream that goes round this most southerly tip of the Shetland Mainland.

This is my kitchen panorama and where all the recipes in my new book Food Made in Shetland were made for Susan Molloy’s beautiful and creative photography.

All of my life, I have enjoyed food and cooking. I was inspired by excellent teaching at the Anderson High School in Lerwick, then four years being taught Domestic Science at what is now Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh. This was followed by a 35-year career teaching Food and Nutrition to 12-to 19-year-olds, and during that time my love of food has not ever diminished.

I wrote Shetland Food and Cooking in 2014, not long after retiring. It includes a background about Shetland agriculture, fishing and crofting life together with many traditional and contemporary recipes highlighting the wonderful produce that we have here in Shetland. The book was shortlisted for the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards – a four-day event in Yantai, China, in May 2016, where it was the winner in the Food Promotion category. A truly unforgettable event.

The new book came about through my work in recent years with Misa Hay. Cooking for participants on her Shetland Wool Adventures tours provided an opportunity to present delicious Shetland food to an interested audience in a convivial setting.

Another book was not planned but Covid-19 lockdowns provided time to think and reflect, and I realised that I very much wanted to continue to share my knowledge and experience. I feel great pride in the food we produce and I am always curious and enjoy experimenting with ideas. Showing people how to create dishes and meals, together with providing encouragement as skills develop and improve, is what I really believe in and find enormously rewarding, especially as I now have three grandchildren.

I have enjoyed having many opportunities too, to work with bairns in primary and secondary schools in Shetland, watching their eagerness and enthusiasm and challenging their tastebuds while showing them new ideas with local food.

We have world-class food produced, caught, reared and grown here and although we don’t have Michelin-starred restaurants we have creative, ingenious cooks, with enthusiasm and passion for sharing the local produce.

I want to encourage and inspire you to be creative with our local food. Shetland is a unique place, and the food is too.

Food Made in Shetland

Beautifully photographed in the south end of Shetland, Food Made in Shetland is a collection of over 60 recipes that puts the best of Shetland produce front and centre and will inspire you to create delicious and tasty meals at home.

Following on from her award-winning first book, Shetland Food and Cooking (The Shetland Times, 2014), Marian Armitage continues to champion the use of local produce, which she is so passionate about, and offers wonderful creative ideas for getting the best out of cheaper cuts of meat and less-used species of fish.

And there are plenty of ideas to encourage peerie bairns into the kitchen too!

Available to order here and from selected stockists.

For wholesale enquiries please contact us.