Around Britain in 50 foods
1 Comber earlies
The botanist William Coles wrote in 1657 that ‘the soyle of Ireland doth so well agree with them [potatoes], that they grow there so plentifully that there be whole fields overrun with them’. These small potatoes, earthy, sweet and nutty, are planted in January—two months earlier than other types in Northern Ireland—and harvested in July. The spuds are specific to an area once known as the Hamilton Montgomery Lands (after two Ulster-Scots families) in the temperate climes around Strangford Lough. (EU Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status)
2 Spoot
The spoot—or razorfish—is big in the Orkneys, where it’s as prized as a truffle, although most people buy it from the fishmonger these days, rather than scrabble around in freezing, wet sand. The time for gathering the long, thin shellfish is in March, when they’re exposed by receding spring tides, but you’ve got to move fast as the cunning little critters quickly sink without trace. Eat fresh, tossed in a pan—frozen ones are as bland as string, apparently.
3 Islay whisky
During Feis Ile (the Islay Festival of Whisky and Music, May 22–30, www.islayfestival. com), Islay’s eight distilleries —quite a lot for a 25-mile-long island—are open for tastings. It was Irish monks who first twigged that it’s the brown, peaty, salty water that gives these Hebridean whiskies their particular edge: Ardbeg, Lagavulin and Laphroag are considered the strongest, Bruichladdich and Bunnahabhain lighter.
4 Arbroath smokies
The smoked-haddock delicacy was, until the end of the 19th century, known as the Auchmithie Smokie (and also lucken, closed fish or pinwiddie), until residents of the Angus fishing village decamped a few miles south to larger Arbroath on the North Sea coast. Even today, streets there still reek from the myriad backyard businesses that hang dried, salted fish in fire pits made from old whisky barrels covered with hessian sacking and serve the delicious result piping hot. (PGI)
5 Aberdeen Angus beef
The ubiquity of the exceptionally juicy, marbled Aberdeen Angus steak suggests the cattle are everywhere; in fact, the original, native animal is classified by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust as endangered—in
