The Ultimate Tour – Island Foraging and Gastronomic Passion on the Isle of Eriska in Scotland

Born in London and my love for travel, you’d have thought I’d now visited the UK in its entirety – but sadly that couldn’t be further from the truth. Us Londoners love our city, happy to explore the rest of the world, but when it comes to the UK we for some reason, including me – ignore it. There is so much on offer close to home and we all should really being exploring it more than we do right now. While I’m still to spoil you with my hotel review of the gorgeous Isle of Eriska and its Michelin starred restaurant looked after by head chef Paul Leonard, I wanted to share with you exactly what this hotel has to offer, how and where the chefs source their food from and more importantly – why the Isle of Eriska is one of the most sustainable places I’ve ever visited.

We started our ultimate tour from the main entrance of the hotel. Tan loafers exchanged for slightly more appropriate green wellingtons. OK well actually this photo was from after. In fact I never changed my shoes and in true London fashion, assumed I’d be safe. Completely Forgetting I’m in Scotland. The sinking marshes were the biggest shock, but well worth getting very dirty for.

After I met up with sous chef Scott Morrison, we started our walk around the island and I quickly discovered just how much produce is foraged and sourced directly from it. Our first stop was the island greenhouse. Due for a redesign later this year, it’s all looked after by head gardener and the rest of the kitchen team. Used as a place for growing the years vegetables and herbs, it’s also part research facility – well sort of. While Scotland can be a little unpredictable with its seasons, the team here have to find ingredients which are somewhat more hardy. Surprises come from the oddest things too. While some plants may not produce vegetables, they’re instead utilised for their leaves and flowers. On top of this they have to find year-long ways of preserving, whether that be pickling, jams and salt. The tiny spring onions they produce here are some of the best I’ve come across.

On our way to one of the islands other gardens, we passed a bunch of beautiful orchard trees which had just started to fall – ready for picking and utilising on the menus. Crisp green, shiny red and what looked like pink blushed cooking apples.

Located next to the sports hall, resides the slightly more rustic plot. Home to some of the large vegetables grown on site. Cabbages, onions, spring onions, radishes and a bunch of very healthy looking turnips. Next door they even have their own smoker where they leave new potatoes to rest and smoke the daily fish which arrives from local fishmongers – the smoked salmon here really is legendary.

On our way down to the beach we found the most incredible patch of wild cress. Flourishing in just this single waterlogged area, we bent down for a sample. It had such a fantastic bite to it, a little peppery and beautiful fiery finish which reminded me of horseradish. It really is like nothing you’d find in the supermarkets. They even utilise the pine trees here, mixing the fragranced pine leaves with rapeseed oil to use in the kitchen.

The thing that surprised me most about our island foodie tour, was the beach. I knew the waters surrounding the island were teeming with fresh fish and crabs – but I had no idea some of the plants and shrubs which grow on the sand were edible. We could see them slowly turning orange as they began to die off for the year, but flavour wise they were all incredible. One seemed to retain moisture, releasing an umami water in the mouth, while another had an amazing texture and juiciness to it – tasting exactly like a cucumber. I took a quick break on a rock, posing – as you do. The platform which leads out into the water even has kelp running directly underneath it, gripping to the platform. A lovely home for it, but an even more accessible location for the chefs to cut at it when needed in the kitchen.

While I still have to tell you all about the incredible meal we ate in the restaurant here, hopefully this post gives you an insight into exactly how passionate the hotel and its staff really are about food. You can taste it in the breakfast, be refreshed by it in the spa, divulge on it in afternoon tea, sip it in a cocktail and enjoy it with dinner. The Isle of Eriska is food heaven and you can taste every part of it throughout your time here.