the land Garden Landscaping
SLEAT, Isle of Skye, Scotland - Gazing out the window at Kinloch Lodge, one happily returns to the matter of dinner, savoring every bite of venison and every sip of Talisker single-malt whiskey, with something approaching gratitude. Because outside, a light rain falls in feathery curtains on a rugged landscape; clouds gather over the whitecaps of Loch Na Dal; and the temperature drops, right on time for mid-August in Scotland.
If You Go
How to get there
The Isle of Skye is 180 miles north of Glasgow, and 80 miles southwest of Inverness, on the western coast of Scotland. From the mainland by car, take the new Skye Bridge at Kyle of Localsh, or by car or train, the ferry from Mallaig.
But the proprietor, Lady Claire Macdonald, author of 17 books on cooking and the country’s version of Julia Child, would argue that it’s not just the contrast with the growing chill outside that deepens our culinary appreciation. Tastes come alive because virtually everything consumed in this former shooting lodge is local and seasonal, from the lamb to the cod to the mushrooms in the soup. Staying here is a lesson in what’s missed when food comes from far away.
“We must eat seasonally. Seasonal keeps the cook on anticipatory toes,” she says in the prim and comfortable sitting room, the portraits of Macdonald ancestors adorning the walls. In the spring she works on a bright chicken salad; in the fall, it’s braised game and stews.
“And we have a great loathing for food miles,” she says, referring to the time- and energy-consuming distance that most grocery-store food travels - asparagus and apples from South America, for example, maddening to see on the shelves when local stuff is there for the taking. Starting long before concern about carbon footprints and the popularity of Whole Foods Market in this country, Macdonald has been harvesting everything that can be had from the island, the Highlands, the sea or the lochs and rivers, and often right from the garden in back.
The local and seasonal theme is carried on in her cooking demonstrations, which are offered as part of weekend packages at Kinloch Lodge.
The inn, which Macdonald and her husband, Godfrey, the lord of Clan Macdonald, have been running for 34 years, is an oasis of comfort on the austere Isle of Skye. It is located about 12 miles from the bridge that connects Skye to the mainland, and a short drive to Armadale for the ferry to Mallaig. The government has been steadily improving the roads in the region, which for decades have been single tracks with little spots to pull over to let oncoming traffic pass. Kinloch Lodge is a fine place to base explorations of the Isle of Skye; most of the sights are to the north and west.
Tags: amp, carbon footprint, footprint, Garden Landscaping, landscape, Landscaping, locals, rta, s south0
