Around Britain in 50 foods

The British Isles boasts some distinctive–and distinctly eccentric–foods. Kate Green and Melanie Bryan feast their way around the country

- Kate Green and Melanie Bryan

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 fastas 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

3 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-milelong 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