This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).
While Skye’s chief attractions are undoubtedly visual — the sea lochs, the dramatic cliffs, the rainbow waterfront of capital Portree — the island is increasingly pitching itself as a culinary destination, too. With its abundance of seafood, it’s always had something to offer gourmet travellers, but its reputation has been enhanced in recent years by establishments such as Edinbane Lodge and The Three Chimneys, whose menus not only showcase the local catch but also make the most of other native ingredients, from seaweed to venison. Throw in some world class whisky, home-grown craft beer and traditional sugary confection, tablet, and you’ve got the perfect spot for a culinary short break.
The local star
Chef Calum Montgomery meets me at the Scandi-minimal Birch cafe in his native Portree, Skye’s pretty main town. But we’re not stopping here long, as he’s keen to show off his beautiful backyard. After picking up sugar-dusted pastries for his kitchen team, we hop in his car, and as we head west the clouds part to reveal the craggy form of the Old Man of Storr in the distance. We pass coniferous forests, where red deer roam free, and the wind-whipped waters of Loch Greshornish, home to huge scallops — a consignment of which is being delivered to Calum’s restaurant with rooms, Edinbane Lodge, just as we arrive.
“We’re so close to the source here, we have produce landing that was in the sea or the forest five minutes before,” he says, listing other menu regulars such as venison and grouse, langoustines and crab, wild berries and mushrooms. This abundance was one of the factors that drew Calum back to Skye. Having hit the ground running in Glasgow’s restaurant scene, he returned to the island, and went on to become head chef at the upmarket Kinloch Lodge. “When I came back to Skye I was frustrated by some of what I saw elsewhere on the island,” he says. “‘Local’ is probably the most overused word in the restaurant world, but I wanted more traceability — how many miles has this food travelled?”
He’s addressed this with the launch of his first solo venture, Edinbane Lodge, a storied 16th-century coaching inn he opened with his wife Eilidh in stages after 2018, following a lengthy restoration. It’s since picked up numerous accolades, including four AA rosettes. Cosy, tartan-accented rooms offer lodgings for overnight guests, while within a wood-panelled restaurant lined with artwork inspired by the mountains, Calum’s 10-course A Taste of Skye menus offer the island’s best produce, including some ingredients grown right outside.
But before I get to experience the restaurant, we first explore the undergrowth between the lodge and the loch, stopping to pick peppery scurvy grass, which garnishes his oyster beignets; the ground elder leaves used in salads; and wild sorrel, whose Granny Smith-peel flavour, Calum says, replaces the need to order in citrus from overseas. “Restricting myself to local ingredients is challenging but I’ve invested time into understanding what’s in the Skye larder,” he says, highlighting his use of sea buckthorn instead of passionfruit or swapping out vanilla pods for the almondy, honey-like qualities of the hedgerow perennial, meadowsweet.
The 10-course menus at Edinbane Lodge showcase the island’s best produce, featuring local ingredients such as oyster and sea vegetables, foraged by chef Calum Montgomery.
Photograph by Lynne Kennedy (Top) (Left) and Photograph by Edinbane Lodge (Bottom) (Right)
Later, I get to experience the pleasures of Calum’s imaginative cooking, with its nods to both old Hebridean recipes and New Nordic techniques. Highlights include monkfish with preserved wild garlic, barbecued mussels and celery sorbet. There’s also a truly memorable seared scallop with caramelised edges and tender, sweet flesh, dressed in just a touch of seaweed butter — a simple, yet sublime, dish that’s reflective of Calum’s journey as a chef.
“If you’d come here a few years ago you might have found a sauce or a cracker, some herbs and a garnish,” he explains. “But over the years I’ve been paring it back — because I know for a fact that you’re never going to get a better-quality scallop than that.”
It’s a thrilling time for whisky enthusiasts within the region, with two relative newcomers bringing fresh energy to a longstanding tradition. Both the Torabhaig distillery on Skye and the neighbouring Isle of Raasay distillery have set up picturesque new premises and released well-received debut whiskies in the past decade. They take their place on the newly established Hebridean Whisky Trail alongside the big draw — Skye’s iconic Talisker distillery, which has been operating in Carbost since the 1830s.
On what locals might call a ‘dreich’ day, I pull up outside Talisker’s historic home on Loch Harport. As the heavens open, distillery guide Mike Norton shrugs and says, “Well, you do need water to make whisky,” before leading me to a warehouse in the recently revamped visitor centre. Armed with a pen, notebook, flavour wheel and pipette to dilute my dram, I take my seat alongside five unmarked casks as Mike explains that the spirits we’re about to sample include ultra-rare single cask Taliskers, and others finished in casks of different origins and left to mature for varying periods of time. “It’s fascinating to see the influence each barrel has on the same base spirit,” he says as we take it in turns to dip the ‘whisky thief’ deep into each cask, creating a vacuum with our thumb to extract its precious contents.
“You might notice the ‘sweet, heat and peat’ that define Talisker,” says Mike as we nose and then taste the peppery first sample, aged in American white oak, before a drop of water induces vanilla notes at the expense of the initial spice.
For each dram we sample, we’re invited to guess the back story. Colours vary from light chestnut to dark caramel depending on the influence of different casks over time — from new oak to charred wood and those that previously housed red wine, port or Caribbean rum. One particular highlight is a fantastically complex 27-year-old whisky finished in rare Pedro Ximenez-accented wood, with sherry evident through its sweet notes of dried fruit. The experience is accompanied by stories that outline the maturation decisions taken by Talisker’s whisky makers. After the fifth, I leave with a glow of newfound understanding — one that equips me well for subsequent conversations on the island.
Known for the colourful houses that line the harbourfront, Portree is the largest town on the Isle of Skye.
Photograph by Lynne Kennedy
Sitting aboard the Seaflower catamaran in Portree harbour, I watch as its skipper, Ewen Grant, deftly separates langoustine meat from its shell, twisting the claws and manoeuvring them backwards. “We’ve got the perfect production grounds for seafood here,” he says, laying out beautifully formed langoustine ‘lollipops’ alongside a dollop of marie rose sauce. “You’ve got the cold water that shellfish thrive in and nutrients get pushed up from the depths of the Atlantic to the shallows, which attracts fish. And where you get fish you’ll see thousands of birds, whales and dolphins — it’s a busy little waterway.”
Now in his sixth season running tours to the nearby islands of Raasay and Rona, Ewen knows these waters well. Both his brother and father are fishermen. While the main attraction on Raasay — also accessible by ferry — is its distillery, privately owned Rona, with a permanent population of just four, offers glorious isolation. Hiking trails here lead to religious sites and the settlements of those forced to subsist on the island after the Highland Clearances.
“Out on the water with my dad, I’d learn about the coastline, and for me it’s important to retain these stories and heritage,” Ewen says. “Seeing Skye from the sea is a highlight, too — the Old Man of Storr is stunning from this perspective, far away from the crowds.”
Sadly for us, the arrival of Storm Agnes has seen even the hardiest of fishers stay home, so instead of experiencing Rona’s rugged shores, we’re moored in the harbour as seagulls shelter from the wind. Still, Ewen’s storytelling is as impressive as his seafood spread, which, alongside beady-eyed langoustines landed by his brother this morning, includes hot and cold smoked salmon from a father-and-son duo from Mallaig, oatcakes, hunks of sourdough and salad. “People living on Rona would’ve lived off the sea, so this type of food was merely what was available to them,” he adds over a crisp glass of sauvignon blanc. “These langoustines used to be seen as a poor man’s food yet now there are few things more luxurious. Although I think they’d have probably called them ‘prawns’.”
4. Café Cùil
Despite its remote spot at the foot of the Cuillins, it’s hard to miss Café Cùil. This scarlet-red hut overlooking Loch Harport — well placed for those returning from Skye’s Fairy Pools — has hit a sweet spot since launching in 2022, appealing to both locals and visitors who, like me, follow the single-track road towards Carbost for chef Clare Coghill’s seasonal cooking.
The Skye native ran a popular Scottish cafe in the northeast London neighbourhood of Dalston before returning home after lockdown eager to make her own mark on the island. “I feel Skye has been on the map in terms of fine dining for quite a few years now,” she says, across a counter laden with cranachan (a dessert made with oats, cream and whisky) and bramble tarts. “But what I picked up from London was the idea of casual, accessible dining — that you don’t have to pay through the nose or dress to the nines to eat great food.”
With seasonal cooking from chef Clare Coghill, Café Cùil’s brunch menu offers an assortment of relaxed, yet refined menu items.
Photograph by Café Cùil (Top) (Left) and Photograph by Café Cùil (Bottom) (Right)
This approach shaped Café Cùil’s relaxed yet refined menu of brunch staples and crowd-pleasers, with an ale-marinated beef brisket rarebit, tattie scone stack with Skye black pudding and square sausage, and hand-dived scallop benedict among them. The cafe is open from March to November, and I’ve come during mushroom season. I opt for chanterelles on toast, which arrive drizzled in vivid hazelnut pesto. “I love the fact that I can go for a walk and find world-class ingredients,” Clare says of her self-taught foraging skills. “People on Skye have a deep connection to the land, and whether it’s through crofting or raising animals, there’s an innate knowledge among older generations that’s being passed down.”
A further strand between past and present that Clare is keen to preserve is Gaelic, the language spoken by about a third of islanders, in which the cafe’s name, Cùil, means ‘nest’ or ‘nook’. “Gaelic is integral to the identity of many people here, yet there is a fear that we might lose it as a language,” she says. “It was important for me to promote the language, be that through bilingual menus or signs around the cafe encouraging people to speak together in Gaelic — as this, I think, is something to celebrate.”
Published in Issue 24 (summer 2024) of Food by National Geographic Traveller (UK).
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