Scottish Food News – April 2017
Kicking off the month in style is Tales of the Cocktail, the mammoth New Orleans cocktail festival that's making its European debut this April, descending on Edinburgh for a long weekend of exciting drinks and cocktail chatter. The festival's Dynamic Duos are a great way to get into the swing of things; open to the public, they team some of the city's best cocktail bars with their colleagues from bars around the world and some of your favourite spirits.
Lucky Liquor team with barstaff from The Gibson in London for a Jack Daniels-powered night of zero-waste bartending, Brooklyn Gin join Bramble for an evening of gin cocktails and old-school hip-hop, and Voyage of Buck host a Scottish-Scandinavian crossover of Patron-based drinks. Consider us well and truly on board. 1-6 April, various times and locations, full details at talesofthecocktail.com
Also on an alcoholic tip in Edinburgh is the return of political beer-based art exhibition Pissed Modernism. The format is refreshingly simple; artists design bespoke labels, those labels are placed on beers from local breweries, and the resulting bottles are sold to raise money for a good cause, which this year is the Remade in Edinburgh project. Finally, a situation where mixing beer and politics doesn't end in a massive rammy. 14 Apr, Patriothall Gallery, 7pm, RSVP via Eventbrite (exhibition runs 15-23 Apr).
Elsewhere in the capital this month, Century General Store in Abbeyhill present a two-night supper club residency from Hidden Kitchen (13 & 14 Apr, 7.30pm, £38), The Pitt host an Easter weekend special edition of the street food market (14-16 Apr, all day, £2 entry), and Toasted Radish host a pop-up supper club inspired by (and in the close proximity of) the Mark Wallinger exhibition at Fruitmarket Gallery (22 Apr, 7.30pm, £35)
While the Edinburgh Science Festival brings a whole host of food-science crossovers to the capital this month, that hasn't stopped Glasgow getting in on the imbible experimentation. Glasgow Science Centre's The Science of Whisky is a masterclass on the brown stuff that blends science, theatricality, and a not-inconsiderable level of drinking.
Whisky buffs from Good Spirits Company will talk you through six whiskies over the course of the evening, as astronomers from GSC occasionally interject with scientific explanations for the apparent witchcraft behind a dram. You'll have your final drink inside the Science Centre planetarium; expect a fun and insightful evening to end with innumerable Brian Cox impersonations. 21 Apr, 7pm, £30, glasgowsciencecentre.org
Also in Glasgow, the food anthropologists at Küche continue their great run of events with a pair of intriguing goings-on this month. First up is Tapas and Storytelling, a trans-continental journey through the many ways in which we're influenced by our food. It's all led by Küche's chef in residence Yasmine Sefraoui – born in France to a Brazilian mother and a Moroccan father, with additional Italian and Danish origins – with the aim of exploring the ways in which our identity and memories are shaped by cuisine. 7 Apr, The Glad Cafe, 7pm, £15, tickets via thegladcafe.co.uk
At the end of the month is Glasgow’s Lost Food Scape, described as "a four-course cycling journey exploring derelict, renovated and demolished food producing buildings across the city". You'll take in the sights and you'll learn about Glasgow's food heritage – depending on how strenuously you ride, you might even find yourself up on the deal calories-wise. It's not often we get to say that round these parts... 30 Apr, meet at CCA with bike at midday, £10, book via cca-glasgow.com
And one final thing – The Chocolate Tree are currently crowdfunding for a new chocolate factory in East Lothian. The Edinburgh chocolatiers whip up bean-to-bar chocolates, working closely with cacao farmers around the world. Because it's a crowdfunder, there are rewards to be had for parting with your hard-earned, and because this is chocolate many of those rewards are delicious. Details on The Chocolate Tree's IndieGoGo page.