Scottish Food News – November 2013

When pitching your food-based event, there are a number of things to consider. Got to get the venue right, do your market research, decide whether to make your staff wear humiliating lanyards or more humiliating uniforms. You also need a cool, memorable name - a name like Cambolicious.

Yes, it’s Cambolicious, the East Neuk of Fife’s premier bi-annual craft beer festival. There will be beer from some of the best craft breweries from Fife and beyond, there will be food and music, and apparently there’s even going to be table football if that’s a deal-breaker. But above all else, it will be an opportunity to drink beer while saying the word ‘Cambolicious’ a lot. Go on, enjoy it, it is a cracking name. Sat 9 Nov, Cambo Estate nr St Andrews, £10, cambolicious.com

Culinary puns involving country estates are great, but sometimes a simple event name is just as good. A name like Glasgow Beer Week, for example. Back for a third year, the Beer Week will bring all manner of tastings and tap takeovers under its mighty umbrella, with the centrepiece event being the Scottish finals of the SIBA beer competition. There will be lots of nice beer, in Glasgow, for a week. Nice and straightforward. 1-9 Nov, various venues, glasgowbeerweek.com

Straightforward also happens to be the byword for our annual Food and Drink Survey. This month sees your last chance to name your favourite pho, top tapas, best beer, and quintessential food-that-begins-with-Q. Go to tinyurl.com/foodsurveyscotland to cast your vote

Much less straightforward is the pop-up bar/mechanic service/barbershop being provided by the Belgian beer Heverlee this month. Let us explain - Heverlee are taking a specially-designed mobile bar around various barbers and bike shops in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and giving away free beer to hirsute hipsters as they go about their business.  Free booze for folk with unkempt facial hair and run-down second hand bicycles - that, reader, is what we call ‘knowing your audience’. Various venues and dates, heverlee.com for details

This month does conclude with another simple and straightforward event to sink your teeth into. Perth’s Festival of Chocolate scarcely warrants an explanatory blurb as that name does all the work, but key points to note are that the Festival is outdoors (like Glastonbury!) and features demonstrations and workshops (like a university class!). Take advantage of this simplicity while you can folks, for Christmas is coming, and that’s never easy. 22-24 Nov, King Edward St, Perth.