Food News – July 2012

Now summer's in full swing, it's almost time for us Scottish folk to pretend to be civilised and cultured when all these London types come up for the Fringe. Taste of Edinburgh, then, couldn't come at a better time to act as something of a dress rehearsal. The outdoor food festival is back with its pop-up restaurants, cookery demos, special one-off collaborations and stalls selling everything from olive oil to coconuts with straws in them. Remember, no biting or hair-pulling; there's always plenty of stuff to go around.

If you don't fancy behaving with any decorum until it's absolutely necessary, then we've got just the thing: Go Native! It's an ancient technology and cooking festival! It's a real thing that we didn't even have to make up! Learn how to catch fish, cook over open fires, and make your own utensils, all skills which are completely useful on a day-to-day basis and great for the CV. They'll get you noticed, that's for sure. 

And they could actually come in handy at Thistly Fest, the music and food festival from Thistly Cross cider. Music from Meursault and FOUND among others, mass fruit picking and a litany of food and tasty, tasty ciders, all in the great outdoors. Sure it sounds fun and tranquil, but when the weather inevitably turns rotten it'll be every man for himself, and some bush skills wouldn't go amiss.

Now, time for a game. Specifically, Burns Stewart's Blending Game, where learning about how whisky works and amateurishly having a go yourself is fun. Or so we're told, anyway. We reckon treating it like a cheesy 90s gameshow is the way to go, starting each of your sentences with a remark on how much of a good time you've had and taking five minutes to answer a simple question.

If there's one group you can always rely on for a terrible pun that quickly loses any humour on repetition, it's the ale enthusiasts. The Dumfries Folk 'n' Ale Festival (tee-hee-hee indeed) will see a whole host of special beers going to the borders in tandem with a selection of indoor and outdoor folk gigs. Also, Folk 'n' Ale sounds like a swear, doesn't it? They should do stand-up; who knows, come next month they may well be.