Scottish Food & Drink News – March 2018

Meaty food festivals, scones a-plenty and natural wines for everyone in this month's food events round-up

Feature by Peter Simpson | 02 Mar 2018

The month kicks off with the return of Meats and Beats festival, the somewhat-bizarrely named Edinburgh-based celebration of barbecue, tasty beers and dancing. The street food line-up includes burger greats Meat Stack and creole seafood from Shanty Town, and the music promises to rip through the last 50 years of recorded music in the space of an evening. If nothing else, we’re intrigued. 9 Mar, 5-11pm, 10 Mar, 12-5pm & 6-11pm; Summerhall, 1 Summerhall Pl, £8, meatsandbeats.co.uk

Over in Glasgow, Küche’s latest exploration of the anthropology of food takes a look at Portuguese cuisine. Specifically, the Afro-Portuguese Dinner will discuss the ways in which Portugal’s relationship with former colonies Angola and Mozambique has affected each country’s historic and culinary traditions. 9 Mar, 7.30pm; MILK Cafe, 452 Victoria Rd, £15, tickets via tabl.com/kuche

Over at Koelschip Yard in Pollokshaws, there's the chance to pit beers from two of Denmark's best breweries against one another for your amusement. Evil Twin vs To Øl will feature six beers from each of the breweries; in our opinion, everyone will be a winner after this, so congratulations in advance. 14 Mar from 4pm; Koelschip Yard, 686 Pollokshaws Rd, facebook.com/koelschipyard

Back in Edinburgh, there's a chance to get the inside track on the wacky world of Kombucha with the latest Fermented Drinks Workshop from Edinburgh Food Social. The Edinburgh Fermentarium will talk you through the history of everyone's favourite fermented tea-based beverage, as well as providing you with the tools and know-how to give it a go at home yourself. From personal experience, we can guarantee this will appeal equally to health fans and people who like sci-fi films with blob-like antagonists. 24 Mar, 11am; Edinburgh Food Social, 11 Blackfriars St, £30, tickets via Eventbrite

Next, wine, and a welcome return for Glasgow pop-up wine bar Pulp. The focus is on natural wines, with some intriguing lambic beers (the spontaneously fermenting kind that come out all fizzy and sour and delicious) and top notch artisan cheese and wine thrown in for good measure. That's tasty wine, exciting beer, and excellent cheese, all in one place. 30 & 31 Mar, 7-11pm; Papercup Coffee Company, 603 Great Western Rd, facebook.com/popuptasting

If that's not your thing, how about scones? Yes, you read right, scones. The latest edition of Edinburgh bakery Tasty Buns' Sconefest will be an opportunity to get stuck into one of eight special varieties, split equally into 'Savoury, Boozy Savoury, Sweet, and Boozy Sweet'. Can you get a bit drunk from eating too many scones? Only one way to find out, we suppose. 30 Mar; 67 Bread St, facebook.com/TastyBunsBakeryEdinburgh

One thing that definitely is boozy is gin, and a good way to discover your new favourite is to head along to Barras Art and Design's Gin & Spirit Festival, where gins by a host of Scottish makers await. You'll also be able to meet/annoy the people behind your favourite gin, and try out tipples from across the country. 31 Mar, 12-6pm; 54 Calton Entry, tickets via tickettailor.com

And finally, just time to flag up the return of Edinburgh International Science Festival and its annual GastroFest strand. Among the early highlights are Cheeseology 3.0 (4 Apr, 8.30pm) which explores the science behind your favourite cheeses, and The One Pound Meal (6 Apr, 8pm) which looks at nutrition, food policy and social activism while also doubling up as a fundraiser for foodbank charity The Trussell Trust. Both events at Summerhall, tickets and full programme via sciencefestival.co.uk

http://theskinny.co.uk/food