BACON, sausage, egg and a fried slice - standard fare in bed and breakfast establishments throughout the country. Those offering evening meals usually provide traditional, home-cooked classics such as steak-pie-and-chips, fish-and-chips, chicken-and-chips and so on.
The Scots have often been criticised for their eating habits, but how often do we simply accept what's on offer? How many of us would welcome the chance to sample an exotic taste of Scotland instead?
Imagine a bed and breakfast establishment offering Salmon with Pesto Hollandaise, Langoustine Tails with Wasabi and Nori Seaweed, Passion Fruit Souffle and Crannachan Cheesecake. Unlikely? Not at all...
The Scottish Chefs Association thinks the only reason we are not often offered this standard of cooking in Scottish establishments is because people do not know they can produce it.
The association recently ran a highly successful eight-day training course, attended by seven bed and breakfast landladies, to teach the basic techniques and instil the confidence needed to produce first-class Scottish cuisine.
``If people are willing to learn it is not that difficult,'' said Brian Hannan, organiser of the Scottish Chefs Association. ``They are quite able to cook top-class food.
``The first stage is teaching the basics: telling the cooks they are better than they thought, encouraging them and giving them confidence. We want to improve cooking standards in Scotland. There is no quick answer. but our eight-day course is a good introduction.''
The association was formed two years ago in response to a feeling from Scottish chefs that the profession was becoming London-dominated. Brian Hannan and 12 professional chefs working in Scotland wanted to do something about it.
After discussions with other professionals, it appeared the greatest need from Scottish chefs was for more training. ``When you complete your training to become a chef and start working, that's it,'' said Brian.
``In almost every other profession it is possible to attend courses to further improve yourself. There are no courses for chefs. Their training ends after three years and nobody encourages them to do any more.''
The Scottish Chefs Association decided to set up different types of training courses for working chefs all over Scotland. Each of the 12 chefs in the Association takes on two days of training a year, so there are a guaranteed 24 days of demonstrations or educational dinners.
Chefs conducting the training are very open about their business, telling people they are just as capable of producing top-class food as top-class chefs. Membership of the association rocketed as word spread, and training placements were added to the pro gramme of events.
``Members spend a day with a chef in the working environment,'' said Brian. ``Who they are assigned to depends on what they want to learn. If they like the chef they are assigned to we can arrange for them to spend more time with that chef. All our chefs are quite happy to do this.
``The success was amazing. When people started to see what was actually possible, what they could achieve, it really made a difference. It's all about giving them confidence, about saying `there's no reason why you can't do this'.''
Scottish Cooking for bed and breakfast owners came about because the diverse membership of the association needed a diverse range of courses. By splitting members into groups with similar skills, the association was able to offer more tailored training .
It rapidly discovered it was possible to teach people who had never cooked to those standards. The course attended by the seven landladies is based on developing practical skills - showing people basic techniques and how they apply to a range of dishes.
``We taught them about costs, timing, tricks of the trade, and showed them they are very competent,'' said Brian. ``We did a different type of produce every day, and on the last day students came to us with their questions and their problems and we adapted to meet their needs. Then they cooked dinner for us - and it was brilliant.
``Scotland is a phenomenally talented country in terms of cooking. If bed and breakfast owners can add an evening meal to their service they can almost double their turnover. If they offer good food people will stay on - and stay longer.
``We're trying to teach people they don't have to rely on convenience foods. If we create pockets of excellence around the country other cooks will have to brush up their performance.''
Future Scottish Cooking courses are planned for autumn this year. For further information contact: Brian Hannan, SCA, 0141 204 5710.
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