The beautiful natural surroundings of the Scottish Borders provide some of
the finest food in Scotland and the second annual Borders Banquet promises
to make full use of the best game, fish, beef and lamb, in attracting
visitors to celebrate their fabulous scenery and food. >From 1st November
to 10th November 2002, Scottish Border chefs will be opening the doors of
hotels and restaurants to offer visitors the opportunity to sample the
finest of fare, whilst Border food producers will be revealing the secrets
which make their products so unique. As well as fantastic food, the
Borders Banquet promises toe tapping music and pure indulgence - a recipe
which guarantees success.
The ten-day extravangza beginning on Friday 1st November will include
events such as :-
- An evening of literary fun and feasting on Friday 1st November and
Friday 8th November with Iain Agnew from television's Take the High Road,
at the Old School Tearooms in St Boswells.
- Blending both Gallic and Gaelic influences, please visit Award-winning
chef Jessica Osborne at Oscar's Wine Bar in Kelso on Sunday 3rd November.
Round off the meal with a complimentary malt whisky.
- Sample some of the more traditional Scottish foods when you visit The
Hirsel Cottage Tearoom, The Hirsel Country Park, Coldstream, between
Sunday 1st November and Sunday 10th November. You can sample scones,
soups, stovies, sausages and stews which will be prepared using the best
local ingredients.
- Enjoy a Borders Beer Festival offering 6 different Scottish Real Ales at
the White Swan Hotel, High Street, Earlston. Reasonably priced meals based
on locally produced food from Haggis, Neeps and Tatties to smoked salmon,
trout and venison. Live entertainment on Saturday 2nd November and 9th
November with folk music in the bar on Sunday 10th November at 3pm.
For more information about the Borders Banquet, and to request a free
brochure click onto
www.visitscottishborders.com or call 0870 6080404. The ten-day food
extravangza is supported in partnership with Scottish Enterprise Borders
and Scottish Borders Tourist Board.
The Borders Banquet calls for a Border recipe and one of the flowers
amongst the Borders towns, Jedburgh, provides Jethart Treacle Scones -
excellent with a fly cup. Jethart is the Scots name for Jedburgh.
Jethart Treacle Scones
Ingredients : 8 oz (225 g) flour; pinch of salt; 1/2 tablespoonful ground
ginger; 1 tablespoon caster sugar; 1/2 teaspoonful bicarbonate of soda;
1/2 oz (10 g) butter; 1 tablespoonful melted treacle; a little buttermilk
Sift flour with salt, ginger, sugar and soda into a basin. Rub in butter
with your fingertips, then stir in treacle. Make into a softish dough with
buttermilk. Roll into a round on a floured board, then cut into rounds
about 3 inches across. Cook on a heated girdle, brushed with melted fat
until nicely browned below, then turn and cook on the other sides.
Jethart Treacle Scones can also be baked on a greased baking sheet in a
hot oven (230 deg C; 450 deg F; Gas Mark 7-8) for ten to twelve minutes.
