Black Isle Food & Drink Festival

Signature demonstrations will take place in the committee room. Pre-booking for each demonstration when you arrive at the festival is essential to guarantee your place. Please register at the Demonstrations Table at the entrance and collect a coloured token which will must be handed in as you enter each session - make sure you keep it safe! A menu of demonstrations and their times will be available outside and inside the hall. 

A Taster of Scottish Highland Lamb - 2.30pm

Meet Saurav Kumar as he showcases different cuts of Highland Lamb with accompaniments, using all Black Isle produce*.

Roast loin of Lamb, Caramelized Lamb Sweetbreads, Lamb breast and Tattie cake, Butternut squash, Crispy Goat cheese, Basil, Lamb jus

*Thanks to Fraoch Cottage Fine Farm Produce, Clachuile Fruit and Veg and Cullisse Highland Rapeseed Oil and Penny & Martin, Stoneybank.

Saurav Kumar has more than 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry. He has worked as a chef in several restaurants in London, and is currently a Professional Cookery lecturer at Inverness College UHI.

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 A Fishy Tale - 3.25 pm

Join Lionel as he creates a colourful and delectable seafood platter.

Lionel Raguenet has over 37 years of expertise in the Seafood Industry. He runs Pro Fish alongside his family making it a true family business since 2016. Having passed on his knowledge to the rest of the family, the business has won multiple Seafood industry related awards across the UK and in France. 

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How to get the best out of your coffee - 3.55pm

If you’re passionate about your coffee, this is the demo for you!  Let Tony and Dimitri help you to identify your coffee preference from the coffee wheel.  Who knew there was such a wide range of natural coffee tones? They will demonstrate the best way to make a great cup of coffee using only basic equipment. Also, taste some varied and interesting specialty coffees in a coffee cupping demonstration.

Tony Vandyke, owner of Vandyke Brothers Speciality Coffee and an award-winning coffee expert, produces a selected range of specialty coffees from around the world.

Dimitri Andreas runs the Highland Coffee Pod and also found time to set up and run the Highland Coffee Academy which provides professional barista training and coffee services.

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Beyond the freezer – Dealing with gluts - 4.25pm

Want some fresh ideas of what to do with your surplus fruit and veg? Come along to meet Penny and Martin as they demonstrate how to ferment vegetables, bottle fruit and dry fruit and veg.

Penny Edwards and Martin Sherring are well known in Culbokie and enthusiastic members of Transition Black Isle. They are keen organic  gardeners with excellent hands-on experience of growing and preserving a wide variety of fruit and vegetables.

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The Chocolate Place - Chocolate, Chat and Taste - every half hour from 2.30pm

Explore the four delicious chocolate groups, and experience your very own chocolate tasting wheel.

There will be a choice of 5 slots to choose from to attend Debbie's interactive sessions which will take place on the stage. Booking is essential and tokens are available at the Demonstrations Table at the Festival entrance. Pick your time and keep an eye on the clock! Don't forget to visit the Chocolate Place stall to buy your chocolate treats.

Debbie Niven set up The Chocolate Place in Inverness using her vast experience in Hospitality, her natural creativity and love of chocolate.  The Chocolate Place has been a stand regular at the Cubokie Market for years and kept going during the pandemic using their car in the carpark.

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Apple Press - outside in the car park

Had a good apple harvest this year? Like to make some apple juice?

Bring your freshly washed apples (eaters or cookers) and sterilised bottles or suitable containers to take away your juice - join in the fun of pressing at the Black Isle Food and Drink Festival. 

Use of the apple press is free and on a first-come basis. A donation box will be available for those able to contribute.

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Stalls will be set up both inside and outside the hall providing plenty room to mingle. Stallholders will be offering advice and tastings and are looking forward to interacting with visitors. You will also have the opportunity to stock up on lovely locally grown produce, mostly from the Black Isle.

The Mackenzie family from Rootfield Farm make artisan dairy products from their own herd of Holstein, Ayrshire and Jersey cows.  These include their delicious gelato-style ice-cream and natural yoghurt.

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Place your order early for your free-range Xmas turkey! Chicken, vegetables and strawberry tarts also on sale.

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The Cheese House from Cromarty offers the opportunity, unique in the UK, to sample artisan Dutch cheeses.  With the addition of selected local cheeses this offers a ‘cornucopia of cheese’.

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Love the Heat Love the Taste

Whatever level Hot sauce you like the Chilliman will have one for you, whether  super hot, medium hot, mild hot also fruity hot sauces and artisan hot sauce like Coffee yes Coffee!

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Handmade Artisan Chocolates made with love in Inverness. Make sure you attend Debbie’s taster session, see details below.

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Marcia will be bringing her fresh seasonal bounty from her Highland Garden including tomatoes, beans, winter squash and greens. There is nothing to beat the colour and flavour of freshly picked fruit and vegetables.

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This multi-award winning range of natural and flavoured rapeseed oils are produced from oilseeds grown and gently cold pressed at Cullisse Farm in the Highlands of Scotland.

There are 7 flavours to compliment their natural cold pressed rapeseed oil in a variety of pack formats from gift sets to 100ml, 250ml and 500ml bottles.

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Members will be selling jars of their own honey, cut comb and other honey products, including honey cake! They are keen to chat to folk and raise awareness of local honey and bees. There will also be an education display which is fascinating to see.

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Ann will be bringing a selection of goodies from her farm: lamb, eggs, herbs and maybe apples if they are ready and herbs.

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Forest to Fork is a family run business based on the Black Isle in the Highlands of Scotland.  We provide a professional deer management service and run a small larder for processing our venison.  This enables us to ensure total traceability. Every pack of venison butchered and sold by Forest to Fork can be traced back to within a few feet of its source. Nick and Lizzy will be bringing along a tasty selection of wild venison products carefully prepared by Forest to Fork. 

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Farming with care is behind everything Fraoch Cottage does. Their small flock of Ryeland sheep and saddleback pigs produce high quality lamb and pork and a wide range of cuts are sold throughout the Black Isle, Inverness and beyond.

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Nestled beneath the sprawling mass of Ben Wyvis mountain in the Scottish Highlands, GlenWyvis Distillery was established in 2015. The idea was to unite the community of Dingwall through the creation of a distillery owned by local people.

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Dimitiri will be in the carpark selling cups of his delicious Vandyke coffee as well as a range of teas and softdrinks to keep you refreshed during the afternoon.  Ask him about barista training at the Highland Coffee Academy.

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Visit the Highland Good Food Partnership stand to find out about community food-related projects in the Highlands, including community food growing and food banks.

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Highland Microgreens are excited to be offering a variety of mixed boxes of locally and sustainably grown microgreens. Taster samples will be available to enjoy. Mixes include "Mega Mix" and a "Firey Mix". These tiny greens are packed with flavor, vibrant colors, and a high concentration of nutrients compared to their mature counterparts.

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Ray will be bringing his usual collection of savoury treats to market, and tasters of: Mexican cooking chorizo, Maltese pork sausage, and Piri-Piri Grill sticks.

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Working to reduce waste in communities by changing the way that we all buy, use and dispose of things. There will be lots of information on using up left-over food to create tasty meals, besides videos from Moo Food to demonstrate using food waste; and you can also pick up resources about composting.

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The Loch Ewe Brewery is a small brewery producing real ales using natural ingredients and traditional methods.  Designed to be refreshing and satisfying, come and try a sample and then buy your bottles before they sell out.

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Loch Ewe Salt and Seaweed produce and sell high quality sea salt, seaweeds and products with a rich mineral content.  Learn about the health and nutrition benefits of these products from our wonderful seas and coastlines.

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Alice produces the most delicious cakes – look at her Facebook page and be tempted.  Don’t miss her meringue roulade!

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Pro Fish will be selling their range of ultra fresh fish and shellfish which has come straight off boats landed in a Scottish port, and either processed in-house, smoked at a local smokehouse or cured in-house. Ever wondered how to prepare seafood?  Look out for Lionel's demo, see details below.

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Singleton of Glen Ord is a whisky distillery in the Scottish Highlands and is the only remaining single malt distillery on the Black Isle. Its principal product is an eponymous 12-year-old single malt whisky.

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Unravel Teas, Great Taste Award Winners, specialise in hand-blended herbal infusions.

Immerse yourself in the world of herbal infusions and experience a symphony of flavours that transport you to a place of tranquility.

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Tony Vandyke will be offering a range of his speciality coffee for sale and tasters of his expertly made filter coffee.  Watch out for Tony’s demonstration of ‘how to make the best coffee’.

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Xoko will be bringing a range of their high quality artisan sourdoughs, pastries, and cakes baked in Inverness.

The name XOKO, pronounced shaw-ko, comes from the ancient Nahuatl language in Mexico and means “The village where the bitter fruit grows”. It is thought this is the origin of the word chocolate.

This is a fundraising event on behalf of the Culbokie Community Trust with proceeds going towards the Glascairn Project. CCT wishes to thank all Sponsors, Demonstrators, Stallholders, Volunteers and Members of the public for their support in this and all other fundraising activities undertaken by the trust.