Improving The Scottish Food Experience For Overseas Visitors

These suggestions are from the professional guides and interpreters who work with different nationality visitors to Scotland.

Visitors from different countries often have different food preferences and if you are even slightly familiar with their particular tastes and try to accommodate them, you will not only make them feel more welcome and comfortable but you will be raising your own standard of service. We are not advocating serving Spaniards with paella or Japanese with sushi (unless that is your business of course, in which case you can still promote quality Scottish ingredients!). Most nationalities visiting Scotland do want to eat Scottish food, but the way it is cooked, or something as simple as the provision of bread and water on the table can make all the difference to their food experience.

Scotland ’s official tour guides work with all types of visitors and nationalities and are at the sharp end when it comes to receiving no-holds-barred comments and criticisms. Overseas clients often ask them to recommend places for visitors to stay and to eat in Scotland. We asked several guides the question, “From your own experience, what do overseas visitors love and hate about food in Scotland?”

The most common comment about Scottish food is about the lack of variety - too much chicken and salmon. What visitors want to taste is the food that they see around as they travel through Scotland - lamb, beef, fish, fruit.

 

German

The following comments were provided by Viola Lier and her colleagues, who guide German tour groups and also run cultural awareness workshops. She and her colleagues discussed German visitors’ food likes and dislikes and now offer the following advice:

Most of the guides deal with coach groups of Germans and their preferences tend to be:-

• They like fresh - vegetables, fruit, meat dishes, fish
• They like a variety of bread
• They expect their salads to be dressed or dressing offered
• They like their vegetables to be well seasoned
• They miss fresh fruit and often ask the guides to take them to supermarkets so that they can stock up on apples, bananas etc.

In short, most group hotels have a very limited range of food on offer. The guides said that the variety of food served in most of the bigger hotels does not reflect the variety of food Scotland has to offer.

Traditionally, Germans eat their main meal at lunchtime, then have coffee/tea and cake mid-afternoon, followed by a light supper such as open sandwiches and beer. Their diet is substantial and meaty and they enjoy a nicely chilled beer with lunch and dinner. They are used to unsalted butter, good fresh coffee (including decaffeinated) with cream, and when they ask for “marmalade” they expect what we would call “jam”, made from sweet fruits, not from bitter oranges!

While in Scotland, most German visitors would probably enjoy a full Scottish cooked breakfast, they could be tempted by freshly made fish and chips, good pub grub or interesting sandwiches at lunchtime, and of course, good home baking accompanied by whipped (not pouring) cream. Home-made soups and stews with potatoes and fresh vegetables are likely to be enjoyed but porridge and creamy bland desserts are not appreciated. Of course, a well-chilled beer is always welcome.”

Viola Lier, English/German, Tel: 0141 334 3170, email: viola@ravingscotland.co.uk

Italy

Daniela Luciani-Pagliari is an Edinburgh-based guide who has been working with Italian visitors to Scotland for over 10 years.

Feedback from her customers suggest that food in Scotland has improved enormously in the last 5 years!

As is well known, Italian cuisine is some of the best in the world and the simplest!  And it is this simplicity that Italians say is still lacking in Scottish cooking!   They love the ingredients, but NOT the heavy sauces that often go with them, with cream and butter everywhere.  They believe they kill the flavour of meat and fish!

Italians would like to taste more grilled dishes, more use of olive oil on the vegetables and more herbs. Finally, and most importantly, they would like to have much more bread on the tables. They are astonished that there are still Scottish establishments that don't offer bread at all!

Daniela Luciani-Pagliari, English and/or Italian, Tel: 0131 667 1662, email: ardania1@ntlworld.com

Spain and South American countries

Originally from Argentina but now based in Edinburgh, Mary Kemp Clark guides throughout Scotland for Spanish-speaking groups from Europe, the Americas (north, south and central) and occasionally from the Philipines. She explains that the Spanish-speaking world is vast and that food preferences vary from country to country. Therefore, for the purposes of this Foodkit, Mary concentrates on visitors from Spain , as they make up the majority of her guiding work.

She has the following useful tips for food-serving tourism businesses, based on comments she has received about Scottish food from her groups.

“Visitors from Spain have noted the following:

• There is rarely enough bread at the table during meals in Scotland. Some Spaniards even joke that they would eat bread with their pudding!!
• At distilleries in particular, or wherever there is a whisky tasting or a drink offered, Spaniards look for something to nibble. They are not accustomed to a drink on its own. A bowl of nuts, or oatcakes, would suffice to satisfy. No need for tapas. But drink on its own is not good enough.
• Spaniards in general consider that sauces hide flavours, and would rather have a plain dish of quality meat (game, fish or poultry) rather than a plate drenched  with sauces or gravy.
• With so many lochs, rivers and an extensive coastline in Scotland, Spaniards are often disappointed at the choice of fish or seafood on offer. A very few good places with high prices offer the seafood experience most are accustomed to.
• Due to prices, average tours in Scotland offer chicken and salmon as staple meals, alternating between the two. Comments from visitors from Spain are that this shows a lack of excitement in our cuisine here in Scotland.
• When travelling around Scotland, my visitors usually remark on the disparity between the quantity of sheep and lambs on hillsides and the lack of lamb on offer in restaurants and hotels here in Scotland.
• Our cheeses are enjoyed but they are not offered often enough, for example they could be offered with whisky tastings.

Spaniards have a varied regional cuisine so this is a generalisation. However the above generalisations do apply to most groups from Spain.”

Mary Kemp Clarke, English and/or Spanish, Tel: 0131 552 1971, email: mijou@blueyonder.co.uk

USA

There appear to be few differences in the food expecations of Americans, apart from:

• Americans like to eat their evening meal early
• They expect iced water (well iced) to be offered at all their meals

Various nationalities and observations

Tour group menus are very limited, nearly always chicken and salmon with neither dish being very imaginatively served.

There are always, now, vegetarian options on the menu which is great news, but, again, lack of imagination is too often in evidence - pasta with a tomato-based sauce is great - but not all the time!

It would be great if more menus included the provenance of the produce - people love to know they are eating food that has been sourced locally. And they would love to see more lamb, pork and beef on tourist menus in hotels - visitors see these animals in the fields all the time but they never sample them on their plates.

Scotland does have amazing food and wonderful restaurants and it would be great if more visitors returned home raving about them as much as they do about Scotland's scenery and friendliness.