Food for thought!

Locals and visitors to St Andrews will be able to sample the finest artisan food and drink as part of a special event in the town’s VisitScotland iCentre on Saturday (26 November). 

The national tourism organisation will host the Food and Drink Tasting Event to coincide with St Andrew’s Day celebrations.

Tasty produce on offer will include home-made jam, tasty, cakes, ice cream, speciality coffee, organic beer, spicy whisky, organic salads and Scottish discovered Caribbean rum.

The event aims to celebrate the region’s mouth-watering local producers and encourage both residents and visitors to the town to embark on their own culinary adventures across Fife.

Located on Market Street, friendly and knowledgable staff are on hand to promote the wide range of visitor experiences that the region has to offer, from outdoor adventures to wonderful scenery, historic attractions and food and drink experiences. 

The special tasting event coincides with the St Andrew’s Day “Big Hoolie” celebrations. The town’s celebrations will include live music, a ceilidh, a community market, and a pipes and drums torch parade through the town. The celebrations end with a firework display at the West Sands.

As well as visitors, we like to encourage local residents to pop in and say hello too. We have excellent links with the community and in recent years have hosted many events at our iCentres. We’re always keen to hear from local businesses and community groups about how we can work together to promote new businesses, products, and destinations to our visitors. We can never know enough about the local area and tourism is such a vital part of Fife’s economy.

“So, what better way to celebrate St Andrew’s Day than to join our tasting event at our VisitScotland iCentre in St Andrews. “

They celebrate the very best produce from Balcaskie estate and the rest of the East Neuk of Fife. Baern Café also host Long Table Dinners in the evenings where you can meet the producers.

They produce a small range of organic farmhouse and wild beers that follow the seasons and are inspired by their love of rustic continental beers and the Scottish coastline. 

East Neuk Market Garden is a small, agroecological farm growing over fifty varieties of vegetables, salads, herbs and fruit in the East Neuk of Fife. They promote farming practices that mitigate climate change.

Pittenweem Preserves produce delicious homemade jam, marmalade, and chutney in a dedicated kitchen at their seaside home in Pittenweem. Fruit and vegetables are sourced from local farms with only top-quality produce used. 

Inspired by the adventurous life of 17th Century Scottish pirate Captain Kidd this rum brings the best in Caribbean exoticism and Scottish spirit. Scottish discovered Caribbean rum, small batched and hand crafted in Dunfermline.

For over 100 years and four generations Jannettas have been selling their delicious, hand-made gelato to locals and the many visitors to St Andrews. Gelato is lower in fat than ice cream, has a denser texture and is soft and scoopable.

Zest is a speciality coffee house in historic St Andrews. Their passion is speciality coffee and experimenting with different origins, processes and roasts that give unique flavours. Zest operates as a social enterprise café. 

Kingsbarns Distillery began with the conversion of a historic farm steading into a distillery eight years ago and now produce a light, fruity and spicey lowland malt whisky from bourbon casks. They also produce the award-winning Darnley’s Gin.

Paul Miller established the Eden Mill distillery in 2012 on the banks of the Eden Estuary in St Andrews, it was the first distillery to make spirits in the region in over 150 years. Today Eden Mill has a wonderful Gin portfolio crafted from the finest botanicals, many foraged from in and around St Andrews and a unique selection of limited release Single Malts.

As well as sampling food and drink, visitors will also be able to purchase products from the Shop Local range. The initiative showcases Scottish suppliers, offering a platform for local businesses, craft makers, artists, designers and other artisans to promote and sell their products

Featured businesses taking part include:

A Scottish icon re-imagined. Unique and original designs, the stags head sculptures are handmade in Scotland using modern materials and clad in traditional Harris Tweed.

LT Creations are a small family run company based in Glenrothes. They handcraft unique clocks and gifts from oak whisky barrels and Harris Tweed.

Donald and Christine will be making and painting their unique collection of decorative ceramics. Their work is all hand built stoneware and based an East Neuk theme, inspired by the fishing villages and coastlines, often with a humorous slant.