All posts by j

An On-Foot Food Tour of Troon

While down south sunny days and unseasonal heatwaves have been occurring, up here we have been having a lot of rain, broken up by grey skies, strong winds and the occasional burst of hail.

Noting the potential arrival of a single sunny day, I reserved it for another food tour, and some research and a print-out later, I was in the seaside town of Troon.

I have only been to Troon a few times before, and never into the actual town. Instead I’ve gone to the harbour to Wee Hurrie, a great fish and chip shop that fries while you wait, and the neighbouring McCallum’s Oyster Bar, where I eschewed oysters in favour of some wonderful fish. I really must write about them sometime.

However though the town itself is small, it’s definitely worth a saunter round, followed by a bracing walk along the beach to burn off a few cake calories.

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Afternoon Tea at Turnberry, South Ayrshire

I live not too far from the Turnberry Resort, which is beautifully situated on the Ayrshire coast overlooking the Ailsa golf course.

It is a very luxurious place, with room prices retailing outside the reach of normal man. Now that H is working, I selflessly thought it would be the perfect place for him to take me on a date, and luckily for me, he agreed.

As most of the wonderful-sounding restaurants fall into the same “you don’t have to be rich to come here, but…oh who are we kidding, you do” bracket as the rooms, I felt the noble thing to do was to opt for afternoon tea, which was still pretty jaw-dropping at £26 a head.

cream and jam

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Dutch Food Analysis: Oliebollen

Before you get envious/astounded that I have been on holiday so soon after being abroad for months, don’t worry. The oliebol may be Dutch, but I bought it in Kilmarnock at the Global/Continental Market mentioned in my post on macaroons.

Given that this occurred a few weeks ago, there is really no excuse for my taking so long to write about it. All I can say is that my mind has recently been focused on job-seeking, which hasn’t left much room for anything else.

oliebol

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Scottish Food Analysis: Macaroon Bars and Coconut Macaroons

I am a big fan of French macarons. The stunning colours, delicate flavourings and chewy textures… the only thing I don’t like is the price. Seriously. Considering the price just one of those tiny little delights retails for, I almost expect them to be diamond-encrusted.

Of course I appreciate they are a fiddle to make. I’ve had my fair share of cracked tops, sandy textures and uneven splodges to contend with, and after watching a recent episode of one of my favourite tv programmes “The Great British Bake Off”, I can see I am not alone.

Coconut macaroons are a very different beast, and something that are strangely Scottish. I say strangely, because coconut palms don’t line the shores here, but perhaps they come from the same tropical stable as pineapple tarts.

macaroon bar

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An On-Foot Food Tour of Ayr

When I moved to Ayrshire, one of the things I was most looking forward to was finding new places to buy and eat delicious food.

My first port of call was Ayr, and I’ve put together a walking tour for any foodies who might be visiting the town and want to know where to go.

For this tour I’ve only focused on places around the centre of town, south of the river. There are other places outside this area that I want to look into in the future, as well as many interesting places to eat in, which I hope to get to sometime.

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