Celebrating Shetland food.
Cookbooks are a dime a dozen these days. As a food blogger I get sent cookbook after cookbook for review. Many get a cursory look through, a quick write up and then get banished to the bookshelf to rarely see the light of day again. Some I may make a recipe or two before giving the book away, and others become firm favourites, referred to time and time again.
Every now and then a cookbook comes along that’s completely different, the kind of cook book you want to read, cover to cover, like a novel, comfortably in bed with a cup of steaming hot chocolate as the winter gales blast outside.
MARIAN’S HISTORY
Author Marian Armitage is a native Shetlander educated at the Anderson Educational Institute in Lerwick, Shetland’s main town. Encouraged by her mother, a traditional Lerwick housewife, and by her domestic science teacher, she knew by the age of 12 that she wanted to be a cookery teacher.
Summer holidays were spent working with various food producers in the town, from Willie Robertson’s grocer shop to the Queen’s Hotel kitchen to kippering herrings with the Herring Industry Board. She studied at the Edinburgh College of Domestic Science, learning both the course content and skills to teach it at the same time. After finishing her studies she taught cookery first in Norwich and then to inner city sixth formers in London, a teaching career spanning 35 years.
PURPOSE OF THE BOOK
In 2012 Marian saw a gap in the market. Other than the 1925 book Cookery for Northern Wives by Margaret B. Stout, she realised there were no contemporary books describing Shetland food and cooking. Although Cookery for Northern Wives gives a fabulous historical snapshot into the eating habits of post-war Shetlanders, many of the old recipes do not translate well into modern kitchens with modern tastes.
Marian wanted to create something highlighting the wealth of quality Shetland produce and producers available and to encourage people, Shetlanders and visitors alike, to use more of this produce in easily reproducible recipes, so she set to work researching and writing Shetland Food and Cooking.
THE BOOK ITSELF
In this book, Marian combines her Shetland heritage with the colours and flavours she’s experienced through her life’s journey as a cookery teacher, where her students came from a diverse background.
In this book you will find traditional Shetland recipes such as bannocks, sassermeat clatch, rhubarb chutney, taatie soup with reestit mutton and a whole host of seafood recipes, but you will also find more contemporary recipes such as Armenian lamb, bobotie, ceviche and a beremeal flat bread recipe, made with a heritage barley grown here in Shetland since the time of the Vikings.
The book is conveniently divided into five sections, fish, meat, fruit & vegetables, dairy and home baking. Each section includes a historical background, musings on the current production situation, stories on the people and organisations involved in Shetland food production and promotion.
Written in the first person Marian’s recipes are accompanied by light-hearted personal anecdotes and full colour photographs, most taken by herself in her own kitchen. She wants to encourage a new generation of home cooks to experiment with the wealth of produce available to them.
Marian is passionate about Shetland and Shetland food. She believes the food is the best you will find anywhere.
“This book is about Shetlanders, the food they grow, rear, catch and sell; the traditions and historical influences as well as newer trends.”
Retailing at £20 this soft back book is printed and published by The Shetland Times. You can buy a copy through the Shetland Times Bookshop.
GIVEAWAY
I was at the official book launch last night (which you will be able to read all about shortly over on A Taste of Shetland) and I bought myself a copy of Marian’s new book. I also bought one of my lovely readers a copy and Marian autographed it!
HOW TO ENTER
For your chance to win an autographed copy of Shetland Food & Cooking by Marian Armitage enter using the Rafflecopter form below. Come back and tweet about the giveaway every day for more chances to win!
TERMS & CONDITIONS
This giveaway is open to worldwide entries. Entrants must be age 18 or over. The winner will need to respond within 7 days of being contacted; failure to do this may result in another winner being selected.
The prize is offered and provided by Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary. The prize is an autographed copy of Shetland Food & Cooking by Marian Armitage . There is no cash alternative and the prize is not transferable.
If you need some help using Rafflecopter, here’s a quick clip to show you how. Rafflecopter will pick the winner at random from all the entries received. I will be verifying entries and any automated entries or those who have claimed they have made the mandatory blog post comment and really haven’t will be disqualified. It’s mandatory!
Closing date is midnight on Monday 8 December 2014 (GMT) and the winner will be announced that day.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Don’t forget to visit my Giveaways page for some other fab prizes!
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Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary bought this book with her own money. This is not a paid post and all thoughts and opinions expressed are our own.
Curried Neep & Carrot Soup
Its sure interesting, Love of peoples review and positive feedback, It Looks different and interesting. Thanks
Seems like a great book. Good that it is relevant, up to date, local :- Yet historical, retaining the heritage of the area. Wonderful Scottish produce.
This really looks such a beautiful book.
lovely book xxx
Yummy Yummy food in my tummy
Great prize
What a lovely giveaway xx
I love trying new things so this would be great!
sounds like a fantastic book 🙂
Looks like a great book with things i’d like to try
Great prize giveaway
Looks a lovely book!
I am intrigued by Shetland Cooking ,I think it would introduce me to lots of dishes I have never heard of . very exciting!
Looks good for a person that loves home cooed food.
I did a Highlands and Islands road trip this summer and have discovered so many wonderful foodie treats! Would love to win this.
sounds like my kind of cookbook I absolutely love a cook book you can curl up and enjoy reading as well as loving to cook from the recipes within it,those are the ones that get used most in this house
I would love this book
Lovely prize – fingers crossed!
Sounds good can’t wait to read it.
Woaaah, lovely prize! It would be a great gift for my mom 😀 ❤
I love dabbling in food and recipes from different countries and regions of the UK. I am very interested.
Thank you for a lovely giveaway
A lovely book – I have relatives on Shetland, such a beautifully bleak place! 😉
I adore cookbooks and this is so different from all the ones we get down here! Would love to own a copy.
Great giveaway, thanks for the chance to win this 🙂
GREAT IDEA FOR A BOOK
I live in a rural town in Australia. My grandfather came from Fetlar and I am passionate about my Shetland heritage including being one of the eagle bairn 🙂 I collect cookbooks and love sharing my baking with my family and friends. I have been on the hunt for Shetland recipes for years and would cherish a copy of this book.
This looks like an interesting book
Love cookbooks that you can sit down and read and have a story behind the recipes – thanks for the opportunity to win
fab giveaway x
lovely prize 🙂
Sounds an interesting book
Your cookbook sounds interesting. These are recipes I would use. Great job.
Lovely giveway, thanks!
It would be really interesting to see what is typical food in Shetland and to try it out.
Love the names of the traditional recipes! I feel comforted just reading about them 🙂
A lovely read
As an American i would love to have recipes to cook for my family when they visit from England. This would be a great cookbook to help me do that. 🙂
It would be nice to learn more about the UK now that I’ve been naturalized.
Congratulations!
Great prize
Love the sound of this, something a bit different!
Would make a fab gift for my.mum
I would love the book. In fact I want to come and live on Shetland. I think my Scottish Heritage is calling to me – that or my wildly romantic imagination. You do make everything sound so appealing though.
Ooo wonderful. Well good luck folks.
If I dont win it I think i will have to try and get hold of it another way 😀
Nice cover design too
Would love to win this to try some new recipes!
I bet my mum would like this, and my gran too.
i bet this is really different thankyou
What a lovely idea for a book :):)
Great competition – fingers crossed
This looks very interesting,thank you.
Would love to try some recipes from this book
amazing 🙂 Thank you
Wishing everyone great food and cooking at Christmas!
I’m very interested to read this. Thank you for the chance to win it.
Lovely book and after we visitied shetland for the first time this year, it would be the perfect gift fpr christmas.
Great competition, fingers crossed!
sounds a useful book
What a lovely book
Nice Giveaway
Great prize – I’ve been to Shetland several times. would love to see what is in the book
Great giveaway – Thanks
Fab prize!
I’ve been collecting cookbooks for many years and this would look good on my bookshelf.
There was a fisherman named Fisher
who fished for some fish in a fissure.
Till a fish with a grin,
pulled the fisherman in.
Now they’re fishing the fissure for Fisher.
Would love to try some unique recipes from this book
Great comp
Looks like a really interesting cookbook
brilliant giveaway xx
It’s nice to see a different kind of cook book for a change
Love fish can’t wait to read about some new ways of cooking and serving it.
Brilliant. It certainly looks interesting.
Great giveaway
Lovely giveaway Many Thanks
Ooh lovely book!
fandabidozy giveaway
thanks for the giveaway
This looks so interesting, Thanks to Promote Shetland for letting me know about it.
I appreciate any help that cooks and cookbooks can give me to help with providing a variety of different meals. Thanks for the chance to win this cookbook it would be a great addition to my collection.
Love cookbooks. Great giveaway thanks.
This cookbook looks wonderful! Thanks for the chance to wi a copy!
Fantastic giveaway!!
What an interesting book. Adding your giveaway to The Food Blog Diary now.
That looks like a lovely book. I really like cookery books that incorporate background and history. I’ve made a note of this one for gift ideas.
Sounds like such an interesting book – I love the names of the dishes and am very impressed (and surprised!) to see South African bobotie included among the contemporary recipes!
What a lovely book. Thank you for the great giveaway!
looks great
Looking forward to trying out the recipes in this refreshingly unusual book.
Thank you for a lovely giveaway
A refreshing change from the usual cookbooks doing the rounds, would love a copy.
A book my Scottish Gran would have loved
This seems like a wonderful cook book! May get this anyway if I don’t win!
I would live to win this, I love trying out new recipes.
This sounds like a great book, best wishes x
Great giveaway
lovely and traditional
Visited the Shetlands about 10 years ago and stayed at The Busta House Hotel – had the best sorbet I’ve ever tasted…had it EVERY night I was there as it was made by the owner’s wife.
Amazing…
what a lovely giveaway
Fingers crossed
Great prize!!
Would love a Scottish cookery book
It is lovely to know that Shetland’s cooking skills have inspired hundreds of English pupils.
Lovely giveaway Thank You xxx
Recipes sound very interesting, would love to try them out.
I really enjoy recipe books that tell me more about the places, people and background behind the recipes. So much more interesting and engaging than a list of ingredients and a method. I would love this book.
I love the idea of this cookbook would love to win!
love cookbooks and this looks fab
What a great review thanks – looks a great book!
would like to win this!
Beautiful part of the country so im sure they will be some really tasty recipes
This sounds really interesting Elizabeth. I know very little about Shetland food and would be fascinated to learn more.
Thank you for a lovely giveaway
ooh, I am really intrigued by this book, I am definitely going to have to look it up to buy myself for Christmas!
I agree, so many cookbooks are redundant. I want something new, and a fresh approach to cooking. Shetland Food would be just that for this California native! A fabulous introduction to the work of Marian Armitage!
What a lovely and different cook book. I’d love to try some traditional Shetland recipes x
To be honest I’m not much of a cook – everything I try to make usually turns out to be a disaster! – but I really like the idea of this book and I love tasting food from all over the world, so some of these recipes sound really lovely.xx
I’m intrigued! This would be something different for an American cook!