News & Events

Herb of the Month- April 2012

SORREL

Sorrel is one of those ingredients that feature all too rarely in our kitchens, yet its bite and acidity make it one of summer's top temptations. It is very easy to grow and can even be found through wild foraging. Gather the little shield-shaped leaves of wild sorrel to add whole to salads - you'll find them in almost any permanent pastures where chemical fertilisers and weedkillers are never used - but also grow lots in the garden. The cultivated leaves are larger and softer, and although the young ones can also go in salads, you can cook with the mature leaves. (If you want a continuous supply of zesty leaves for summer salads, the buckler leaf variety, with its rounded leaves, is the best to grow.) Have a look at our recipes page for some great ideas.

Take a look at the latest Scotherbs news stories and see which events we will be attending soon.

January 2012; British Herb Trade Association

Scotherbs Director Fiona Lamotte has been appointed Chairman of the British Herb Trade Association. With over 80 members the BHTA are committed to promoting the industry and ensuring that it has a safe and prosperous future. This is achieved through being actively involved in all aspects of herb production, product development, marketing and the many technical issues that arise.

December 2011: Recipe for Success at Boclair School:

The scent of freshly cut herbs has been wafting through Scottish secondary schools since early spring this year, as home economics students throughout the country competed to create and cook the tastiest and most nutritional dish in the Scotherbs Tesco Schools Project 2011

Eilidh Gordon and Caragh Docherty, both 13 and in year S2 at Boclair Academy in Bearsden, Glasgow were voted the winners last week with their tasty, nutritious dish: 'steamed salmon with pistachio basil butter, served in a herb-infused tortilla packet with a salad of rocket and fresh herb pesto dressing.' Eilidh was the chef and Caragh designed the recipe. The girls won a cookery workshop for their year with Tesco home economist Donna Knight and £200 for their school which will be spent on new equipment for the school's thriving home economics department.

Caragh said: "This recipe is quite contemporary and meets many of the Scottish Dietary Targets. Salmon is an oily fish and when complemented with fresh herbs, we have a meal that is very nutritious as well as delicious. We love the beautiful aroma from this dish and using herbs and spices with food is a healthy way to reduce salt in our diets. You could easily use chicken or vegetables instead of salmon in this recipe and additional cheese like mozzarella with this dish would be nice too."

The girls were delighted to win. Eilidh said: "We love cooking and we've really enjoyed doing this project with Miss Coote, our home economics teacher. Now that we've won, we're even more enthusiastic. We hope lots of people try our recipe and find it as tasty as all our friends did!"

The Scotherbs Tesco Schools Project 2011 was developed in line with the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence and Health Promoting Schools guidelines. Scotherbs invited Scottish secondary schools to enter by sending them a free schools pack containing vouchers for frsh herbs in Tesco, herby hints, a CD on cooking tips and worksheets on benefits of healthy eating and how herbs can aid a healthy diet.

March 2011 'Our White Water Rafting Charity Challenge'

This March, our brave Scotherbs team comprising of Aisling Thornton, Rob Gibb, Eddie Richardson, Luis Coutinho, Tyese Bastiaen, Cathy MacKay, Pawel Slaweta and Marius Obacz took part in Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland White Water Rafting Challenge, raising a whopping £1,090 for the charity. The 6 mile race was a strenuous dash to the finish line but it was all for a worthy cause. If you would like to see us tackling the rapids join us on facebook, where there are some great snaps www.facebook.com/Scotherbs

March 2011 'Scothot - a great success'

At the beginning of this month, Scotherbs combined forces with Scotland Food & Drink and joined them on their stand at Scothot, Scotland premier food & hospitality tradeshow. We sampled some of our wide micro WOW range as well as introducing seaweed from the Isle of Bute. We also held a raffle for a fantastic hamper, full of Scottish produce. Mike Dignan from Simpsons Garden Centre grabbed this amazing hamper. The response to our products was overwhelming and event was a great success. We would like to thank everyone for their support and if you would like to see the photo's of the show please go to our facebook page www.facebook.com/scotherbs

January 2011 ' Do you have what it takes to be the Nation's Herb Hero?'

COMPETITION TIME AGAIN! For all you budding chefs and food enthusiasts, we have the ideal competition for you. The Uk's Fresh Herb producers are looking for enthsiastic cooks to demonstrate their cooking talent using fresh herbs.

Whether your speciality is basil and tomatoe soup, carrot and coriander soup or a recipe you have invented yourself, The British Herb Trade Association want to hear from you.

It is simple to enter, all you need to do is create a home video of yourself cooking your dish using at least two varieties of fresh herbs. The public will then be asked to vote on line for their favourite dish. The top three finalists will be invited to London for the grand cook-off on May 24th, which will be judged by celebrity chef, John Torode.

There are two categories of the competition, one for the adults and one for the youngsters (7-16 years). The top prize for the adult category is £2,500, plus a night in London, while the junior top chef will be awarded £200 in vouchers.

So do you think you are up for the challenge? Simple upload your video to

http://www.fresh-herbs.co.uk/competition/ and be in with a chance to grab this amazing prize!

Forthcoming Events

VISIT SCOTHERBS AT . . . .28th Feb - 2nd March 2011, SECC, Glasgow 'ScotHot'.

Scotherbs will be attending 'ScotHot' in Glasgow which runs from 28th Feb until the 2nd March 2011. We will be joining Scotland Food & Drink on their pavilion and will be sampling some of our great range of fresh herbs. We will also be providing fresh herbs to top chefs in the demonstration kitchen over the course of the event.

If you are at the show, do come and say hello, we will be delighted to see you!

HERB OF THE MONTH

January 2011 - Mint 'The Healthy Herb'

February 2011 - Basil - Be My Basiltine?

March 2011 - There's something about samphire