British Red Grouse
Widely considered to be the finest game bird in the world both from an organoleptic and a shooting perspective, the Red Grouse is a medium sized (single portion) game bird. It’s plumage is reddish-brown (less red in the females) with a black tail and white legs. The bird’s most obvious physical features are its plump shape and white eyelids with a bright pinkish-red comb above. It is the only game bird to have feathers on its legs and feet, which help protect it in the cold and snow, and also unique amongst the other sub-species of grouse in that its plumage does not turn white in winter.The flesh is dark in colour and exceptionally rich in flavour, which can make it an acquired taste, but one that has won worldwide acclaim. The diet of the Red Grouse is about 95% heather, providing them with their unique flavour.
The Red Grouse is native to Britain although a sub-species of the Willow Grouse, a bird found throughout much of the Arctic tundra. It has survived only on keepered heather moorlands, which are expensive to maintain and consequently large swathes have been lost to cheaper land use, making heather moorland now rarer than rainforest.
Area of production:
75% of the remaining heather moorland is found in Britain, and whilst some Red Grouse are found in Ireland (although some consider Irish Grouse a separate species) and also in Wales, its main distribution is in the north of England and Scotland. Red Grouse thrive only where they are shot and without shooting heather moorland would revert to the scrubland of the eighteenth century.
Contact:
Mark Gilchrist, 07734226601
The Red Grouse is native to Britain although a sub-species of the Willow Grouse, a bird found throughout much of the Arctic tundra. It has survived only on keepered heather moorlands, which are expensive to maintain and consequently large swathes have been lost to cheaper land use, making heather moorland now rarer than rainforest.
Area of production:
75% of the remaining heather moorland is found in Britain, and whilst some Red Grouse are found in Ireland (although some consider Irish Grouse a separate species) and also in Wales, its main distribution is in the north of England and Scotland. Red Grouse thrive only where they are shot and without shooting heather moorland would revert to the scrubland of the eighteenth century.
Contact:
Mark Gilchrist, 07734226601
Beremeal
The product is flour made from bere, the distinct Northern Scottish, six-row local barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). At present bere is easily identified from other barleys as the only 6-rowed spring barley on the UK market. A scientific nutritional analysis of bere meal shows a wide variety of macro- and micro nutrients, including significant quantities of folate, thiamine, pantothenic acid, iron, iodine and magnesium. Bere meal has been described as having an earthy, slightly stringent, nutty flavour. It does not store well and is traditionally used to make a dark-greyish bannock, a soft roll that is a speciality of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.
Area of production:
Bere was grown historically in Wales (as Haidd Garw or Coarse barley) and Scotland on higher land of poor fertility i.e. Highlands and Islands. Environmentally, the short growing season of bere suits the lands of low fertility and long summer daylight hours, partly offsetting the poorer soils and lower temperatures due to higher latitude. The long history of bere cultivation in Scotland has lead to a wide genetic diversity within and between bere populations. Historically the flour was used throughout Scotland and barley bannocks were eaten widely as the main bread. From nineteenth century onwards its use declined except for the Highlands and Islands, on Orkney and Shetland it remained used as bread. Handmills or querns produced meal for household purposes while watermills produced meal on a larger scale.
Contact:
Mr. J.Johnson +44 1856 771276 Email: johnnyjohnston@talk21.com
