Settling in Edinburgh 6 years ago, I now travel around Scotland providing seasonally inspired, locally sourced catering for shoot and fishing lodges, private homes and corporate premises. Previously, I worked worldwide on yachts, which brought many unique rewards and challenges.
Provisioning, or shopping, often meant wandering through the markets of Siracuse in Sicily seeking inspiration: spotting fishing boats bringing in tuna and swordfish, then following them to tiny shops where the fish would be cut into huge steaks for the keenest shoppers. On other days, I could be queueing in a French supermarket with a group of chefs, each with six shopping trolleys and a taxi waiting, preparing for the huge amount of produce needed to feed guests and crew through the Monaco Grand Prix.
The yachts would winter in Europe, either Spain, Greece, or Turkey. Once the tourists had gone, you could see what the locals really ate. That meant sharing lunch, or the Menu del Dia, with local boat workers in Barcelona (they really love their creme caramel), or sipping strong Greek coffee with warm sweet pastries on the streets of Athens.
Sometimes we crossed the Atlantic at the end of the European summer to the warmth of the Caribbean. The ocean crossing was an exercise in determination; preparing food in 3-metre seas is no mean feat.
Once there, the joy of haggling with street vendors on Caribbean islands for the freshest fruit at the lowest prices, and the warmth of bananas from the plantation and mangoes from the tree, more than made up for it.
At the end of my journey, I lived and worked on a yacht in Jordan. While there, I developed a love of Middle Eastern spices and learned to truly cook with the seasons. When nothing else is available, you have no choice.
Before this, I travelled and worked as a scuba-diving instructor. I hand-dived for scallops, battled with crayfish and lobster, and wrestled octopi in New Zealand. I am a whizz at shucking oysters and can gut and prepare fish no problem.
To all these experiences, I now add my love of Scottish produce: the best Scotch beef, tender lamb, wild salmon, trout, loch-reared mackerel, and hand-dived succulent scallops. Add to this Highland cheeses - Lanark Blue, Clava Organic Brie, Isle of Mull Cheddar, and Crowdie soft cheese. Scottish asparagus has a shorter season but produces especially tender stems from the harsher winters, followed by Perthshire soft fruits: raspberries, strawberries, redcurrants, and gooseberries.
I combine all my food knowledge and experience to create healthy, unique, seasonal food combinations, always with the emphasis on enjoyment.
No shouting or stress is ever involved in the creation of my dishes.