Book reviews: Scottish Seafood | Scotland | Weaving Songs

Michael Kerrigan casts his eye on the latest releases

Scottish Seafood

by Catherine Brown

(Birlinn, £20)

Rating: *****

Scotland’s seafood is second to none, either in quality or variety … but it seems that Scots have been the last to know. Despite vague race-memories of the Arbroath smokie and Cullen Skink, few of us have ventured beyond the farmed salmon fillet or the fish supper. Scottish scallops or squid; monkfish, mussels, sardines and prawns: these have been exotica for most of us. Catherine Brown’s Scottish Seafood is nothing less than a work of national culinary reconstruction. It recounts the history of Scotland’s fisheries and its seafood cuisine, with intriguing documentary material dating back to medieval times, and archaeological data from well before. The ecological issues – over-exploitation – are all discussed. Above all, though, this is a kitchen companion. Brown offers basic background on all the most important fish and shellfish species, and how they should be chosen and prepared. Last, but by no means least, she presents an exhilarating range of delicious-looking recipes, attractively laid out, for everything from skate and skoorie to seaweed.

Scotland

by Peter Friend

(Collins, £30)

Rating: *****

The “New Naturalist” series is no longer remotely new, but in the seven decades of its existence it’s acquired something like iconic status: This introduction to the country’s geology marries approachability with scientific rigour. A general guide this book may be, but it’s impressive alike in its scientific detail and in its comprehensive coverage. Dividing Scotland up into 19 regions, Friend explains how each one was formed in the first place, and how it was modified over millions of years by igneous and seismic action, glaciation and other forces. And he’s always ready to look beyond to the big picture and reveal how geological structures determined scenery.

Weaving Songs

by Donald S Murray

(Acair, £14.95)

Rating: ****

“Dad used to fill the room with praise/… Precenting over patterns, weaving belief/Deep into both weft and warp…” Weaving was once as key to island economies as crofting and the kirk. Making Harris Tweed was quietly creative too – and it could be surprisingly sociable, since friends would gather to watch and chat while the weaver worked. Recalling those times with immediacy, wit and warmth, Murray’s verses stop just this side of sentimentality. They’re interwoven here with Carol Ann Peacock’s photos – portraits of the weavers, pictures of their work and their equipment: visual poems in themselves.