Local produce is at the root of Taste of Ayrshire's success

Following on from last year’s fantastic Tastes of Ayrshire event, Ayrshire Food An’ A’ That has once again teamed up with East Ayrshire Leisure for a fabulous treat for local  foodies. By Nan Spowart

AYRSHIRE tatties are prized for their flavour but the region has much more to offer when it comes to delicious food.

Its climate and position on Scotland’s west coast have resulted in exceptionally high quality beef, lamb, pork, game, vegetables, fish and shellfish.

Raw materials are turned into a wide range of smoked delicacies, bacon, cheeses, farmhouse ice-creams, handmade chocolates, preserves and bakery products.

To wash all these down there are coffees made from hand-roasted beans, craft beers and distinctive individual whiskies and gins.

The full range of food and drink deserves to be as widely known as the Ayrshire tattie and spreading the word are the Taste of Ayrshire events which are continuing this year.

Following on from a very successful day at Kilmarnock’s Dean Castle last year, Ayrshire Food An’ A’ That has once again teamed up with East Ayrshire Leisure to build on the event on Sunday May 19.

Taking place in the beautiful castle courtyard, which might be familiar to Outlander fans, producers will be showing off some of the best of Ayrshire produce for visitors to try and buy.

Local food and drink trucks will be on hand while many activities across the castle and gardens are planned to keep everyone entertained.

Taking part will be the Reggaelicious Food Truck, a Caribbean street food van that was founded in 2019 by Ayrshire-based couple Derrick and Sharon Vaughan. The pair serve up mouthwatering Jamaican dishes made from Derrick’s family recipes, including jerk chicken, curry lamb and plantain. Reggaelicious has proven to be a huge success at previous Taste of Ayrshire shows, where visitors have been won over by the home-cooked taste of the food.

A trained nurse, Derrick often took his Caribbean food into the workplace because the staff loved it so much. This inspired the couple to buy a rustic old truck and convert it into their Reggaelicious Food Truck. Since the launch, the business has gone from strength to strength, with its customer base growing all the time.

Another growing business is Ayrshire Riviera Cider made from ethically sourced, local apples from the south west coast of Scotland.

The fruit is a combination of hand-picked and windfall apples which are then hand-pressed to extract as much of their tasty, sweet juice as possible. No extra water or sugar is added to the product at any stage, with the juice and cider yeast allowed to work together to make the popular product.

Natural filtration methods are used to give clarity and no colourings are added as the makers believe the quality of the cider speaks for itself without any additions.

The liquid is fermented for around six months for the maximum effect from the fruit and yeast marriage and the cider is racked regularly to produce a purer taste. The end product is a higher ABV and a deeper, richer flavour profile. The cider is vegan and gluten free.

It would be a great match for the smoked beef brisket, pulled pork and chicken from Little Texas BBQ Ltd who will also be at Dean Castle on May 19.

The business was started by Barry Minor who was bowled over by Texan BBQ food when he spent time there 15 years ago working on windfarms. His good friend and Texan, Darrel Holt, taught him the fine art of traditional Texas BBQ which he has now brought to Ayrshire, helped by his wife, Mhairi, a trained fine dining chef.

Adding a bit of heat to the day will be gourmet chilli products from everythingCHILLI from nearby Fenwick.

All the preserves are made using a traditional artisan open-pan method and use fresh produce – local where feasible – with no artificial additives. Ingredients are chosen which traditionally work well together, or which make new interesting combinations. Limited edition varieties are regular features of the product range.

All the products are vegan and most are suitable for coeliac diets. In addition, everythingCHILLI tries to be as environmentally friendly as possible with all food waste composted on site, packaging reused as much as possible, recycling where possible and items offered for upcycling or reusing.

As only a little chilli is needed to add an extra dimension to both sweet and savoury food, the chilli heat in everythingCHILLI products is not intended to overpower, even in the hotter varieties.
Organisers hope the sun will shine at the event on May 19 but if not, the food and drink on offer should help bring a smile to every visitor’s face.

ayrshirefood.org/tastes-of-ayrshire