Martin Morales is taking ceviche around the UK

The Peruvian dish of ceviche, or fish ‘cooked’ in citrus juices, has been one of the hottest trends on the London restaurant scene for around a year or so. Chef Martin Morales is one of the people most responsible for the boom thanks to his Soho restaurant called, you guessed it, Ceviche.

Pop-up

In mid-July, Morales is heading to Scotland for two nights as part of a ten date, pop-up tour to promote his new book Ceviche Peruvian Kitchen.

On Sunday 14^th July, Morales and his team will be at Ardkinglas House on Loch Fyne doing a Ceviche masterclass demonstrating how to make the restaurant’s Don Ceviche dish using sea bass. In the evening, diners will be able to taste some of Ceviche’s signature dishes at a pop-up in the same venue.

You can see the menu here.

Edinburgh date

The next day, on Monday 15^th July, the show rolls into Edinburgh and Restaurant Mark Greenaway for another masterclass and pop-up.

Tickets will be available for the tour from here, priced at £48 per person, for dinner and a copy of the Ceviche Peruvian Kitchen book. Tickets for the masterclass, dinner and a copy of the Ceviche Peruvian Kitchen book will be £75.

Mr Morales is an interesting figure. He has already had a very successful career as both a founder member of iTunes Europe and a director at Disney Music. He helped launch the careers of the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus but we won't hold that against him.

A couple of years ago, Morales decided to jack it all in and follow his passion for Peruvian cuisine. He packed in his job and sold his house a couple of years in order back to kick start his food career.

His first venture was a pop-up which sold out after one tweet. A restaurant on Frith Street followed and he has never looked back.

Graeme Pallister: one of Perth's most talented pan-rattlers

We have a couple of rather cool looking events and promotions which you may want to book in for over the next few weeks.

First up is the Highland Park Dinner which is running at 63 Tay Street in Perth next Wednesday evening. Graeme Pallister is the exec chef at 63 Tay Street and he also oversees the kitchen in the city's Parklands Hotel.

He's a talented man with several awards under his apron; not least the Chef of the Year prize from the recent CIS Awards. He has an interesting blog which you can browse from here.

Rare breed chefs

I liked this one about whether or not chefs are a strange breed - the answer, obviously, is yes.

Anyway, the Highland Park dinner menu pairs several courses with different expressions of Orkney's most famous whisky. Typical dishes includes the smoked Perthshire pigeon teriyaki paired with a 21-year-old Highland Park.

Tickets cost £47 per person and the evening starts at 7pm, Wednesday 26th June.

Children eat free

Fringes will be in fashion at this year's Royal Highland Show

Having first taken place in 1822, the Royal Highland Show is gearing up for its 173rd staging this week. It will be held in Ingliston, Edinburgh, from Thursday 20^th June and it runs through until Sunday 23^rd of June.

The premier showcase for Scotland’s farming industry, it’s also a brilliant shop front for the country’s many food and drink producers. Over 170,000 people visit the show each year and a majority of them take a spin around the Food Hall at least once.

Scotland's larder

Over a hundred Scottish food and drink producers will be showing their wares in the Food Hall while the ever popular Cookery Theatre features a rolling programme of more than 30 all-action demonstrations over the four-day event.

Top chefs from the Highlands and Islands will be much in evidence, along with some familiar names from the Central Belt such as Carina Contini and Suzanne O'Connor from The Scottish Cafe & Restaurant; Neil Forbes from Café St Honoré; Henderson’s of Edinburgh, who are celebrating 50 years in the business and Paul Wedgwood from his eponymous restaurant.

Highland street food

Over in the Countryside Area, chefs from northern Scotland will be using their local produce to create exciting street food dishes.

The names include Bruno Birkbeck, Head Chef of the 3 AA Rosette Restaurant at the Torridon Hotel; Muji Rahman from the Michelin recognised Cafe India in Dingwall; David Coubrough, Head Chef at Cafe 1 in Inverness and Steven Devlin of the highly acclaimed Rocpool Restaurant in Inverness. Each chef has been tasked with creating a menu for the day only using produce sourced from the Highlands and Islands.

More details and ticket buying info can be found here.

Zubrowka: smells of fresh hay but more fun than mowing the lawn

Your 5pm blogger was recently at a vintage vodka tasting hosted by Zubrowka, makers of the original Polish bison grass vodka.

Led by vodka expert Ian Wisniewski, it put the final nail in the coffin of the idea that vodka is some sort of tasteless, neutral spirit best used for mixing.

Among the vodkas tasted were a Zubrowka bison grass from the 60s; a vintage Cytronowka, or lemon vodka, plus a pieperzowka, or pepper vodka, which again had been bottled in the 60s.

Turkish delight

They were all eye-openers. Not least the pepper vodka which, to me anyway, almost tasted like Turkish delight.

Finding bottles of vodka which have somehow evaded being drunk since the 60s isn’t easy. Unlike whisky or cognac distillers, vodka makers tend not to lay down stocks of the spirit for future consumption.

If you don’t have a bottle of 50-year-old vodka kicking about then a bottle of modern day Zubrowka makes an interesting alternative to most other vodkas now on the market in the UK.

Bison grass

Each bottle contains a blade of bison grass which has been harvested by one of 21 families from secret areas in the wilds of the Bialowieza Forest, in north-east Poland. The pickers season the grass by storing it in their roofs. Once seasoned and prepared for adding to the spirit, the grass gives the liquid a golden olive colour and a summery, grassy taste.

Fresh hay

W. Somerset Maugham compared it to freshly mown hay, spring flowers, thyme and lavender. He also said that it was soft on the palate and ‘so comfortable that it’s like listening to music by moonlight’.

I’m with him on the hay, flowers and softness on the palate but didn’t quite have enough to get the moonlit music with each mouthful.

If only all tennis matches featured this much cake...

Wimbledon begins next week and One Square at the Sheraton Grand in Edinburgh have been getting in the mood with some nifty pastry shots.

Their Pastry Chef has created a tableau of a championship tennis match made from cake. It is now on display in the hotel’s lobby.

We also liked the sound of the Love 40 cocktail which their barmen have concocted. We’ll let them describe it:

‘We take fresh strawberries and gently muddle them in a blend of orgeat syrup and elderflower cordial. Then add freshly pressed lemon juice and Cointreau. Finally we add a generous measure of Bloom Gin, a fantastic London Dry Gin enriched by the natural botanicals of chamomile, pomelo and honeysuckle amongst others.’

Never mind new balls. Try One Square's new cocktail, the Love 40

Wimbledon begins next week and One Square at the Sheraton Grand in Edinburgh have been getting in the mood with some nifty pastry shots.

Their Pastry Chef has created a tableau of a championship tennis match made from cake. It is now on display in the hotel’s lobby.

We also liked the sound of the Love 40 cocktail which their barmen have concocted. We’ll let them describe it:

‘We take fresh strawberries and gently muddle them in a blend of orgeat syrup and elderflower cordial. Then add freshly pressed lemon juice and Cointreau. Finally we add a generous measure of Bloom Gin, a fantastic London Dry Gin enriched by the natural botanicals of chamomile, pomelo and honeysuckle amongst others.’

A steak master class could make your Dad's day on Sunday

The days of Dad going out to work while Mum cooked dinner went the way of the Dodo some years back.

In the 21^st century, any Dad is expected to be able to rustle up a decent meal given half an hour’s notice. We’re not saying that every man has to have Jamie’s knife skills combined with Gordon’s flair for precision presentation.

However, knocking up a decent steak and chips should not be beyond even the most ham-fisted pan-dodger.

Blokey kitchen skills

This Father’s Day, you can treat your Dad to an unusual Father’s Day experience while learning the sort of kitchen skills which any bloke will appreciate.

On Sunday, Tennent’s Training Academy are running a Big Steak Cook Off for Father’s Day. Combining a steak dinner master class plus an optional visit to the casino at The Corinthian Club, it's a double whammy of Father's Day good times.

Pint of Tennent’s

The experience starts at Wellpark Brewery, home of Tennent’s Lager. The Dads will be greeted with a pint of Tennent’s or Magners before heading to the state of the art Cook School.

Beer & banter

There you will meet the rest of the Dads and lads (or daughters) and prepare for a day of banter and beers.

Michael Kilkie, Sunday Mail columnist, will be your Head Chef tutor for the day and will guide you through a meaty master class. You will learn how to cook your prime steak to perfection, as well as making all the trimmings such as chunky chips and sauces.

Perfect steak

Having cooked your perfect steak, you will get to eat the fruits of your labour before moving through to the Tennent’s Bar School. This where Dads will be shown how to pour the perfect pint and indeed taste it.

Good evening, Mr Bond

After some time in the bar, you will be whisked away in a private taxi to The Corinthian Club. Taxis, entry and casino chips are included – your first bet and drink are free!

The day includes -

2 hour dad & family cookery master class
2 pints Tennent’s or 2 glasses of wine
Steak dinner & side orders
Pint pulling activity in the Bar School
Taxis to The Corinthian Club (optional)
Entry and casino chips for the Corinthian Casino (1 free bet)
1 free drink in the Corinthian Casino

The Father’s Day Cook Off is available on Sunday 16th June and runs over two sessions: 11am-3pm and 4pm-8pm.

Tickets are £50 (plus £1.50p booking fee) per person and can be bought from here.

Barolo Grill's stylish interior

It’s Father’s Day on Sunday and if you haven’t already ransacked the piggybank for your Dad then don’t worry – we’ve got your back.

Barolo Grill is one of Glasgow's finest steak houses and they have just started running a very sweet deal on prime quality steak dinners for two accompanied by a great bottle of wine.

Not all Dads are the same but we reckon that steak and a good bottle of Barbera (or Pinot Grigio) are pretty near the top of the wish list for many of them. This offer provides both steak and wine at a very attractive price and you can book in from here.

Fine wine

Starting this Sunday  and then running each week from Sunday to Thursday evenings, the award-winning Barolo Grill on Mitchell Street, the team are offering:

2 x 10oz rump steaks with chunky chips plus a bottle of Barbera or Pinot Grigio to share for £30

2 x 10oz sirloin steaks with chunky chips + wine for £40

2 x 8oz filet steaks with chips + wine for £50

Premium quality steak

These aren’t the kind of steaks that you buy in the supermarket. Supplied by Campbells Prime Meat, these are Campbells Gold Scotch beef. The highest quality beef sold by the company, the meat is carefully selected and hung for at least 21 days before being delivered to Scotland’s best restaurants and hotels.

Charcoal grill

Cooked to order, just the way you like it on the restaurant’s charcoal grill, the result is tender, succulent steak with caramelised edges and a deep, rich flavour. It’s steak fit for a champion Dad.

As mentioned the prices given are for two people and include chips plus a bottle of Barbera or Pinot Grigio. For a small supplement, you can add a sauce made from Barolo red wine, Gorganzola, black truffles; porcini and masala or the classic peppercorn sauce.

Alternatively, make the most of Barolo Grill’s Italian heritage and choose the roasted garlic and Parmesan crust.

After work treat

Of course, while this offer would make a great Father’s Day gift, it isn’t restricted to Father’s Day. The offer will be running in the evenings, Sunday to Thursday, at Barolo Grill for the foreseeable future.

It would be ideal for a romantic date; a business meeting or simply a fine dinner after a tough day at work. Fine steak and great wine - it’s what Mad Men’s Don Draper would do.

The 5pm blog’s artistic ambitions were tweaked at the news that anCnoc Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky wants whisky fans to snap and tweet a picture showing how they most enjoy a dram.

Trip to New York

In return their idea could feature on one of 10 personally illustrated bottles of anCnoc with one lucky winner clinching a trip to New York.

This blogger has often waxed lyrical, or at least at length, after a dram or two but whisky has yet to unleash my inner visual artist – if such a thing exists.

Sip, snap & tweet

However feeble my artistic skills may be, this anCnoc comp makes it simple. Snap a picture that sums up how you most enjoy a dram and tweet it to @anCnoc_whisky using #youranCnoc between midnight on Monday (00.00hrs) June 17th and 9am on Tuesday June 18th.

The ten winning images will be chosen over the course of the next day and used to inspire bespoke illustrations by Scottish-born, New York- based illustrator – and anCnoc partner - Peter Arkle at his studio in Manhattan.

His finished drawings will be speedily dispatched across the Atlantic to the anCnoc team in Scotland where the ten unique packs will be created for winners. From here, you can click through to a video in which Peter explains the competition a little more.

Personally illustrated bottle

On Monday June 24th, the anCnoc team will also reveal their favourite overall #youranCnoc Tweet which will win its creator a four-night stay in New York with a friend. The visit will take in the sights and see the winner be presented with their bottle by Peter.

anCnoc Brand Manager Gillian Gibson said:

‘anCnoc’s series of illustrated Peter Arkle exclusives has been extremely popular, so we are very excited to be taking the idea to a whole new level with this campaign, giving our drinkers the chance to have their very own anCnoc moment brought to life and illustrated by Peter on our packs.

#youranCnocmoment

‘For me, I would say my #youranCnoc moment is sitting in the garden with my nearest and dearest enjoying a sunny barbecue with my dram.

‘For others it might be looking out over the countryside, or sitting down at the beach or even curled up by the fire with the dog. There are no right answers. We’re just looking for pictures that inspire us and really sum up the different experiences people have and their love of good whisky. It’s now over to our drinkers and we are really looking forward to seeing the results of our first twitter challenge on June 17th.’

Edinburgh's Mithas have been at the winner's podium again

Congratulations to Mithas. The Leith-based restaurant took down the Best of Edinburgh and the Restaurant of the Year awards at last night's Scottish Curry Awards.

It's been quite some week for the fine dining Indian - exactly seven days ago, they scooped the Best Indian Award at the Scottish Restaurant Awards.

Satty and Bobby Singh of Mr Singh's India celebrated winning the Lifetime Achievement Award while Jiggy Majhu of the Ashoka Group and Ashoka Cook School in Linwood was named Scotland's Curry Queen.

Other award winners included Punjabi Tadka in East Kilbride, Charcoals in Glasgow city centre and Mother's India Cafe which was presented with the Best of Glasgow award from Trampy and the Tramp's Glasgow of Curry blog.

You can see what 5pm deals the winners are running by clicking on the highlighted restaurants.

Kenny Anderson, AKA King Creosote will be singing for your supper

So, Monday morning. Feeling fine? No?

Need a little something to get you through to lunch? How about news of a food festival which is taking place this weekend in the pretty, little Fife harbour town of Crail?

Fife's larder

Now in its third year, Crail Food Festival is a two day event dedicated to Fife's natural larder. On Saturday, the fun will revolve around an indoor market in the Community Hall.

Around 30 local food businesses will be displaying their wares from smoked meats and local cheeses to cold cuts and chutneys. There will also be a Cookery and Tasting Theatre which will host a programme of cookery demos throughout the day.

Edinburgh Gin

Included in the afternoon part of the schedule is a tasting from the Spencerfield Spirits company who make the delicious Edinburgh Gin. Entry to the hall is £2.

In the evening, there is a three course dinner gig with the mighty King Creosote. Tickets or returns might still be available on 01333 450 935.

At last year's festival, Kenny Anderson, AKA King Creosote, was commissioned to sing until the sun shone. Miraculously, given last summer, he pulled it off.

Hopefully, no such voodoo will be required this weekend.

On Sunday 16th of June, the action moves to the harbour and an open air market. As well as cookery demonstrations, visitors can sign up for foraging walks organised by The Fife Diet and Paul Wedgwood, chef patron at Wedgwood The Restaurant in Edinburgh.

Locally landed crab

Visitors will be able to browse the market stalls and tuck into street food ranging from locally caught crab and lobster to handmade pizza. Children's games will be running all day including a treasure trail, scavenger hunt and face painting.

If nibbling on Fife's finest food sharpens your appetite for something more substantial then you can check out 5pm's member restaurants in the Kingdom of Fife by clicking here.

Esperante at The Fairmont Hotel and Sands Grill at The Old Course Hotel both feature much lauded kitchens.