So, it’s nearly the end of 2012 and for me, it has been quite a year! My first full year at the Old Course Hotel and I have been thinking about all the great things that I have seen, done and tasted in the last 12 months.

Firstly, and most fondly, was the wonderful trip to Alsace in the Summer. I was looking over some of the photos the other day and hoping to return next year. And maybe get another couple of trips organized. Regulars to the restaurant (and the team) still hear me going on and on about the wonders of Alsace wines!

I was extremely fortunate this year to have opened, served and tasted some of the greatest wines in the world. Petrus 1995, Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1986, Romanée St. Vivant 1990 and 1985 from Domaine de la Romanée Conti  and Chateau Montrose 1989 to name but a few. The best, though, was the Chateau Latour 1990. Possibly the best wine I have ever tasted. So far…..(please forgive the name dropping)

The wine list has taken a while to get into shape, but I am so please with the results. I am delighted to now list some of my favourite wines  such as the amazing Mas de Daumas Gassac white and red from the Languedoc in France. This was very kindly sourced for us by Drew Renwick at Forth Wines.  And on that note I would like to thank all our suppliers for their support – Andrew with Justerini and Brooks, Mike from Enotria and Chris at Corney and Barrow. Hoping for more coffees and wine chats in 2013 gentlemen!

OK…enough reflection, time to move forward and finalise table plans, menus etc for the next two weeks.  Hope to see you all in 2013.

Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year from us all in the Road Hole.

Alan

Hello and welcome to Conference and Events,

My name is Fiona and I am the Conference and Events Manager at the Old Course Hotel. I will be telling you a wee bit about Conference and Events through my blog and give you some tips on making your events wow factor but at same time stress free.

However firstly I would like to share one of my favourite wedding cakes I have seen recently. I am a great fan of dessert and I am fascinated in wedding cakes that we have at our weddings. Whilst at the hotel I have seen some incredible wedding cakes from 7 tiers to single cakes personalised with the bride and groom figures to cupcake tiers. I find that small touches such as flowers and fruit can make a real difference visually to your pictures and make your cake more personalised.  Recently we had a wedding where the bride and groom chose a chocolate cake that was superb! The minute I saw it I knew that it was special. I took a picture so you can see it yourselves:

This cake was made by Fisher and Donaldson a local family owned Bakery in St Andrews. Fisher and Donaldson has been in St Andrews for Five generations and are a must go to when visiting. I personally love their fudge Doughnuts and carrot cake. The Cake above may look like it is Chocolate but however it actually is a layer of succulent Lemon sponge and Victoria sponge with dark chocolate scrolls around it. The Scottish summer berries add sweetness to this cake.

Anyway I better get back to work, speak soon.

Fiona

Bonjour, and welcome back to the wine blog.

This week has been pretty intense wine wise. I was lucky enough to have been invited to Alsace, France to visit the fantastic Maison Trimbach with Enotria Wines. This was my first proper wine trip and it was AMAZING! What an experience and one I will be talking about for some time to come.

The winery, and several of their vineyard sites, is located in the beautiful village of Ribeauvillé. We spent a full day with Jean Trimbach who just exudes passion and enthusiasm for his family’s wines. Starting with a walk to two Grand Cru vineyard sites we then moved into the cellars. Huge racks of bottles lying patiently waiting for just the right time to be opened and enjoyed. Further down we go, past the massive oak casks (some holding 10,000 litres) and onto the steel fermentation tanks, every square inch looking immaculate. Next, to the bottling line and then the tasting room, five of us sat for over 90 minutes, absolutely enthralled in the wines and in Jean’s sheer joy about the family business. For me, the star was the Pinot Gris Reserve Personnelle, but it was a real treat was tasting the magnificent Clos St Hune Riesling for the first time. One of the greatest white wines of the world. None of that reached the spittoon! Spectacular.

After a really fabulous lunch, Jean took us to the vinyards of Clos St Hune. The whole area was breathtaking and what an experience to have visited such a place.

 Clos St Hune.

Our trip finished with a great dinner hosted by Monsieur Trimbach in another brilliant local restaurant.

A wonderful trip, fabulous wines, great food, lovely weather and a good bunch of guys to spent it with. What more could you ask? Another glass of Riesling maybe??? Why not….

Cheers,

Alan

Some say Scotch whisky is dark because it’s peated!

Some say it is because the casks have been charred before the clear distilled spirit is filled into them!

 Well the answer is much simpler.

The whisky takes its colour from the oak cask it matures in, more so from the type of alcoholic liquid which was previously maturing in the oak cask than the wood itself.

 If Bourbon (American whiskey made from minimum 51% corm) had matured in the cask before we filled it with Scotch whisky (93% of the cask we use in Scotland today) the colour of the Scotch whisky will likely be from light gold to dark gold. (no reddishness)

 If Sherry (Spanish fortified wine : such as Oloroso, Amoroso, Amontillado, Fino, or Pedro Ximenez ) had matured in the cask before we filled it with Scotch whisky (less than 10% of the cask we use today in Scotland) the colour of the Scotch whisky will likely be darker, amber, treacle, and in some instance pale with some reddishness to it.

 It is also true that a liquid caramel (E150a, food colouring, not a sweetener) can be used to adjust the colour of Scotch whisky. More common for blended whiskies which tend to be younger in age, and in some cases a little can be found in single malt in order for the continuity in colour from one bottling to another. (Mit Karamell, Mit Farbstoff, can sometimes be found on the back label of single malt bottling which has had E150a added to adjust colouring.

 Next time I will touch on the peated factor!

 Slainte Mhath,

 Regis Lemaitre

Hello and welcome back to the wine blog!

Training. Training. Training. Then practice, practice and more practice. For me that’s really the key to becoming good at anything and wine service is no different.

This week I have been doing some pretty intensive training sessions with the team here at the hotel to give them the information and skills to provide great wine and beverage service. This has ranged from the very basics of vinification, a tour through some of the world’s many wine producing regions and the grape varieties they use.

For the team this was a good exercise in gaining new information and improving on existing knowledge. For me, it was about taking my experience and knowledge and reconstructing it so as everyone could benefit, My challenge was to make the presentation accessible and interesting without using too much ‘winey’ jargon (which can be tricky sometimes). The team seemed to enjoy the session, especially as there was the promise of a tasting session the next time we meet (depending on how they all did on the quiz of course!) Now its about putting this knowledge into practice on the restaurant floor.

The wine list in the Road Hole Restaurant has had quite a few new additions over the last month. We have added some really excellent value Bordeaux, some new Chilean whites and reds and two wines from one of my favourite producers Kooyong from Mornington Peninsula, Australia.

I have been a big fan of Kooyong for some time now and I am very excited about the listings.  Mornington Peninsula is a cool climate area of Southern Australia and winemaker Sandro Mosele is quickly gaining a reputation for making the best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in Australia. Great on their own, but even better with food, the Clonale Chardonnay in particular has been a big hit with our guests (and the staff).

Port-Philip Winery Kooyong

Hope to speak to you all soon,

Cheers,

Alan

Scotch Whisky: Uisge beatha: Water of Life = a distilled beer (no hops) Yes whisky is a distilled beer, the same as Cognac is a distilled wine and the same as Calvados is a distilled Cider. This is how it works: we need sugar, (cereal, fruits etc) we need yeast, (natural, distillers or brewers) we need water (let’s face it in Scotland we have plenty of it). Those three ingredients will allow for alcohol to the produced through a fermentation process. It is the result from the fermentation (beer, wine, cider) which is distilled through a pot still (batch or continuous) which will strip off the alcohol vapours from water vapours. The result we call spirit, with a much higher alcohol % that fermentation would ever reach. Distill wine = brandy (generic term: Brandewijn = Burnt wine) (Cognac, Armagnac’s are types of Brandy) Distill cider = brandy called Calvados or Apple Jack Distill beer = Whisk(e)y worldwide, Scotch (whisky) in Scotland, Japanese (whisky ) in Japan, French (whisky) in France, now you have the idea! Phew!

Time for me to go home now and partake in quality control of one or two drams! PS: as we speak Tobermory on the Isle of Mull, and Bowmore on Islay have had to stop distilling: The reason “SHORTAGE OF WATER”! Brilliant!

Slainte Mhath or Santé as we say in Glasgow.

Regis

Hello and welcome to our latest update.

We are at last having some great weather, longer days and everyone has that extra spring in their step! A great time for the farmers too as their produce starts to come into the ripening season so the markets have some great items to pick from.

The Road Hole Restaurant at the Old Course Hotel

Scottish asparagus has a very short life but what a great vegetable this is and one we should savour when we can. We have been serving it in the Road Hole Restaurant on our new concept menu launched last month and the commenents have been great, just served with some melted butter. Another great dish is a asparagus and shitake , mushroom cannelloni. A great vegetarian dish which encaptures all the flavour of this wonder full vegetable.

Late spring early summer is a great time for lobsters too,which we’re luck to be able to pick up practically on the doorstep! The cold waters over the winter allow the lobster to grow and the small boats we use go out to reel in the pots so we receive the crustation within hours of it being landed. A grilled lobster served with a hollandaise sauce is a very simple dish but one of lifes pleasures with a nice chilled Chablis!

Lobster Boat Crail Fife Scotland - http://tour-scotland-photographs.blogspot.co.uk/

Spring lamb usually starts to hit the markets around know, can be pricy, but another wonderful treat that mother nature supplies us with. Very little fat, tender cutlets with a firm eye of meat. This is great cooked just simply, sealed fast in a hot pan and then cooked so the meat is pink. Rest for 2 to 3 minutes in a warm area and then serve with some new potatoes, asparagus and peas.

Heritage tomatoes, look all different shapes and sizes but have tremendous flavour and served at room teperaure with simple basil, olive oil and a little salt made a great tasting snack. Wild garlic, jersey royal potatoes, fresh peas, broad beans so many items start to come into season and to get the best flavour simply cooked, using one or two ingredients to enhance the flavour will bring the best out of your ingredients at this time of the year! Our fruits for those special desserts start to ripen too – especially on the East Coast of Scotland- Berries being the most famous food product from this area. Strawberries and raspberries being the most popular. Simple can be best with these too, a little sugar and some pouring cream or if the sun hasn’t quiet been on the fruit enough yet, turn into a great Eton Mess or Pavlova to add to that sweetness. Enjoy the great local produce on offer and remember, simple is best at this time of the year

Pitormie Fruit Box http://www.fifediet.co.uk/

Simon

Hello foodies!

Summer is almost upon us!

We’re now into the second week of the British asparagus season which in fact is a very short season lasting only six weeks.  Traditionally the season starts on the 1^st of May however this year it started a little early as the fantastic weather we have had throughout April has meant that the season started in the middle of April – so right now really is the very best time for some delicious asparagus recipes.

In the UK we grow asparagus a little slower so that the spears have more time to develop a stronger flavour and texture. The famous Scottish weather means that we tend to wait a little longer than the rest of the country for the asparagus to develop; we expect the deliveries to arrive this week.  As you know, we are very keen to work with local producers and suppliers and asparagus is the perfect example of why it is always best to buy vegetables from a local farmer.

Scottish Asparagus

Sands will be hosting a series of special culinary treats to match the season. Summer specials like Asparagus would be in the top of the list featuring in an ‘Asparagus Promotion’ offering 3 courses @ £20 from 7^th till 31^st May.

Look forward to welcoming you soon.   Meantime please do share your own Asparagus recipes, we’d love to see them.

Speak soon, Sourav

Hi and welcome back to this month’s blog,

I am glad to share with you a bit about my butcher, John Henderson.  I buy a large portion of my supply from Henderson’s as I believe that they are one of the best around!

John Henderson Butchers were established in Kirkcaldy in 1934, by David Henderson. The business quickly built a reputation for quality beef, developing his shop as one of the busiest in Scotland, buying many supreme champion cattle at Agricultural shows including Smithfield. In 2000 the business relocated to purpose built premises in Glenrothes to concentrate on supplying catering establishments. By now the business had passed to the third generation, David and Andrew Smith who maintain their Grandfathers philosophy, buying quality meat and producing quality products. They are indeed traditional butchers, aging beef on the bone, but developing new cuts for the modern market. They buy only Scotch beef, the vast majority coming from the Highlands (Speyside and the Black Isle) and prefer traditional cattle fed on a natural diet and finished on pasture. In terms of breed they specify Angus cross Lomousin, Angus cross Hereford and Angus cross Charolais.

You will find this amazing Scotch beef in many of our dishes across the resort from our fine cuts in Sands Grill to the enourmous burger at the worlds most famous 19th – the Jigger Inn!  If you do manage to finish a whole one, we’d love to see the before and after pics on twitter!

Last night in the Road Hole Restaurant we held a fabulous evening of food and Champagnes. The menu, created by our own Chef Ross Marshall, worked beautifully with a range amazing wines from Champagne Laurent-Perrier. It was brilliant to see so many regulars returning to one of our wine dinners, many in attendance being locals in the St Andrews area.

Stuart Birtles from Laurent-Perrier was our speaker for the night and his knowledge, expertise and stories about the House were well received by all our guests and of course the team. One story that will stick with me was that after World War Two they only had a cellar of 16 000 bottles. These days, Laurent-Perrier produce over 7.5 million bottles!

I have always been interested in people’s reactions when Champagnes are matched with food as it is mostly seen as solely being drunk as an aperitif. I hope that after last night, that myth is truly dispelled! My favourite pairing was a foie gras dish with parsnip, quince and Sauternes Jelly matched with the Cuvée Rosé Champagne. The rich foie gras was fantastic with the summer fruits of the Champagne, while the acidity cleansed the palate leaving you wanting even more! Also, I tasted their Demi-Sec Champagne for the first time. A lovely, fruity style with a little sweetness on the finish-delicious with Ross’s Pear Tart Tatin….but then I have always had a sweet tooth!

Can’t wait for the next wine night on 30^th May!

Cheers!

Alan