The Isle of Skye

Here on the Isle of Skye, the largest of the Inner Hebrides in northwestern Scotland, the environment is so harsh it seems amazing that people could have lived off the land for so long. Yet the people of Skye can't help but be inspired by the wild food surrounding us, and there's a strong community of restaurants, like Three Chimneys and Kinloch Lodge, that embrace the local bounty. As chefs, the real excitement comes when we go straight to nature ourselves, gathering our own ingredients to be used in that evening's service. The range is amazing: for greens, we gather wild garlic, sorrel, and nettles. There's a cluster of old elder trees in the hills behind us, and they give us elder flowers and berries. Wild thyme and borage add beautiful flavor in summer, along with all the wild raspberries and brambles. Rose hips come out in autumn; they're made into a syrup that showcases their delicate apricot flavor. We're also lucky that the shoreline is just a 15-minute walk from our restaurant's kitchen. While we don't have enough time to catch fish and prawns ourselves for dinner, we gather mussels, winkles, razor clams, and great edible seaweed; the type we use the most is chewy, purple-red dulse, which makes an amazing soup that's been a traditional favorite here for centuries. When food is your passion, what could be better than actually living in your very own wild larder? —Simon Wallwork and Kirsty Faulds, The Glenview, Culnacnock, United Kingdom