How this new book builds a case for 'landscape cuisine'

Published by Canongate

THE 18th-century English essayist Sydney Smith once described his idea of heaven as “eating pate de foie gras to the sound of trumpets”.

Pate de foie gras is now decidedly out of favour, but associating food with pleasure is an eternal and universal theme. Much less common is examining the ethics and politics of what we eat, and rarer still is well-informed and challenging thought about how we might use both excellence and enquiry to change the world.

Pam Brunton tackles that massive issue with a huge amount of curiosity, much research, deep learning, a lot of passion and world-class culinary skill.

Joint owner with her partner Rob of the multi-award-winning Inver Restaurant and Rooms on Loch Fyne near Strachur in Argyll, she has established a formidable reputation for the imaginative creation of what she calls – though not without reservations – “modern Scottish” cuisine.

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I am fortunate enough to live less than half an hour from Inver and have been going there since it opened in 2015. The evidence that she is an artist of extraordinary talent and experience working with food as her medium is evident from the first taste of any of the dishes coming from her kitchen.

Indeed, it is clear from the first sight – superbly presented as they are. The changes that she and Rob have made to the little cottage sitting on a bay in front of the new, and across from the old Castle Lachlan have turned what was always a hospitable location into a must-visit magical magnet for all those who appreciate originality and seek out the very best.

Pam’s roots lie in the east coast of Scotland, nurtured by a traditional Scottish diet, and the exploration of that heritage forms the backbone of the book. Growing from it are a series of reflections on how that diet has emerged, how it has shaped us and where we live, as well as how it has been and continues to be exploited by a system that places control and power in fewer and fewer hands.

Working outwards from the contention that food culture is a facet of all culture, Pam interrogates a remarkably wide range of issues, locations and people – living and dead, famous and unknown, close-to-home and far distant – and builds a substantial case for the development of a new “landscape cuisine” which she defines as being – at least in part – about how we choose to use land and build sustainable ecologies, rather than continually dismantling and destroying them.

In the book, she returns again and again to the view, originated by Gramsci, that culture itself must shift before institutions, society itself can shift and that in order to change, we must imagine a new set of values and beliefs.

Consequently, change is not merely about institutions nor even constitutions but about valuing individuals – putting the wellbeing of the many before the demands of the wealthy few. A key to that is interdependence in all we do and she uses several examples from Inver and its suppliers to illustrate the point.

These ideas of course are not unique to Pam. The pandemic perforce promoted localism although much of that gain is being lost as old, bad habits return.

However, there is a growing view – especially in the capitalist West – that the choices we now have do not measure up to our expectations and are consequently not the best options for our future.

A range of individuals – some from unexpected backgrounds and positions such as Chris Murphy, the junior US Senator for Connecticut – are cautiously promoting an agenda which asks questions about the story we need to tell about ourselves and our future as a preparation for changing the world around us and moving on from the Tweedledum and Tweedledee of neoliberalism and neoconservatism.

In Scotland, that issue is tied up with concerns about fair access to land and resources and the work we need to do to secure that while also protecting and restoring the balance of nature.

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As chair of the Scottish Land Commission, I strongly support the current land legislation but that is not the end of the process.

Increasingly, people are asking what a completely land-reformed Scotland would look like. The answer to that lies not just in in securing effective regulation – expanding ownership and greatly increasing access and transparency – but also in altering the power relationships in our society. People, Power and Prosperity – the commission’s mantra – gives an indication of what we need to prioritise and pursue.

Pam brings to her first book some well-developed arguments and contentions. These can set the scene for change, but there is as yet little guidance about how individuals could take the process into their own hands.

Many months ago, I asked Rob how Pam was getting on with her cookery book. He very quickly corrected me, as this is indeed no cookery book – though it has a few interesting recipes which illustrate wider points.

What is now needed, however, is a route map – a recipe – for taking forward that landscape cuisine – and moreover one which can help people not just to make the right choices but develop the right skills to, for example, waste nothing. Wasting food is – as she rightly puts it – wasting land, but presently very few are able to convert that truism into a way of living.

Between Two Waters is a challenging but inspirational contribution to a global process, driven forward by a remarkable visionary working in a remarkable place. What is needed now is a guide to the ingredients – and how to use them – for those who want to follow her lead.

In the book, Pam constantly encourages all of us to share tables. In return, we should encourage her to get back to her word processor to serve the next, and very practical course in a banquet of ideas that will secure much-needed and society-enriching change.

Michael Russell is chair of the Scottish Land Commission