Pure genius

Grilled fillet of Islay beef filled with peat-smoked Loch Gruinart oysters flavoured with Ardbeg single malt whisky (serves four)

Ingredients

4 x 150g prime beef fillet steaks

50g butter

1 finely chopped shallot

50g leek julienne

100ml dry Chardonnay

8 Craigens Loch Gruinart oysters (hot-smoke over peat in the shell for one hour)

1tbs oyster juice

100ml beef stock

100ml double cream

Salt and pepper

1 miniature of Ardbeg single malt whisky

Sprigs of chervil to garnish

METHOD

Season the steaks and place under a hot pre-heated grill. Cook to preferred degree.

Melt half of the butter in a pan, add shallots and leeks. Stir over a medium heat for four minutes. Increase the heat and add the wine and shelled oysters. Simmer for two minutes then remove. Pour in oyster juice and beef stock then bring to the boil.

Add cream to the cooking liquor and reduce on a high heat until thickened. Season.

Stir in the Ardbeg single malt and beat in the remaining butter to form a smooth sauce. Make an incision into the side of the steaks and put two oysters into each. Arrange on individual plates, pour around the sauce and garnish with chervil.

The Isle of Islay encompasses many extremes - from desolate, remote landscapes to luscious green fields; from windy, rainy days and stormy seas to brilliant sunshine and calm waters. All these elements are packed into a landmass just 20 miles by 13 miles. Part of the Inner Hebrides, the island is home to 3,000 people, most of whom farm the land or are involved in the main industry - whisky.

But Islay's tiny size and remoteness have not prevented recognition. The Harbour Inn, Bowmore, is the current holder of the Natural Cooking of Scotland award, sponsored by Caterer & Hotelkeeper, in the Scottish Tourist Board's Thistle Awards.

Winning the accolade for the inn, as well as the island, was the enthusiasm of 37-year-old Scott Chance, chef-proprietor of the 20-seat pub, four-bedroom hotel and 45-seat restaurant. With the help of two kitchen staff, Chance uses all the produce Islay has to offer in his menus. And he believes their taste is second to none: "The grass here gets hardly any treatment so is full of herbs, giving the steak a sweeter flavour. Our lamb has a moistness to it with a higher ratio of meat to fat. And because the water around the island is clean, and keeps the same temperature all year, shellfish taste sweeter."

Fish and shellfish go from sea to plate within a day, says Chance. "I can ring up my fish supplier in the morning and he'll have what I want to use by 6pm."

Chance can choose which farms supply meat, and even herbs are grown locally. Vegetables, however, have to be shipped from the mainland twice a week.

Some produce has come Chance's way by accident. When bad weather forced a ship to dock at Islay, the Harbour Inn bought basketfuls of monkfish, Dover sole, plaice and two bins of prawns for £10.

Chance is a big fan of organic produce and uses it whenever possible. "Organic food has such intense tastes that you don't need other flavours. What is produced now is grown too quickly, so all it does is take on water," he says. He argues that the south of England is squeezing farming too much. Making the move five years ago from his native Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire to Islay - a place he had already visited on holiday with his wife Wendy - was a reaction against this.

It was also a reaction against what Chance calls arrogance creeping into recipes and menus. "Obviously, I want to turn out the latest food types, but descriptions on menus are getting beyond a joke. People are using bizarre flavours to mask tasteless dishes. You have to wonder if people are using them for the sole reason of being able to say they are using unusual flavours."

Chance's own dishes go to the other extreme. He refuses to label his cooking style, saying he is updating traditional dishes that are full of natural ingredients and simply presented. "Nothing goes on to a plate that doesn't have a purpose. I work from flavour to presentation, not the other way around."

Grilled fillet of Islay beef filled with peat-smoked Loch Gruinart oysters flavoured with Ardbeg single malt whisky (£13.50) is a typical example of his conviction. "This recipe was taken from a Victorian dish known as a carpet-bag steak. It stems from the time when oysters were considered a luxury," adds Chance, who believes that most people still consider the crustaceans a delicacy.

For this recipe Chance smokes the oysters over peat to achieve a flavour to complement the Islay malt whiskies. "Peat flavouring is to most peoples' tastes, and all Islay malt whiskies taste of it. Peat is an important part of life for all on the island as it is used everywhere, from the whisky distilleries to general fuel."

While he was developing his menu, Chance learnt that the locals are not keen for their way of life to be disrupted. "What you can't do on a small island like this is jump in with both feet. I started by dropping in dishes gradually and it took me about 18 months to get the menu where I wanted it."

The menu, featuring eight starters, 15 mains and six desserts, includes beef, chicken, duck, hare, pheasant and nearly all available types of fish. It is changed as and when needed, led by availability of produce.

A winner with everyone

Customers are mainly tourists, ranging from Scots from the mainland to Texans (complete with Stetsons) hunting for their ancestors. Distillery personnel make up 10% of Chance's business and keep the restaurant afloat in the winter when the average number of customers drops from a summer high of 50 per night to 12 from November until the season picks up again in April. The spend per head stays the same, though, at roughly £20 without drinks.

One particular favourite is the Islay seafood and shellfish stew (£13.50). "It's the kind of dish that appeals to everyone; you get to try a lot of shellfish in one go. People may not want a full plate of oysters, but this way they get to taste a little. We put as many different shellfish and fish in it as we can because they are all unique in flavour."

Chance explains that technically it is not a difficult dish to do, but that it stands out because of the ingredients' flavours. "I know it can be cooked anywhere, but it tastes different here because the ingredients are so fresh."

With about a dozen eating places for diners to choose from on the island, Chance wants to offer something different from his competitors. He seeks out ingredients the others haven't yet used, such as crayfish used in the starter of crayfish terrine with asparagus spears and lemon butter sauce (£5.50). "Nobody else on the island uses crayfish, so I have to," he says.

Special treatment

He laughs when describing the first time he saw a crayfish. "I'd never worked with it until I came here. My supplier brought it to me and I thought, bloody hell, there's no claws on that lobster!"

Using the crayfish in a terrine is a way of making the expensive shellfish go a long way. Chance buys it for £20 per kg, though in London it can cost £30, he says. "Crayfish has a sweeter taste than lobster - more delicate - and the meat is dense with plenty of it. I decided on the terrine because you retain all flavour and create an affordable item. It is important to make sure there isn't a lot of other fish in there so the flavour of crayfish isn't masked."

Asparagus is served when in season - and it's a personal favourite of Chance's. "Asparagus is one of those ingredients regarded as special, and to put it with this other special item [the crayfish] makes it a very special dish." n

See Chef news, page 69, for details on last-minute entries to the Thistle Awards