Quality and provenance: the key to a true taste of Argyll on board our cruises.

Our Majestic Line Chefs are very fortunate to have a range of wonderful Argyll produce to create a true taste of Argyll onboard.  We are indebted to food wholesaler Forteiths of Oban for having the vision to create a co-operative for high quality Argyll producers, making it easy to source a range of wonderful produce for our menus.

Back in 2002, just as we were converting our first vessel, John Forteith launched on a mission to convince Argyll producers to abandon the traditional auction marts for selling their animals.  Instead Forteiths offered a partnership approach with a guarantee of price stability and consistency of availability for their produce.  Fortieths opened their own meat cutting plant and by using local abattoirs and providing a fair price to producers for 12 months of the year, immediately brought huge benefits to the local food and hospitality industry.  Now animals are reared, slaughtered and butchered in Argyll, reducing stress to the animals, demonstrating local provenance and saving many “food road miles”. It really does make sense!

The Majestic Line source Argyll Blackface Hill Lamb, Argyll Wild Venison, Argyll Aberdeen Angus and rare Argyll Tamworth Pork from Forteith’s butchery for our onboard menus.

Argyll Blackface Hill Lamb is reared in Mull, Islay and North Argyll and is a very lean succulent, flavoursome meat unlike any other lamb you will taste.  Blackface sheep graze the natural vegetation giving the meat its exceptional flavour with the fitness of the animal providing the leanness of the meat not found in other types of lamb.

Argyll Wild Venison is taken from the hill (never farmed) which again provides a very tender meat.  John Forteith is very clear that the beauty of the taste of the venison is in the time it is hung. The traditional overly strong flavour associated with venison is due to it being hung for too long; a short time only is required to bring out a light, clean and fresh flavour to the meat. 

On the other hand the Argyll Aberdeen Angus is hung for at least 28 days, as it should be, for succulence and taste.

Our pork comes from a small steading farm in the little village of Benderloch to the north of Oban.  Seumas MacFadyen and Paula Gillespie rear Tamworth Saddleback cross pigs, which gives a slightly higher fat content to the meat but which adds oodles of flavour.

 

We source a range of other products from the thousands of premium Argyll foodstuffs which Forteith’s distribute on behalf of local and artisan food producers.  The smoked mussels and prawns from Argyll Smokery in Dunoon are uniquely yummy served alfresco as canapés on our aft deck, while the Forteith’s own recipe Lorne sausage goes down a treat at breakfast.

Although we source a lot of Argyll foods from Forteith’s, we also stock up from other speciality retailers, two of our favourites being Fishmonger Watt’s of Oban, who supply us with local dived scallops and locally caught fish and the Kitchen Garden for a great range of delicious delicatessen foods.

Once en route, our vessels stop in at towns and villages to top up supplies with local delicacies from hand-made chocolate to speciality beer! While we are out in the remote sea lochs, it is still possible to pick up mussels from the farm or catch our own crabs, lobster and mackerel from the boat – nothing could be fresher or tastier!