Calum Munro may have recently appeared on the Great British Menu, but now his focus is back home in Skye on his own restaurant Scorrybreac as it opens for the season.
Launched in 2013, the eatery is named after his parents’ home. He originally launched Scorrybreac in their front room, with Calum in the kitchen and his brother, Niall, running dishes to 16 covers in their front room, six days a week. In 2015 they moved into the restaurant’s permanent home in Skye’s capital village, Portree.
What’s the closest thing you have to a signature dish:
The dish that I go back to time and time again would be my Venison heart tartare, dressed with a burnt heather aioli and served with scurvy grass (a shoreline plant that tastes really like wasabi).
Describe your style of cuisine in ten words:
Hyper seasonal, local, traditional in a contemporary style, fiercely foraged, environmentally focused, relaxed,interesting, delicious.
Best and/or most memorable meal you’ve ever eaten:
One of the most memorable eating experiences would be when I was around 12 years old, I went away to the Island of Raasay for an outdoor activities week. We abseiled down some sea cliffs and when reaching the shore, came across welks for the first time, asking my guide if you could eat them, I then filled my pockets and climbed back up the cliff. We cooked them in the kitchen with wild garlic from the woods. The whole process blew my mind. It was my first forage and wild cook.
Worst/weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten:
Bault, a fertilized egg that is boiled or steamed and eaten from the shell. It’s a common street food in Cambodia. I stumbled upon them after a couple of beers and thought they were just plain old boiled eggs… I have to say it was challenging, but delicious.
Worst thing you’ve ever cooked:
When I was making an elaborate hot chocolate, I wondered if cracking an egg into the mix might add to the creation.. It quickly cooked and turned into disgusting chocolate scrambled eggs. Vile.
What’s the dish that you’re most proud of having cooked:
I would say while working with a local project called Climavore, I created a dish to celebrate all the things that clean the sea, I called it ‘ Glan na Mara’. It was made up of mussels, scallops and lots of seaweed. I cooked it on the Great British Menu. So it was great to share the inspiration of it.
Favourite ingredient:
Elderflower vinegar. We make it when the blossom has had a couple of really sunny days. Then I use it in lots of different ways, my favorite being on raw scallops.
Your go-to recipe book:
Noma, it is incredible.
What other country’s cuisine really excites and intrigues you?
Japanese cuisine really excites me. I love the weird similarities we have in Scotland, with all the same seaweeds and whisky culture. Just very different approaches.
Most you’ve ever paid for a meal:
Attica in Melbourne. I think for the three of us it was £1,000. But totally worth it.
Your favourite Scottish chef:
Andrew Fairlie.
Favourite chef outside Scotland:
Ben Shewry, from New Zealand.
Who taught you to cook or ignited your passion for food as a youngster:
My mum cooked us such amazing food in the 90’s, I remember lots of vegan dishes. She’s an amazing baker too. She definitely inspired me from a young age.
Most important lesson a young chef can learn:
Work hard and take notes. It’s a real journey you have to go on if you want to be good. It doesn’t happen overnight.
Culinary mentor – the most important person in your development as a professional chef:
Ryan Lebriecht, a former chef from when I cooked in Canada. He was so impressively sharp and fast.
Best thing about the industry:
The creative process of cooking and developing dishes and being able to share them with your customers. And the buzz of a service.
Worst thing about the industry:
The way small businesses are taxed so highly in the country. Making it really difficult to pay people what we should.
What’s the biggest sin a chef can commit:
Not caring about what they are cooking. It’s a hard job and stressful, if you are not into it, there are other jobs out there.
What do you eat when you’re at home:
I love a good family roast. We normally have one every weekend . Great to get round the table with the family.
Celebrity guest or your perfect dinner party – who would you most like to cook for:
I had the pleasure of cooking for Robert Plant, from Led Zeppelin last year, he was such a cool guy. Cooking for musicians or artists is always really fun, they maybe see deeper into the art of what you’re trying to do.
Tell me a something about you that virtually no-one knows:
When I was a teenager travelling I took a job on a pearl fishing boat in the north of Australia, I don’t remember telling anyone I was going to sea for the month.
What’s your favourite wine:
I love a good Riesling or a chilled Pinot.
Your spirit of choice:
Whisky.
Do you play music in the kitchen and, if so, what’s your go-to track or artist:
In the morning I like to listen to a bit of music… This morning I had a local band called Niteworks blasting.
If you weren’t a chef, what would you be?
I love foraging so I would be doing that.
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