Eriska, Scottish Island

Highlands and Islands Food and Drink Awards

Following our success early on Friday night with the hotel gaining the “Taste of Scotland” Scottish Thistle Award, we were thrilled to receive news that we have also won the Williamson Highland and Island Food and Drink Environmental Award on the same evening.  We were awarded the environmental award following recognition of the continual improvements the team at Eriska has put in place to reduce our carbon emissions as we work towards more sustainable operations from the resources we use right through to the end product.

These sustainable operations have not only been implemented in the kitchen but have also been transferred and embedded throughout other departments improving our hotel wide environmental operations.

Being the only hotel in our category made being shortlisted for this award an achievement in itself, so winning the award really does seem like an achievement.  This achievement would not have been recognized if it was not for the staff here at Eriska and their hard work and commitment which has helped us implement and improve our operations not only for our guests but for the benefit of our local community and environment.

However, as ever, these awards do make us sit back and relax as we believe there is always room for improvement which spurs us onto our next challenge.  We will keep our fingers crossed and ask you to watch this space…

Scholarship success

Late last week we received great news that one of our Duty Managers, Katharina, has been awarded The Savoy Educational Trust Philip Thornton Award for commitment to learning excellence.  The team here at Eriska are thrilled that one of our team members has beaten off stiff competition to be awarded this prize from the Academy of Food and Wine Service.  Following Katharine’s reference was sent to the judging panel, she was subsequently shortlisted and invited to the presentation of awards last Friday in London.

Late on Friday afternoon we received a call from an excited Katharina to let us know she had been successful and won the scholarship.   As a result of her hard work during her time at Eriska, she will now spend a week working at the Andaz hotel, a boutique Hotel in London - very different from Eriska with 267 rooms and situated in the centre of London.  Katharina has told us she is looking forward to getting the chance to experience the day-to-day running of a different style of hotel and see both front and back of house, furthering her knowledge of the food and wine sector in a different environment.

Meanwhile, two other members of staff are eagerly awaiting the results of scholarships they have applied for, with these results coming in the next month…Watch this space!  Until then, we wish Katharina the best of luck with her scholarship!

5 Gold Stars!

Earlier this week we received great news from Visit Scotland...we have been awarded the highest award given out by Visit Scotland for a Country House Hotel – their 5 Star Gold Award!  Recognition has to be given to the team here at Eriska and the support from our guests over the years who have all contributed us receiving this award.

Regardless of our continual hard work to maintain and improve our customer service and standards through the hotel, facilities and the island, when it comes to inspections and reviews, we are always intrigued to hear their responses as different people will have differing expectations and opinions of Eriska.  Whilst we strive to exceed these expectations, it is interesting for us to hear feedback from these inspectors and reviewers as they see a variety of accommodation providers on a day to day basis and have to assess Eriska objectively.

When word reached us at the hotel that we had gained the award, with almost 100% in each category, it definitely made us realise that all our hard work does pay off!  The award highlights 3 key aspects which have long been embedded within Eriska’s culture; our Eriska Welcome, high standards of service and hospitality throughout each guest’s stay as well as our accommodation and facilities which we continually aim to improve year on year for the benefit and enjoyment of our guests.  The award also highlights the commitment towards our customer focused approach and underlying approach to staff training and development which together work hand in hand to create the Eriska Experience which many of you return to experience again and again.  However, this does not mean we will sit back and bask in the glory of receiving this accolade, rather we will strive to build on and improve our offerings – no rest of the wicked!

Oban Rail Link

We are always interested to hear from our guests and friends who approach us with information about the history of the island and the hotel, thus broadening our knowledge of Eriska’s history which we can pass onto interested parties. Lately, we came across plans with a reference to Eriska, the hotel and island, in the “History of the Railways of the Scottish Highlands” by John Thomas.

In the construction of the West Highland railway, various proposals had been put forward and many of them rejected and altered before final agreements could be made. The plan was to ultimately connect the village of Ballachulish, north of Eriska, to the Connel ferry, south of Eriska, which would enable direct access to the quarries at Ballachulish. Originally, from Connel ferry, the train line was to cut through Keil Crofts and over Eriska, over loch Creran and through Port Appin, before finally rejoining the mainland and following the coast round to Ballachulish. At the time of these original plans, a local unnamed company was commissioned to build a Hotel on Eriska as part of the West Highland Railway plans, however this Hotel, now known as the Isle of Eriska, did not operate as a Hotel at this time, and instead it was occupied as a private house, until much later, when we turned it into the hotel it is today in the early 70s.

Rather than the above railway plans going ahead, the railway from Connel to Ballachulish followed what is now known as the A82, passing through Benderloch and over the Cregan Bridge, which has since become a road bridge, through the Strath of Appin before joining the original railway route at Portnacroish and following the coast round to Ballachulish. However with so many improvements in travel and changing industries, there is not the need there once was for rail transport, and as a result these railway tracks are out of commission, having been replaced and upgraded for other motors.

Eriska Wildlife

Despite the changeable weather we have experienced on Eriska over the past week, our Guests have still managed to get out and about to enjoy life outdoors on the Island.  As ever, the wildlife on Eriska constantly gives our guests something to talk about which often brings them back to visit in the future!

Last weekend one of our Guests was exploring the island and having returned from their time at Eriska sent us some images (below) of the wildlife they came across during their stay.  
 
 


Possible book ends above?  Send in any more Eriska photo gems you may have!

It’s often difficult to guarantee our guests will see all the wildlife that inhabits the Island in just one visit but we do try our best to point them in the direction of various nature hot stops around the Island – also seen on our Virtual tour.  For those of you who stay us regularly will recall our regular night time visitors, the badgers, that visit us most nights after dinner are always in demand by our guests as long as we remember to stick to our part of the bargain – feeding them!  Have a look at our badger bedlam game which is still running – watch out for me!

Wise words from the kitchen

We seem to have seen the last of the summer here at Eriska, however we are still hopeful for the odd ray of sunshine before the winter finally sets in. Having already experienced a few cold and frosty nights at Eriska, this signals the mushroom season is getting close to an end, although some types will still be found around Eriska until late autumn and early winter. Wise words from Tyron in our kitchen will shed some light on the mushroom which has featured in many of Eriska’s dishes this month… So what is a mushroom? Mushroom and any fungus is only the reproductive part of the organism, known as the fruit body (the actual mushroom which we get to see), which develops to form and distribute the spores. Fungi in their structure have some similarities to plants, but they lack chlorophyll, and are therefore unable to build up the carbon compounds essential to life, instead they draw their substances ready made from living or dead plants, or even animals as animals do. Mushrooms are composed of very thin tubes known as hyphae. The hyphae develop into a fine cob web like net known as the mycelium and grow through the material from which the fungus obtains its nutrition. In most cases the mycelium is very fine and can’t be seen without the aid of a microscope. To produce a fruiting body two mycelia of the same species have to band together, then given the right conditions of nutrition, humidity, temperature and light, a fruit body will be formed and with sufficient water, expand into a mushroom. A fruit body may only exist for a few days before rotting away but the mycelium which produces it might live for years. The larger fungi are divided into two distinct groups: The spore droppers, and The spore shooters. The spore droppers: Basidiomycetes, in these the spores are developed on the outside of a specialized, club shaped cells called Basidia. As they mature the spores fall from the basidia and are normally distributed by the wind. Boletus, puff balls and chanterelles fall under this category of spore dropping. The spore shooters: Ascomycetes, also called Ascos, form spores within clubs of flask-shaped sacs called asci. When the spores have matured they are shot out through the tip of the ascus. Morels and truffles belong to this group of fungi. Fungi are the third natural kingdom, just as important as animals and flowering plants. The world of plants is incredibly dependant on fungi. Fungi break down leaf litter and dead wood and thus ensure that the surface has a fertile soil rather than being a heap of detritus

Wise words from the kitchen

We seem to have seen the last of the summer here at Eriska, however we are still hopeful for the odd ray of sunshine before the winter finally sets in. Having already experienced a few cold and frosty nights at Eriska, this signals the mushroom season is getting close to an end, although some types will still be found around Eriska until late autumn and early winter. Wise words from Tyron in our kitchen will shed some light on the mushroom which has featured in many of Eriska’s dishes this month… So what is a mushroom? Mushroom and any fungus is only the reproductive part of the organism, known as the fruit body (the actual mushroom which we get to see), which develops to form and distribute the spores. Fungi in their structure have some similarities to plants, but they lack chlorophyll, and are therefore unable to build up the carbon compounds essential to life, instead they draw their substances ready made from living or dead plants, or even animals as animals do. Mushrooms are composed of very thin tubes known as hyphae. The hyphae develop into a fine cob web like net known as the mycelium and grow through the material from which the fungus obtains its nutrition. In most cases the mycelium is very fine and can’t be seen without the aid of a microscope. To produce a fruiting body two mycelia of the same species have to band together, then given the right conditions of nutrition, humidity, temperature and light, a fruit body will be formed and with sufficient water, expand into a mushroom. A fruit body may only exist for a few days before rotting away but the mycelium which produces it might live for years. The larger fungi are divided into two distinct groups: The spore droppers, and The spore shooters. The spore droppers: Basidiomycetes, in these the spores are developed on the outside of a specialized, club shaped cells called Basidia. As they mature the spores fall from the basidia and are normally distributed by the wind. Boletus, puff balls and chanterelles fall under this category of spore dropping. The spore shooters: Ascomycetes, also called Ascos, form spores within clubs of flask-shaped sacs called asci. When the spores have matured they are shot out through the tip of the ascus. Morels and truffles belong to this group of fungi. Fungi are the third natural kingdom, just as important as animals and flowering plants. The world of plants is incredibly dependant on fungi. Fungi break down leaf litter and dead wood and thus ensure that the surface has a fertile soil rather than being a heap of detritus

Early bird- early worm!

It has been a busy week here at Eriska with filming and renovations happening at the Hotel.  Today alone we have already been visited by a Camera Crew, carpet fitters, curtain fitters, interior designers and one of our suppliers - Willie Fish!

Our team in the Kitchen were up at the crack of dawn this morning to ensure they were looking their best for our film shoot.  Having reached the final of the Scottish Thistle Awards “Taste of Scotland Award” for the second year running, we were asked to provide some footage of our behind the scenes work in the kitchen from source to plate, to highlight our work with local suppliers and their produce as well as our own home grown produce on Eriska.  Our head chef, Robert, was joined by Tyron in the Kitchen and Willie from Oban’s “Willie Fish” to enjoy their 15 minutes of fame as the cameras rolled.  An hour and a half later, after a lot of hard work, we had enough footage to call it a day so all we can do now is wait to hear and see the end result on 29th October.

Meanwhile, we are continuing to press ahead with refurbishing the rest of our rooms in the main house to keep it fresh and welcoming for our past, present and future guests.  The carpet fitters, curtain fitters and interior designers have been hard at work over the past few days as 3 of our rooms in the main house, Soay, Iona and Seil, have been undergoing renovation.  With only today left to finish off these rooms, the carpets were laid, and the finishing touches made to the rooms ready for our guests coming to stay with us tomorrow!

Kitchen goes Nuts!

Eriska the Island is home to many seasonal produce which is grown and used in our kitchen, giving our guests a “taste of the island”.  Hazels are one such ingredient, growing on Eriska which finds its way into many dishes in our kitchen.

Also known as cobnuts these are the fruit of the hazel tree - a small hardy tree, and more often a multi stemmed shrub.  Growing in woods shrubs and hedges; it’s abundant throughout the British Isles except in very damp areas.

A deciduous shrub usually 1.5-3.5m high which flowers from December to April and the nuts are borne from late August to October. Its English name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon “haesel knut” from “haesel” - a hat or cap thus meaning a nut enclosed in a cap.

When picking cob-nuts one, try not to pick them too early as they are likely to be soft and tasteless. They ripen in mid to late September at about the same time the leaves begin to yellow. At this time you might have to compete with squirrels and birds!

Whether the hazelnut is fresh or processed, they are a very versatile commodity in the kitchen, used in many different items such as: salads, muesli, oils, breads, nougat, praline and many other both sweet and savory dishes – even featuring in today’s menu!  by Tyron in the Kitchen

 

Christmas Planning

It seems to come round so fast every year and whilst many may think that it is too early to think about Christmas I have always been a believer that the more planning we do the easier it will be nearer to the time. With only a few rooms left for Christmas and enquiries coming in the main thrust of thought is on the activities we will be able to offer.

 On a positive note we may be able to use our new indoor facility and with the huge number of opportunities this will bring even more options but on the negative side I am never willing to commit to finishing a product by a date unless I actually can see light at the end of the tunnel or in this case no light through the roof! The building is scheduled to be out of the ground by November with a full frame erected and the walls under way and then it will be the roof and cladding all before we can even start thinking about a surface on the floor and activities over Christmas.

However at the back of my mind is that if we can have it ready for Christmas MacPhersons Law- the one that says if you drop a slice of bread on the floor it will always fall butter down- says that it will be a stunning Christmas for weather and outdoor activities leaving any effort to finish by Christmas in vein and if we fail to make the deadline its sure to be a rotten- so we will strive to finish in time!

Other than that we are also working on the calendar for next year so it is ready in time for anyone who wants a copy before the year begins and we have just selected the image for the Christmas card,  fortunatelyDennis was alert last year when the frost was on the ground so we have plenty to choose from, in fact almost too many leaving a  tricky decision to be reached.