I started off as an extremely fussy eater like you, and I’m only now coming out of it now and trying everything I can! Would you say being a fussy eater as a child spurred you on to being so excited by Scottish food and eventually creating this blog?

 

I definitely think that being a recovered fussy eater has fuelled my excitement and need to try new things. I set myself challenges to try new things because I'm not at the point that I hate not liking certain foods. My love for food then triggered me taking countless photographs of my meals and I had no use for them, until I hatched the idea to write a blog.

 

 

Do you think food blogging is gaining importance?

 

Yes - people can identify with you as a person and over time trust your opinions on restaurants, recipes or food whereas users on review sites can still feel anonymous/potentially misleading, or recipes can sometimes carry the 'untested' risk. Blogs afford people the trust of a friend's advice without knowing them!

 

 

Places like Spain and France very much have their own food culture, whereas Scotland

doesn’t so much have this. Do you think it’s important to promote our own produce and food

industry?

 

I feel like we do have a food culture, it's just not one that we feel proud of because it has become

diluted with the influx of foreign food in our diets and also the laziness of many Scots. Our good

food culture is definitely based around our meat and vegetables - things like mince 'n' tatties/

stovies, haggis in its various forms and dishes and then our berries which hundreds of people go

out to pick every year in Tayside. Sadly, the deep fried side of things gets more attention and

people think that's our culture!

 

I think our food industry doesn't necessarily need promoting as other countries have it sussed:

we have AMAZING produce, it's Scottish people themselves that need to embrace it! Restaurants

are definitely becoming more proactive about not only using local ingredients but bragging about

it it too!

 

 

Tell me your top 3 favourite recipes of all time:

 

My favourites to cook are: chilli con carne, my brownies (I'm told they're the best) and lamb in red wine.

 

 

Can you tell me your favourite recipe that is specifically Scottish?

 

On my blog there is a recipe called a Haggis, Neeps & Tartiflette which is my own spin on the classic. Very tasty!

 

 

Do you attend food festivals at all?

 

I go to the BBC Good Food Show and Glasgow's Merchant City Festival every year and if I'm free when others pop up then I go.

If you could give one piece of advice to a food blogger, what would it be?

Be honest, be original and make sure you actually love food and don't just share any old rubbish.

 

 

Where would you want your food blogging to be in 10 years?

 

In an ideal world I could blog full time on my current salary, afford to eat out and travel more often, and afford a fancy camera. As long as I can taste and explore then I'm happy to blog as I have been! I'm always open to new opportunities so I keep a very open mind for the future of House of Herby!

 

 

Are you there enough good suppliers for local food suppliers in Scotland?

 

I would imagine so but it's not something I know lots about. I know that there are amazing suppliers in Scotland that restaurants I like use, so I'd say we're doing okay. If w had too many then they would compete and it would probably drive the price and therefore quality down or they'd go bust, so there needs to be a balance.

 

 

How important do you think it is that people shop at local businesses?

 

I think that it's really important but I understand why people don't do it. Convenience is a huge barrier to shopping locally and so is cost. I'd love to see big supermarkets like Tesco/ASDA hand over their bakery/butcher counters/produce aisles to local butchers to run from within their supermarkets so a different local butcher could run each one.