When life gives you salmon

Hebridean Smokehouse

Kinloch Lodge

Far from living the easy life, Lady Claire Macdonald OBE and Fergus, 6th Earl Granville, turned their family estates into thriving businesses

Words by JOAN MCFADDEN

OPPOSITE:

Private dining at Kinloch Lodge

CLOCKWISE, FROM ABOVE:

Lady Claire & Lord Macdonald; Kinloch Lodge; Fergus, 6th Earl Granville

TOP LEFT:

Kinloch Lodge on the Isle of Skye

BOTTOM LEFT:

The Drawing Room at Kinloch Lodge

CLOCKWISE, FROM RIGHT:

Former chef director, Marcello Tully, with Isabella Macdonald; the Hebridean Smokehouse sources fresh salmon from clear Hebridean waters; room with a view at Kinloch Lodge

The aristocracy has a long history in Scotland, with Queen Victoria playing a major part in making the country a fashionable destination from the mid-19th century onwards. However, the term ‘laird’, Scotland’s traditional description of nobility, described the leader of a clan for centuries before the Queen’s love affair with Scotland and is still very much in use today.

Where Victoria spent her time in Scotland relishing in an escape from affairs of state, modern day Lords and Ladies in Scotland are immersed in the local community and more likely to roll their sleeves up and get the work done. Lady Claire Macdonald OBE, whose husband Godfrey is the 34th hereditary chieftain of Clan Donald, is renowned for this approach.

Lady Claire grew up living in Thurland Castle in Lancashire and married in 1969, when she was just 20. They were unexpectedly plunged into responsibility the following year when Godfrey’s father died suddenly and he inherited the title. The inheritance carried major challenges, with double death duties from his father and grandfather making life very hard for the young couple. Godfrey inherited Kinloch Lodge, a 17th-century hunting lodge, on the Isle of Skye, along with three other large properties in very poor condition and their first priority was to work out how to make a living. of supplies, so we showcase the

In 1972 they opened Kinloch Lodge as a 15-bedroom hotel, and despite having best here.” no formal training as a cook, Lady Claire ran the kitchen herself, quickly Food will always feature highly as developing an enviable reputation in serving locally sourced and seasonal food. part of Kinloch Lodge’s appeal, though Her love of food made it less of a chore and more of an adventure and that there are other elements to the hotel’s pleasure around meals is still important to her. success. The setting is stunning, the

“I love food and I love eating” she says, “It’s not just about the food, it’s about perfect base to enjoy outdoor pursuits getting people round a table and the pleasure of cooking for other people, helped on the island, along with some very by having access to the best food here in Scotland.” While raising their four special extras. “Our foraging package children Lady Claire wrote cookery books and newspaper columns, hosted is really popular,” says Isabella. “I can residential cookery courses and became synonymous with the best of Scottish see guests getting the same pleasure food, with Kinloch Lodge named one of the top 25 small hotels worldwide. from it as my sisters, brother and I

In 2008, Lady Claire appointed Roux-trained chef Marcello Tully to create a enjoyed as children and it gives you a new direction for the food at Kinloch Lodge, winning the restaurant a Michelin unique understanding of how we get star in 2010. The year before, Lady Claire and her husband had handed over the our food from the land, or the lochs running of the hotel to their daughter, the Honourable Isabella, though they are and sea surrounding us.” still interested and involved. Marcello has since moved on to pastures new and the Kinloch kitchen remains in safe and creative hands, continuing its ‘simple, seasonal and local’ ethos. “I’m very mindful of the unique history and heritage we have Lady Claire became synonymous with the best here,” says Isabella. “Mum was the first person to promote of Scottish food, with Kinloch Lodge named seasonal and local food in Scotland, which played a huge part in our reputation and success. We want for nothing in terms one of the top 25 small hotels worldwide

CLOCKWISE, FROM RIGHT:

The Hebridean Smokehouse on North Uist in the Outer Hebrides is renowned worldwide; the Piobull Fhinn stone circle and Loch Langais on North Uist; the Hebridean Smokehouse shop sells both smoked seafood produce and local crafts; salmon is smoked by burning locally cut moorland peat

“Mum wants people to feel they’re coming into our home,” Isabella continues, “so we’ve always focused on relaxed informality coupled with astounding service. We’re open all year round and our staff make a great team as we aim to keep them as long as possible. I’ve learned a lot from Mum and Dad over the years and they’re still ready to drop in and lend a hand.”

Meanwhile, far across the choppy Minch, North Uist presents an equally stunning, if considerably wilder vista. The landscape is one of wide-open beaches, freckled with the fragrant and fragile owers and grasses of the machair and tidal strands, lochans and bogs. This is also where you’ll nd Fergus, 6th Earl Granville, hard at work in the Hebridean Smokehouse at Clachan, which he bought and extended in 2000.

Fergus moved with his parents to North Uist in 1961 and had an idyllic outdoor childhood here with his two siblings, with a visit from his godmother, the Queen, every summer as she arrived on the royal yacht for the annual picnic with his family. He has replicated that gloriously outdoorsy childhood with his own children, and the family clearly feel great pride in the island and have strong ties here. Fergus’s brother Niall runs a hotel nearby and his late sister, Lady Marcia, also lived here with her four children.

Fergus is very much a part of the Hebridean Smokehouse operation, as he has been since he took over the business, and the well-deserved reward is worldwide renown. “It has been an exciting journey for us to have gone from supplying visitors to the smokehouse shop and a small number of mail-order customers in the UK, to being on the shelves of major retailers here in the UK and around the world,” says Fergus. “Making the best smoked salmon requires not just the best ingredients but also not using too many,” says general manager Christopher West. “We source the salmon from clear, clean Hebridean waters, pure sea salt from the Dead Sea and produce smoke from burning locally cut moorland peat. What we don’t use is sugar in the cure or novelty avours that would mask skilful smoking of top-quality sh.”

Hebridean Smokehouse products include traditional smoked salmon, smoke-roasted salmon and delicate smoked scallops and are stocked in 130 Waitrose stores across the UK, as well as in Fortnum & Mason, and are hugely popular in the department stores of Japan and Thailand.

The business has a very strong mail order component, and the Christmas rush always needs an ‘all hands-on deck’ approach, with extra staff employed to help meet demand. In Lonely Planet 2018, it was included in the Ultimate Eat List, which features the 500 best places to eat across the world. More recently it won the accolade of being judged top for provenance in Scotland as part of the Great British Food Awards 2020. Traditionally, living on an island meant making the most of the produce to hand. On both Skye and North Uist that produce has always been of the highest quality, undoubtedly t for kings. It should come as no surprise, then, to nd the aristocracy extolling its virtues, even if many of their guests and customers are amazed at how hard they work to share it with the world. S

Fergus moved to North Uist in 1961 and had an idyllic childhood, with a visit from his godmother, the Queen, every summer