Orkney is a foodie’s paradise where the clean waters produce a bounty of seafood and fish served up overlooking the ocean by chefs who respect the quality of the produce.  Organic smoked salmon, hand-dived scallops, Westray crab, lobster and spoots in season (razorfish) are available in restaurants or to take home and prepare. Salt and air dried fish, the traditional way of preserving fish in the islands, is another speciality widely available, as are soused herring products and smoked white fish and kippers.

Orkney is full of artisan, smallscale producers who are proud of their produce.  You know exactly where your food has come from.

Lush green fields are the larders for the county’s award-winning cattle and sheep who can be seen grazing in meadows overlooking the sea. Meat from Orkney is highly prized right down in the south of England but what better place to sample it then here where it has been raised and food miles are kept to a minimum.  For a uniquely delicious flavour you can sample the hogget or mutton from North Ronaldsay lamb, a hardy ancient breed that feeds almost exclusively on seaweed. Local butchers make prized sausages, black pudding and haggis and many kinds of pies can be bought from them and at the artisan bakers.

You might think vegetables have a tough time growing so far north but Orkney is the perfect place for growing quality potatoes (tatties), other roots and leafy greens. Growers use polytunnels to grow succulent strawberries and ripen tomatoes during the long summer days.  Local grocers sell much local produce in season, clearly marked.  Rhubarb grows like a weed in every garden.  A farmers’ market is held in Kirkwall on the last Saturday of the month.

And our bakers know how to make scrumptious homebakes and biscuits, fancies, a huge range of bread and rolls and the unique bere bannock, a thick scone of primitive barley grown and milled in Orkney, baked on a girdle (iron).  Try one served with Orkney farmhouse cheese.  Other favourites are oatcakes and Orkney fudge.

Restaurant favourites in Orkney include breadcrumbed and fried Grimbister Cheese as a starter, or plain and simple partan toes (crab claws).  Orkney beef or seafood must top the list for main courses, and Orkney fudge cheesecake is the sweetest of all desserts.  Orkney is also famed for its huge number of cafes and tradition of tearooms, in town and country . They pride themselves on home cooking and baking and some serve high teas.  Some of the takeaway vans do all their own baking too.

There are two whisky distilleries in Orkney – Highland Park and Scapa. The former has been voted the best spirit in the world.  Orkney's two breweries – the Highland Brewing Company at Swannay Brewery in Evie and the Orkney Brewery in Quoyloo  brew award-winning cask and bottled ales.

Orkney hosts Scotland’s only wine festival in June.  Traditional Orcadian food is served at many events during the Orkney International Science Festival in September.  And an awards ceremony is held most years to recognise those in the food industry who promote Orkney produce.