Cooking or culinary holidays, vacations, tours in Scotland:

Cooking Holidays near Loch Ness in the Highlands
. . . find out more about Scottish Cooking

When you are planning a holiday to Scotland, it is likely that you will visit Loch Ness and the village of Drumnadrochit with its Nessie Exhibition centers and Urquhart Castle. If you do then you should consider a stay at Knowle Bed & Breakfast with its panoramic view towards the mysterious Loch.

Hidden from the road, Knowle Bed & Breakfast is a comfortable, privately situated family home, surrounded by spacious gardens and woodland and offering private parking. Located along the Great Glen Walk and Cycle Way, with special facilities for walkers and cyclists, Knowle Bed & Breakfast not only offers a good night’s sleep but also offers a cooking holiday package aimed at people with a passion for preparing food who would like to find out more about Scottish Cooking during a 5 night’s stay, together with family or friends. A holiday with a tasty difference!

Scottish Cooking Holiday at Knowle B&B

This holiday is aimed at people with a passion for food who would like to find out more about Scottish cooking, either by a hands-on or a hands-off approach. There are three ways of enjoying a Scottish Cooking Holiday at our B&B, which all involve guidance by qualified Chef Bert Wigman who recently upgraded his position from a keen amateur cook to a professional chef and is happy to share his new-found knowledge with our cooking holiday guests!

Package 1:

This is our main cooking holiday package which involves a five nights' stay at our B&B with a group of four to six people who book together and actively help out with cooking typical Scottish dishes for four days, making use of Scotland's wild and fresh ingredients.

Prices for Package 1

January, February, November and December	:	£230 per person
March to June, September & October	:	£250 per person
July and August	:	£270 per person

Including:

• Five nights bed and breakfast.
• Four times 4 course evening meals - including practical instruction in preparing the meals by qualified chef Bert Wigman
• Recipes of the evening meals
• Optional - 3 to 4 hour guided walk during one of the days of your stay at an additional cost of £25 per person including a packed lunch.

Package 2:

Package 2 is aimed at two or three people traveling together and planning a shorter stay at our B&B (minimum of two nights). We are happy to offer you a Scottish Cooking experience at a cost of £35 per person per day on top of your B&B price. To be arranged at time of booking.

Package 3:

If you are a food lover and planning to stay in our B&B for a minimum of 5 nights but prefer not to cook in your holiday, you are welcome to enjoy a 4-course dinner at our B&B (minimum of 3 evenings) at a cost of £17.50 per person per evening on top of your B&B price. To be arranged at time of booking.

Scottish Food

Scottish food is famous for its fresh, natural and wild ingredients. All our food is prepared with quality Scottish products and typical food you may find on the menu:

• Cullen Skink (fish soup)
• Venison
• Game
• Lamb
• Scottish salmon (home smoked)
• The legendary Haggis
• Neeps and Tatties
• Vegetable curry
• Baked potato

. . . and of course some of the well known mouth watering desserts such as Raspberry Meringue and Sticky Toffee Pudding.

This cooking holiday will give you an opportunity to gain an insight in Scottish cooking - although occasionally it will be mixed with a flavour of Continental cooking because of our Dutch background. For British guests we are happy to introduce some typical Dutch and other Continental dishes.

Pheasant and Haggis	Sticky Toffee Pudding

A typical cooking holiday-day:

• Before 3:30 pm
  
  After a tasty Scottish, Vegetarian or Continental breakfast you will have plenty of time to explore Loch Ness and part of the Highlands. We will be happy to advise you on where to go for your walking, cycling or car trips, directing you to waterfalls, castles, lochs, museums, ancient Caledonian pine woods, whatever takes your fancy. For the early risers it is even possible to make a car trip to the beautiful west coast of Scotland and still be back in time for the cooking part of your holiday.
  
  For those interested in complementary therapies there is the option of receiving Bi-Aura therapy during the day by Mirjam, who is a qualified Bio-Energy Practitioner. Have a look at www.lochnessbi-aura.co.uk to find out more about this holistic energising and healing form of treatment.

• From 3:30 pm
  
  At 3:30 pm you are invited into the kitchen. You will find a menu for the evening's dinner and we will briefly talk you through the different courses. Ingredients for each of the individual dishes will all be lying ready and you can choose which dish you would like to help out with. For all recipes we use as many of our own fresh products as possible, e.g. eggs, tomatoes, herbs.
  You will be given information about the typical Scottish ingredients, products and dishes in a relaxed and informal atmosphere, which so far has proved a most enjoyable experience for our guests.

  Around 6:00 pm we will invite you to your table in our conservatory and will serve you the dishes, which will no longer hold any secrets for you . . . apart from the taste of course!

Finally

At the end of your holiday we will give you the recipes, so you can re-create your favourite Scottish dishes at home. If you live outside the UK, you may want to make sure that before you go home you buy some of the ingredients that you often can't get abroad, like black treacle, golden syrup, pinhead oatmeal, etc. Our local supermarket or otherwise the bigger supermarkets and health shops in Inverness will be able to provide you with all these goodies.

Back to nature

In the summer months we can tell you where to find the wild raspberries. And when it's wild mushroom time Bert will be happy to organise a guided walk to pick with you the chantarelles which will form part of a delicious soup later that day. In September it is bramble time, so feel free to pick some of those and Mirjam will find you a nice dessert or home baking recipe for them to be used in. And then of course we will be preparing the best game and venison dishes, including a venison recipe with a game and chocolate sauce, which is elaborate, but definitely one of our favourites. For those interested we'll make sure to find out from which Highland Estate the deer originated.

Sausage-making is an option too. And if you have a particular interest in curing and smoking, Bert can take you through this whole process in practice, as he often smokes fish, ham and bacon in our own smoking kiln.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE EMAIL enquiry@lochnessguesthouse.co.uk

Guest Rooms
There are three comfortable bedrooms: two en-suite double rooms (one downstairs and one upstairs) and one upstairs triple room (King-size bed and single bed) with private facilities. The rooms all come with wash basin, tea and coffee making facilities, hair dryer and shaver point.

Lounge
Upstairs you will also find a guest lounge with a fine view towards Loch Ness, offering you easy chairs, TV and a bookcase with a variety of books and board games.

Knowle Bed & Breakfast was awarded a Three Star rating by the Scottish Tourist Board.

A deep love for Scotland made us decide to emigrate in August 1997 from the Netherlands to the beautiful Highlands of Scotland. Our experience as Scottish tourists goes back more than eighteen years and if required, we are happy to provide you with walking, cycling and other tourist tips.

Highland Activities

From our home you will find a range of possibilities for walking, cycling, fishing, horse riding and at the same time enjoying wildlife. At easy car distance three beautiful glens are accessible: Glen Cannich, Strathglass and Glen Affric - the latter, with its remains of the ancient pine forest, is of outstanding beauty and all three glens offer superb walking.

The wilderness, remoteness and tranquility of the area are truly fascinating!

Walkers and Cyclists Welcome!

There are special facilities for walkers and mountain bikers: Drying room, maps, bike shed and bike servicing. There are also mountain bikes available for hire.