Back by popular demand - Stirlingshire’s Real Food Cafe puts its famous Deep-Fried Brussels Sprouts back on the menu
Christmas cheer is sizzling at Scotland’s iconic roadside cafe, The Real Food Cafe in Tyndrum, where its famous Deep-Fried Brussels Sprouts are back on the menu this year by popular demand.
The addition of the dish to last year’s Christmas menu became a runaway success, resulting in a whirlwind of TV, radio and newspaper coverage of the restaurant’s unconventional twist on a classic.
The Real Food Cafe’s reimagination of the divisive Christmas staple has transformed it from a soggy side to crispy, golden delights. Served with a side of honey mustard dipping sauce, deep fried to perfection and priced at just £5.55 for a dozen, the sprouts are delivering bite- sized bursts of festive joy to The Real Food Cafe’s customers, some of whom travel hundreds of miles for restaurant’s award-winning fish and chips.
The restaurant’s news comes hot on the heels of the announcement that Stirling has become the Brussels sprouts capital of Scotland.
New search engine research by experts at Together Travel has revealed a 7% rise in
searches for Brussels sprouts in the area over the past year, outranking everywhere else in the country.
Stirling was not the only place seeing a surge in sprout searches, with Aberdeen seeing a 6.7% rise, and Dundee a 0.3% boost. As a country, Scotland has seen an 11.9% rise in sprout searches online.
Comments such as “This is the news I’ve been waiting for. ‘Mon the sprouts!” have been the typical customer reaction on The Real Food Cafe’s Facebook page following the announcement that the sprouts have returned for another year.
“I think sprouts get a bit of a hard time”, said Sarah Heward, owner of The Real Good Cafe. “People have memories of soggy sprouts from their childhood, but I believe the humble sprout has come a long way in recent years, with top chefs creating ‘must try at home’ sprout recipes, so I decided to give my spin on the sprout again this year.
We couldn’t believe the media interest last year; again, showing that there’s a real appetite for restaurants doing new, innovative things with food and putting a bit of a twist on tradition.
The secret of our sprout success? It’s all in the blanching. We do it for just the right
amount of time to ensure the sprouts remain crunchy before we coat them in a light batter and fry them in clean, hot oil. It’s becoming a modern festive tradition here at The Real Food Cafe and judging by the demand from our customers, one that’s probably here to stay."
She added “Christmas is all about fun, creating memories and enjoying delicious and unforgettable flavours which you might not taste during the rest of the year, so I’m delighted that the sprouts are going down a storm again and adding to the festive cheer.”
Customers can get tuck into the tasty treats right through December and January, and for anyone tempted to try their hand at this crispy, festive treat at home, The Real Food Café has generously shared their exclusive recipe on their website here: Crispy Deep-Fried Brussels Sprouts Recipe.
