‘We learned through trial and error and a lot of reading. When it did work it was a great feeling.’ Andrew and Margaret McSorley Walker tell Carol Hogarth about making ‘the most original pasta on the planet’ - Galloway Scottish Pasta
Described as “the most original pasta on the planet” by the late Dave Myers of The Hairy Bikers, Galloway Scottish Pasta’s popularity has skyrocketed in the past six months.
During the popular television chefs’ tour of Dumfries & Galloway for their BBC Hairy Bikers Go West series, filmed last summer, they spent a day at the New Galloway home of the unique pasta with owners Andrew and Margaret McSorley Walker and their assistant Sophie Tulloch.
When the programme aired this February, the Galloway pasta website had 275,000 visitors, despite crashing for 12 minutes.
Galloway Scottish Pasta is handmade and naturally dried, and Andrew, Margaret and Sophie carry out every stage of production themselves, from making the dough to packaging and sending out orders.
Although they had been warned by the Hairy Bikers production team to prepare themselves for a shock, they have been blown away by the demand for their artisan product, and the feedback.
Alerting online customers of three to four-week waits, says Margaret: “We couldn’t rush when people are paying for a quality, handmade product. But even though we told customers they’d have to wait for their orders, not one person cancelled, and it didn’t slow the orders down.
Unlike traditional Italian pasta, which is made with durum wheat, Galloway Scottish Pasta is created with a combination of wheat flour (milled in Kirkcaldy in Fife) and oat flour (from Oatmeal of Alford in Aberdeenshire), with a pinch of Blackthorn Scottish Sea Salt from Ayr.
It is then put through a pasta machine by hand, using traditional bronze dies and air-dried naturally in perforated trays which are shaken every few hours. It’s a laborious, labour-intensive method, but customers appreciate the unique, environmentally friendly, product.
Like so many great ideas, Galloway Scottish Pasta was developed during the pandemic when Andrew and Margaret had time to research and experiment with their recipe.
With busy careers in Yorkshire – Andrew with his own accountancy practice and Margaret working in food development for major supermarkets and well-known brands – they decided to seek a better quality of life by moving north.
Andrew says: “We knew The Smithy was for sale and it was a seasonal business, which appealed to us because I have family in New Zealand we were keen to visit. We thought we could work hard for the summer season and then take a break.”
For the first two years, the Walkers ran it as a café, with Andrew in the kitchen and Margaret running front-of-house and doing the baking.
“It was going great guns and then Covid hit,” says Andrew. “It felled us as a business. We were a ‘drive to’ destination. Covid stopped the travelling completely. Then there was the fuel crisis, so we were hit over again. We kept thinking it would get better.”
Increasingly keen to improve their green credentials, the couple decided to come up with a dish to serve each day that was as local as possible, avoiding food miles.
Andrew came up with a Scottish pesto, sourcing flatleaf parsley and garlic from neighbouring Balmaclellan, finished with Laganory Cheese from the Ethical Dairy near Gatehouse, although the pine nuts had to come from further afield.
He then thought about where the pasta to go with it came from, and began looking into Scottish pasta. There was none. So, already a keen bread maker, he started experimenting with putting doughs through a small pasta maker.
“We messed about with the recipe when we were closed because of the pandemic. We learned through trial and error and a lot of reading. When it did work it was a great feeling.”
Margaret’s expertise in food development meant the couple knew to record everything for each batch, including humidity levels and weather conditions, so they could work out the effects they had.
“It’s an incredibly technical process,” says Margaret.
Sticking to their environmental ethos, she and Andrew chose fully recyclable brown paper bags as their packaging, with no plastic window, instead displaying jars of each shape on the shelves to show customers what they look like.
Initially the Walkers thought the pasta production would complement the café and, in 2022 they created a glass-fronted, humidity-controlled room for making and drying the pasta, allowing diners to watch the process.
Last August, with the pasta business growing, and the café struggling commercially, they decided to close its doors to concentrate solely on pasta production, although they plan to introduce occasional pasta-making and dining experiences later this year.
This will allow them to expand into more outlets which are keen to stock their product and produce larger pack sizes.
“It’s really hard work just now because we are at the limit of what we can do with what we have,” says Andrew. “When the new equipment comes in it will take us to the next stage.”
Galloway Scottish Pasta is currently sold at The Smithy, via the website www.gallowaypasta.co.uk and at various outlets including Kilnford Farm Shop and Tarff Valley in Dumfries; Loch Arthur, Beeswing; Harris & Co, Castle Douglas; The Galloway Food Hub online; and the village shops in New Galloway and Dalry.
Filming with the Hairy Bikers on a hot, sunny June day last year was, say the Walkers, a fantastic experience: “The whole crew were such a delight and Dave and Si were really funny and genuine.”
They are grateful to the Hairy Bikers for bringing their enterprise such widespread attention and appreciation, even though it has also brought them more work than they could have imagined.
As Margaret says: “We know people love it which is the biggest motivator.”
Overleaf they share their recipe for Scottish Parsley Pesto.
Scottish Parsley Pesto
This vibrant pesto was combined with our Bucoatini to make a simple but stunning dish that was served to The Hairy Bikers when they visited us at Galloway Scottish Pasta in 2023.
All ingredients except the pine nuts and lemon can be sourced from Scotland to keep your food miles as low as possible.
There are some great quality Scottish rape seed oils which are readily available, such as Mackintosh or Borderfields. Scottish sea salt from Blackthorn in Ayr or Isle of Skye work brilliantly and help with the blending.
This is easily made in a food processor in 10 to 15 minutes
Ingredients
60g (from 200g including stalks) flat leaf parsley leaves:
50g Pine nuts
2 good sized cloves of garlic
125 to 150ml rape seed oil
1 teaspoon of good quality salt
Lemon juice from half a lemon
Method
1. Heat a dry frying pan over a low heat and gently brown the pine nuts. Avoid distractions as they go from golden to burnt in less time than it takes to think how lush they smell. Pour out of the pan as soon as they are golden.
2. Add the pine nuts, parsley, garlic, salt and lemon juice to your food processor bowl (the one with the sharp blade in it). Begin to whizz on a low setting.
3. Slowly pour in the rapeseed oil and blend to your liking.
4. The pesto can be used immediately, stored in an airtight jar in the fridge for a good few weeks, or even frozen.
