Unavailable. They don’t come much more unique than the Guga, Gaelic for Gannet, harvested and prepared by one skilled group of 10 Ness men once a year for 2 weeks on the isle of Sùlaisgeir (Gannet Skerry), Sula being the Scandinavian word for Gannet. Sùlaisgeir is a desolate rocky isle over 40 miles(64km) out in the Atlantic, a risky journey in itself, to harvest the young gannets. The Guga Hunt has been a tradition in Ness, North Lewis, since before the 15^th century. There is also historical evidence of Norsemen on Iceland hunting seabirds from 740AD and even earlier. Traditionally the preserved birds formed an essential part of the winter diet for the people of Ness. It is still fundamental to their life, their place on this planet and their food heritage. It is considered part of their regional food culture when the harvest is shared.

The men work as a team: hunting, preparing and preserving so the work is completed before they leave the isle, until next year. The small population on Lewis, particularly the north end at Ness, look forward to this annual event and families share their ration of Guga with family and friends, for a special meal.

The Guga Hunters, the Men of Ness, are licensed for one annual trip with up to a maximum of 2 thousand gannets a year (and sometimes only 500). There are those who would say the gannet is endangered and animal rights groups think it cruel but neither is so. This is sustainable harvesting. The Guga Hunters in no way threaten gannet populations. This is a heritage, indigenous wild food with an ancient tradition, still eaten today. Judge not, when supermarket industrially produced chickens can have a shorter lifespan and farmed salmon regularly have a mortality rate of 20% in their intensive pens.

The community of Ness is granted the only exception under UK and EU Law because hunting for seabirds was outlawed in 1954. The isle is managed by Scottish Natural Heritage as a Nature Reserve and is challenging to land on and has no facilities other than an early chapel and a few rough drystone cells, where the men live. There are well over 1M northern gannets on the planet and 25-30 colonies, all in remote northern rocky outcrops. Interestingly, Bass Rock (near Edinburgh) currently has the largest gannet colony which will be significantly under threat from proposed wind farms that can decimate wild bird populations, including the Bass Rock gannets and local raptors… not much about that in the news.

Guga tastes pleasantly like smoked mackerel but has a stronger flavour and the texture of chicken, so although it is fowl it tastes like fatty fish. Similar in size to a supermarket chicken, it is best boiled outdoors as the cooking steam has quite a strong aroma. I have cooked it on several occasions (pictured), once for visiting chefs. We like it, and every one of the guest chefs were surprised how much they enjoyed the flavour. Best served with buttery mash and a glass of chilled milk.

Guga is officially recognised on Slow Food International Ark of Taste as an indigenous wild and heritage food, a valued traditional food culture uniquely associated with this specific region. Slow Food highlights small-scale food production and biodiversity, specifically those under threat from industrialisation, consumer attitudes, bureaucracy or rural depopulation. Their stories must be told accurately and their traditions upheld respectfully.

A couple of excellent reference books I’ve read…

The Guga Hunters by Donald S Murray

Sùlaisgeir by Catriona MacGeoch & James MacGeoch