Exclusive Recipes From Michelin Star Chef Nuno Mendes Using Old Pulteney Whisky

In a tantalising new collaboration, Michelin-starred chef Nuno Mendes has partnered with Old Pulteney to share a series of exclusive recipes that capture the rich maritime heritage of both Scotland and Portugal. Known for his boundary-pushing creations, Mendes has crafted these dishes to celebrate the unique flavour of Old Pulteney’s limited-edition Coastal Series whisky, Old Pulteney Port. Each recipe is a masterclass in fusing Scottish coastal ingredients with the deep, warm character of this special whisky.

Mendes describes the dishes as a celebration of the sea’s natural bounty, enhanced by the whisky’s subtle maritime notes. His creations range from savoury, seafood-forward delights to a decadent dessert—all elevated with the complexity of Old Pulteney Port’s rich and smoky profile. Whether you’re a whisky aficionado or a gourmet food lover, these exclusive recipes offers an unforgettable journey of taste, seamlessly blending the culinary traditions of two coastal nations.

Slow Baked Scallops with a Smoky Broth

Native Scottish scallops are delicately baked and paired with a broth infused with Old Pulteney Port, combining coastal character with notes of citrus and spice. Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 4 large hand dived scallops on the shell
• 240g scallop Dashi
• Seaweed and oyster shells for presentation

Method for scallop preparation:

1. Remove scallops from the shell gently to avoid losing any of the meat. Separate the scallop meat from the skirts and roe.
2. Reserve the scallop meat for serving somewhere cool.
3. Clean the shells and scrape any meat or dirt attached to the shell and reserve the shell for cooking and serving.

Scallop Dashi:

• 150g scallops’ skirts
• 10g dashi powder
• 15g dried seaweed
• 5g hijiki
• 15g dried kombu
• 200g port wine
• 1000g distilled water
• 10g orange peel
• 40g Old Pulteney Port Whisky
• Pinch of salt
• 10g coriander

For the scallop Dashi:

1. Bring the first 8 ingredients to a gentle simmer and cook for 45min.
2. Add the Old Pulteney Port Whisky, pinch of salt and chopped coriander.
3. Stir well, cover and leave to infuse and until cool. Strain through a coffee filter and reserve for service.

For service:

1. Place each scallop on the centre of the shell, add 60g of scallop Dashi onto the shell, place the top shell to cover and wrap the lid with foil so it prevents the liqueur from spilling.
2. Place these on top of ring moulds or teacups until use.

To cook:

Place these upright with on the upper shelve of a hot grill supported by a ring mould and cook gently at a temperature of about 65 degrees for 25 minutes.

To serve:

1. Place seaweed and oyster shells and sea rocks or other preferred garnishes on 4 deep plates to make a flat bed to place the scallops.
2. Place the scallops in the shell on top of the garnishes. Be careful not to burn yourself doing this.
3. Remove the foil and take it to the table.
4. Remove the top lid of the scallop and place a drop of whisky in each scallop table side and eat right away.

Arroz de Marisco with Lobster, Crab, and Old Pulteney Port

A classic Portuguese seafood rice dish, enhanced with the Old Pulteney Port’s subtle warmth and depth, creating a perfect marriage of flavours.

For the lobster and crab:

• 2 Native lobsters with about 600g each
• 100-120g picked Crab claw meat
• Salted water for quick blanching
• Salt Sugar Cure
• 120g caster sugar
• 80g fine sea salt

Method:

1. Ask your fishmonger to kill the lobsters by separating the heads from the bodies.
2. With some metal skewers, pierce the lobster tails from top to bottom to avoid them curling when blanched.
3. Separate the heads from the claws.
4. In a large pot bring 3 -4 litres of water heavily salted water to a boil, place the lobster tails in and blanch for 2 minutes and place in ice bath right away. In the same water, blanch the claws and knuckles for 1 minute and place in ice back right away.
5. Once cold and dried, remove the tail meat from the shells making sure they stay whole and undamaged. Remove the knuckle meat and the claw from the shell. Remove the blood line from the lobster tails.
6. Cure both with the sugar and salt mix. Tails for 15 minutes. Claws for 5 minutes. Don’t cure the knuckles. Rinse under cold water to remove all cure, dry and reserve for cooking.

For the Lobster and crab stock:

• 60g of olive oil
• 1 large white onion chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic peeled, stem removed and halved
• 1 bulb of fennel chopped
• 1 large carrot peeled and chopped
• 20g of chopped coriander stems (save leaves for finishing).
• 2 vine ripened plum tomatoes diced
• Shells of 2 Lobster including heads
• 4g Smoked Paprika
• 2000g Cold Water or 2kg of Ice cubes
• 10g Dashi Powder
• 30g Dried Kombu
• To finish: 30g Old Pulteney Port Whisky

Method:

1. Sweat the onions, fennel, carrot, garlic and coriander stems in olive oil with a bit of salt until soft and sweet, add the paprika and toast until fragrant, add the tomatoes, raise the heat and cook down until slightly caramelised.
2. Add the lobster shells and heads and toast until fragrant.
3. Add dashi powder, dried kombu and add 2 litres of water OR 2kg of ice cubes.
4. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 1hour in gentle heat. At the end of the cooking, add 30g of whisky to finish, cover with a tight lid and let it cool down naturally.
5. Once cool properly, strain to remove all the shells and save the liquor to once side and vegetables left to the other.
6. Discard the shells.
7. Make a paste of the leftover vegetables and use to cook with the rice.

For the Rice:

• 50g olive oil
• 250g chopped onions
• 100g tomato passata
• 500g washed and drained good quality sushi rice
• 1500g lobster stock
• Leftover vegetable paste from the stock
• 50g chopped coriander and parsley (equal parts roughly)
• Salt
• White pepper
• Lemon juice
• Orange peel
• 100g crab claw meat
• 25g Old Pulteney Port Whisky to finish

Method:

1. In a medium wide bottom pot, add olive oil and sweat all vegetables together slowly with a pinch of salt to extract fragrances.
2. Add rice and toast for 3 minutes.
3. Add tomato passata and vegetables from the stock and toast for 3 minutes more.
4. Add 1000g of stock, stir very well, cover and bring to a hard simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes.
5. Remove the lid, give a quick stir to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom and add more stock so that the rice is quite wet. Put the lid back on and simmer very slowly for another 10 minutes.
6. By now the rice should be still al dente with a nice creamy consistency but still wet.
7. Add the seasonings, add chopped herbs, orange zest, lemon juice and the Old Pulteney Port Whisky.
8. Add crab meat and stir through.

For service:

• 2 lobster tails cured and skewered to keep straight
• 4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
• Salt
• White pepper
• Lemon zest
• Orange zest

Method:

1. Spoon the melted butter and seasoning and zest all over the lobster bodies and claws and place them on an ovenproof tray.
2. Turn the griddle on your oven to high.
3. Just as the rice is ready, place the lobster tails red side up in the top shelf closest to the griddle and claws on a lower shelf.
4. Cook for about 2 minutes, using the skewers to prevent them from curling.
5. Turn them around and cook for about 30 seconds on the bottom side and let them rest out of the oven in a room temperature tray. Remove the claws from the oven as well and keep for serving.
6. Just as the rice is plated, slice each lobster tail lengthwise and place each half on top of a plated portion of rice.
7. Cut the claws the same way and place them on the rice as well.
8. Spoon the juices from the lobster butter over the rice, lobster bits and serve right away.
9. If you have knuckle meat, fold this in the rice before you plate it.
10. Eat it immediately and enjoy!

Soaked Portuguese Rice Cake with Old Pulteney and Caramel Custard Ice Cream

A unique twist on a traditional dessert, featuring a whisky-soaked rice cake and rich caramel custard ice cream that draws on the whisky’s smoky and spicy notes. Serves 4.

For the Rice Cake:

• 200g rice flour
• 150g flour
• 200g caster sugar
• 75g butter
• 150ml milk
• 2 eggs
• ½ orange zest
• ½ lemon zest
• 10ml orange liqueur such as Licor Beirão
• 1g smoked paprika
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bakers yeast dissolved in a bit of warm water or powdered yeast
• Butter to coat the moulds
• Powdered sugar to sprinkle on top

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven at 200ºC.
2. Mix all the wet ingredients to dissolve and incorporate in a large bowl.
3. Mix all the dry ingredients and whisk vigorously into the wet ingredients to incorporate into a smooth batter. If using baker’s yeast, make sure it’s well dissolved before you start mixing.
4. Line 8 muffin moulds with vertical paper and brush them with a bit of butter.
5. Spoon the batter evenly between the moulds so that they are no more than half full. They will rise in the oven so please be aware not to overfill them.
6. Once the batter is evenly spread, sprinkle the top with sugar and let it rest for 30 minutes uncovered in the counter.
7. Bake the cakes at 200ºC for 15 minutes.
8. Remove from the moulds and let it cool down on a cooling rack.

Caramel Custard Ice Cream:

For the Port Caramel:

• 175g caster sugar
• 375g water
• 375g ruby Port wine

Method:

1. Heat the sugar in a pan with the water, once is dissolved, increase the heat to make an amber coloured caramel – it should reach 144ºC.
2. Carefully pour the caramel into a baking tin.
3. Leave to set in the fridge overnight.

For the Custard Caramel:

• 600g caster sugar
• 375g water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• Zest of Half a lemon
• 540g pasteurised egg yolks

Method:

1. Cook sugar syrup to reach 112ºC , with lemon zest and cinnamon.
2. Pass the mix onto the yolks and pass it through a sieve and mix it thoroughly again so it’s well incorporated.
3. Pour the mixture into a medium sizes rectangular deep tray so that the mix is not filled to the top but about 2 -3 inches. Cover with kitchen foil, make some a couple of holes on it so it steams.
4. Bake the custard on a preheated oven in the mixed steam bake setting at 100ºC for 20 minutes (check at 10 minutes) and keep checking until the middle of the custard is set. Use a toothpick.
5. Remove from the oven, take the foil off and let it cool down.
6. This custard is amazing as it is and if you flip it onto a tray, you’ll get an amazing caramel custard to serve to your friends.

For the Ice Cream:

1. To make the ice cream transfer the whole thing or if you wish, half of the custard and blend that with 20% of whole milk. This will help dilute it. Mix it in a blender or hand blender and place in a standard ice cream maker following the user instructions.
2. Churn until a smooth gelato-like texture is achieved.
3. Reserve for plating.

For the Custard Sauce:

• 500g double cream
• 150g whole milk
• 150g caster sugar
• Black pepper to taste
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 4 Egg yolks
• Sea salt
• 25g Old Pulteney Port Whisky

Method:

1. Bring the cream, milk sugar and aromatics to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Whisk the mix slowly into the egg yolks to temper and so it doesn’t curdle.
3. Strain through a fine strainer and add back to the pot and cook in low heat until the mix thickens likely. Be careful not to scramble the eggs.
4. Strain again and add the Old Pulteney Port Whisky and a touch of salt. Cool it down for service.

To plate and assemble:

1. Cut the rice cakes in half lengthwise and toast them lightly.
2. Douse them with the whisky custard cream and place in the bottom of a serving plate.
3. Scoop the custard ice cream on top.
4. Spoon a bit more of the custard on top and drizzle with a good extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of Maldon Salt.
5. Serve immediately.

Old Pulteney Port Whisky is available to purchase via oldpulteney.com, The Whisky Exchange, and specialist whisky retailers for £76 RRP.