A NEW TV series about a family-run bakery in the Outer Hebrides has revealed that their success in the early days was almost accidental – as people started coming into the bakery in the early hours of the morning for a pie.
Brothers, Allan and Ewen Maclean, opened Maclean’s bakery on the Isle of Benbecula in 1987, and it’s grown to become one of the largest private businesses in the Western Isles.
Allan says he and Ewen knew nothing about baking before starting the business, and in the early days word spread about the new food outlet in the middle of the islands, particularly at the weekends when the pubs closed and dances finished.
Allan said: “We used to work nightshift at that time and someone started coming in once the pubs closed to ask if they could have a pie to eat.
“When you have a few drams you feel hungry, so what better than to stop here and get a pie hot out of the oven. It was perfect timing.
“Within a few months it was so busy. One night there were minibuses and a regular bus. You might have about 80 people in the space of a few hours.
“Even if you were busy, you couldn’t refuse them or say the pies had run out because they could see them on the rack.”
It became so popular that Allan was struggling to get his work done to prepare food for the vans leaving at 9am with deliveries so he decided to halt the supply of pies during the night to concentrate on producing food from the bakery as they had originally intended.
This was only one aspect of the business and throughout the years Maclean’s, which is based in Uachdar, has prepared food for many large and small scale events in Uist. Each day, they send every type of cake, oatcake, biscuit and bread all over the Western Isles, but also to every corner of Scotland.
Amongst the services they provide is a busy restaurant called Stepping Stone and a catering trailer which sells fresh local produce and hot food to events all over the islands.
This six-part series shows how the family team manages to juggle everything including real-life drama when Ewen, who has Crohn’s Disease, is rushed to the hospital on the mainland to deal with what could be a life-threatening situation for him, and the family makes the difficult decision to sell the restaurant.
Since these programmes were made, the bakery has closed its take-away due to Coronavirus but they still have their full team of staff working in the bakery. They also continue to provide the community with hot food from their catering trailer.
An Taigh-Fuine/The Bakery was produced by MacTV for BBC ALBA and is on every Thursday at 8.30pm from May 14 and each episode is available on the BBC iPlayer for 30 days after it airs.
Sreath ùr air BBC ALBA mu shoirbheachas taigh-fuine Maclean’s
Tha sreath ùr telebhisein mu dheidhinn teaghlach a tha a’ ruith taigh-fuine anns na h-Eileanan an Iar a’ foillseachadh gun robh an ìre de shoirbheachas anns na làithean tràth na thurchartas – oir gun thòisich daoine a’ tighinn a-steach dhan taigh-fuine ann an uairean beaga na maidne airson pàidh a cheannach.
Dh’fhosgail na bràithrean Ailean agus Eòghainn MacIlleathain taigh-fuine ann am Beinn na Faoghla ann an 1987, agus ’s e a-nis, aon de na gnìomhachasan prìobhaideach as motha sna h-Eileanan an Iar.
Tha Ailean ag ràdh nach robh mòran eòlais aige fhèin ’s aig Eòghainn a thaobh fuine mus do thòisich iad an gnìomhachas, agus anns na làithean tràth, sgaoil an naidheachd mu dheidhinn an àite bìdh ann am meadhan nan eilean, gu sònraichte aig an deireadh sheachdain nuair a bhiodh na taighean-seinnse a’ dùnadh ’s nuair a bhiodh na dannsaichean a’ crìochnachadh.
Thuirt Ailean: “Bhiodh sinn ag obair air an oidhche aig an àm sin agus thòisich cuideigin a’ tighinn a-steach aon uair ’s gum biodh na taighean-seinnse dùinte airson faighneachd am b’ urrainn dhaibh pàidh fhaighinn airson ithe.
“An uair a tha thu a’ gabhail drama no dhà, tha an t-acras a’ tighinn ort, mar sin, dè as fheàrr na bhith a’ stad an seo agus a bhith a’ faighinn pàidh teth dìreach a-mach às an àmhainn.
“Taobh a-staigh mìos no dhà, dh’fhàs e cho trang. Aon oidhche bha busaichean beag agus bus àbhaisteach ann. Is dòcha gum biodh ceithir fichead duine a’ tadhal taobh a-staigh uair a thìde no dhà.
Fiù ’s nam biodh tu trang, cha b’ urrainn dhut diùltadh no a ràdh gu robh na pàidhean air falbh, oir b’ urrainnear am faicinn air an sgeilf.”
Dh’fhàs e cho trang ’s gu robh Ailean a’ strì biadh ullachadh airson nam bhanaichean, a bha a’ fàgail aig 9m, mar sin chuir e stad air na bha e a’ dèanamh de phàidhean air an oidhche, airson inntinn a chur ri biadh a chur air dòigh aig an taigh-fuine, mar a bha e an dùil a dhèanamh anns a’ chiad dol a-mach.
B’ e seo dìreach aon phàirt den ghnìomhachas agus tro na bliadhnaichean, tha Sgioba MhicIlleathain a tha stèidhichte ann an Uachdar air a bhith ag ullachadh biadh airson iomadach tachartas, beag agus mòr ann an Uibhist. Gach là, tha a h-uile seòrsa cèic, bonnach, briosgaid agus aran air an sgaoileadh air feadh nan Eilean Siar, ach cuideachd air feadh Alba.
Tha taigh-bìdh trang air a bheil Stepping Stone, am measg nan seirbheisean a tha iad a’ tabhainn agus tha bhan bìdh aca cuideachd a bhios a’ toirt biadh ùr ionadail agus biadh teth gu tachartasan air feadh nan Eilean.
Tha an t-sreath seo de shia phrògraman a’ sealltainn mar a tha an sgioba teaghlaich a’ cumail smachd air a h-uile càil, a’ gabhail a-steach beagan uallaich, an uair a tha Eòghainn, air a bheil an tinneas, Crohn’s air a chur dhan ospadal air tìr mòr agus e air fàs gu math tinn, agus tha an teaghlach a’ tighinn gu co-dhùnadh duilich an taigh-bìdh a reic.
Bho chaidh na prògraman seo a dhèanamh, tha an taigh-fuine air an take-away a dhùnadh air sgàth suidheachadh a’ choròna-bhìorais, ach tha an luchd-obrach air fad fhathast ag obair anns an taigh-fuine.
Tòisichidh An Taigh-Fuine, air a riochdachadh le MacTV, air BBC ALBA and is on every Diardaoin 14 Cèitean aig 8.30f, le gach prògram an uair sin ri fhaotainn an dèidh a chraoladh air BBC iPlayer airson 30 là.
Issued by Electrify Marketing & Communications on behalf of MG ALBA
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