Borders Chefs Create Brand New Dishes Dedicated to Local Produce

Two hotels in the borders are celebrating Love Lamb Week with new additions to their restaurant menus which put locally reared lamb at the heart of the dishes.

The dishes form part of the restaurants’ commitment to Love Lamb Week (1 and 7 September) – a national awareness week aimed at celebrating and educating consumers on the health, environmental and sustainable credentials of locally reared Scotch Lamb PGI.

Diners can be delighted by the Scotch Lamb dishes on offer during this week at Burts Hotel in Melrose and Barony Castle Hotel in Peebles.

Radek Micia, Head Chef at Burts Hotel, are offering a bespoke Love Lamb Week menu, including Spiced Scotch Lamb Koftas with red onion and tomato salad and mint and cucumber yoghurt (GF); a Roast Rump of Scotch Lamb with smoked crème fraiche, durkah and pomegranate dressing, sautéed potato and cumin jus (GF) and a Scotch Lamb and Chick-Pea Curry with pilau rice, and garlic and coriander flatbreads (can be GF).

Barony Castle Hotel is dedicating their Herb and Dijon Mustard Crusted Scotch Lamb Cutlets with roasted beetroot, fondant potato, and apricot jus to the week.

Both businesses pride themselves on supporting local butchers and farmers, with the lamb in their menu offerings coming from nearby suppliers, including Shaws Fine Meats in Lauder.

Love Lamb Week is now in its sixth year and – for the first time – is focussing its efforts on highlighting the sustainable qualities that lamb can bring to the weekly meal plan with continued industry support from agriculture and hospitality businesses helping increase awareness across the UK.

This year, the week is being driven in Scotland by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) – the body that promotes the Scotch Lamb, Scotch Beef PGI and Specially Selected Pork brands – and NSA Scotland. It is being supported nationally by other regional bodies, including the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), HCC in Wales and The National Farmers Union (NFU), as well as increased support from butchers, chefs and retailers.

In a joint statement, Nick Henderson, Proprietor at Burts Hotel, and David Fulton, Head Chef at Barony Castle Hotel, said: “We are passionate about only using the best quality, local meats on our menu that meet the highest standard when it comes to quality and welfare.

“It has also been fantastic to take part in Love Lamb Week with Quality Meat Scotland and we hope our customers enjoy trying the Scotch Lamb dishes we have on our menus. Make sure you come along and give them a try!”

Lesley Cameron, Director of Marketing and Communications for Quality Meat Scotland said: “We are thrilled to see so many local restaurants, including Burts Hotel and Barony Castle Hotel, supporting Love Lamb Week this year. The creativity that has gone into the creation of the Scotch Lamb dishes across Scotland has been really impressive and really helps us to highlight the versatility of cooking with lamb.

“Scotch Lamb is a fantastic, quality assured product which is easy to cook and absolutely delicious.

“It’s reared on our doorsteps here in Scotland so customers who are buying it to cook with at home, or eating in restaurants, can be assured that when they see the Scotch Lamb PGI logo – or the Scotch Butchers Club or Scotch Beef Club accreditation – that the produce has been locally farmed and reared to our exacting high standards and can be enjoyed as part of a healthy, balanced diet.”

Love Lamb Week has launched the September burst of Quality Meat Scotland’s Make It Scotch Lamb advertising campaign which will focus on promoting Scotch Lamb’s flavour and versatility as well as its environmental and health credentials.

The campaign aims to highlight that lamb can be enjoyed as part of a balanced diet which is showcased throughout the four brand new lamb recipes now available on The Scotch Kitchen website.

For more information and recipes using Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb and Specially Selected Pork, visit https://www.scotchkitchen.com/ or The Scotch Kitchen on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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