Ready, Steady, Cook! Young Farmers Battle it out in Cookery Competition

Members of the Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs (SAYFC) are donning their aprons and taking to the kitchen as part of a national cooking competition.

The budding chefs will be challenged to mastermind a main dish using Scotch Beef PGI, Scotch Lamb PGI and Specially Selected Pork as well as a selection of mystery ingredients as part of SAYFC’s Scotch Beef Country Cooks competition, which is supported by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS).

With just one hour to impress judges, contestants will work in pairs to create a main course with only eight ingredients. Judging criteria includes taste, teamwork, technical skills and appearance of the completed dish.

Kicking off with a series of regional heats, four finalist teams will then test their nerves in a live cook-off at the QMS stand on the Thursday and Friday of the Royal Highland Show (20-21 June), with the winner crowned following a final on the Saturday (22 June).

Alan Clarke, Chief Executive of QMS, said: “We’re proud to once again support the Scotch Beef Country Cooks challenge, which each year highlights the pride and the passion Scotland’s young farmers have in the quality ingredients that they help to produce.

“It’s fantastic to see the creativity in the dishes the teams devise, with the ‘hero’ ingredients of Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb and Specially Selected Pork taking centre stage. If the teams are looking for any tips, we hope our Scotch Kitchen website will provide some inspiration over the next few weeks.”

Supplying the beef, lamb and pork are members of QMS’s Scotch Butchers Clubs – which has over 250 members committed to sourcing top quality Scotch Beef PGI, Scotch Lamb PGI and Specially Selected Pork from approved suppliers.

Penny Montgomerie, SAYFC Chief Executive, said: “We were a thrilled to be working with QMS again for the second year running. The Scotch Beef Country Cooks competition is a fantastic opportunity for our members to think creatively about cooking and show off their skills to an enthusiastic audience.”