Scotch Kitchen Set to Inspire Visitors to Royal Highland Show

Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) will be pulling out all the stops next week to make the most of the opportunity the Royal Highland Show offers to showcase the Scottish red meat industry and its brands.

The event, which runs 21 – 24 June, offers an unrivalled opportunity to show the public the work, skills and dedication which go into the production of Scotch Beef PGI, Scotch Lamb PGI and Specially Selected Pork.

Visitors to the QMS stand on Avenue O will be able to watch a range of activities – from celebrity cooking and butchery demonstrations butchery to fun competitions and giveaways. There will also be a range of interactive activities for all ages in the QMS health and education area, where the key messages will include animal welfare, the red meat industry’s great sustainability message and red meat’s role as part of a healthy diet.

The stand will also host meetings with buyers from key retailers and showcase a range of promotional materials along with announcing the winner of a national school street food competition in partnership with Food and Drink Federation Scotland.

The stand will host a line-up of top chefs demonstrating in the Scotch Kitchen cookery theatre including Lady Claire Macdonald, the “Queen of Cuisine”, who will be entertaining the crowds on Thursday and Friday, Jak O’Donnell, chef patron at The Sisters restaurants in Glasgow and Justin Maule of Wild Fig Food who will take over the reins at the weekend.

In recent years the butchery demonstrations at the show have proved more and more popular, with large crowds gathering to enjoy the butchers’ skills and banter. This year, there will be a “Surf & Turf” cook off between QMS Master Butcher Stewart McClymont of Smiddy Butchery, Blair Drummond and one of Scotland’s best loved skippers Jimmy Buchan.

The pair will be competing to serve the best dish with Scotland’s top produce form land and sea. There will also be a “pie-off” competition between two World Scotch Pie Champions, Alan Pirie of James Pirie & Son and Stephen McAllister of Kandy Bar Bakery.

The pupils involved in the “Butchery and Beyond” schools street food competition will be treated to a special performance from Saskia Eng who appeared on ITV’s The Voice UK. Teams of youngsters from three Scottish schools have been recognised as finalists in the competition which saw S3 pupils challenged by award-winning Scottish butcher, S Collins & Son, to create a new street food dish. This initiative, set up in a partnership between QMS, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) Scotland introduced the pupils to cooking with Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb or Specially Selected Pork products.

In another final, members of the Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs (SAYFC) are hoping to impress judges with their culinary talent as they battle it out in the semi-final and final rounds of a national cooking competition. Members of four finalist young farmers clubs will be challenged to create a main dish from Scotch Beef PGI, Scotch Lamb PGI and Specially Selected Pork, along with a selection of mystery ingredients, in the Scotch Kitchen Country Cook competition. The final two teams will then compete for the coveted title on Saturday 23rd.

Presenter Bryan Burnett will again be providing a lively commentary on the wide-ranging activities taking place on the QMS stand each day and he will also be welcoming farmers and well-known faces from the red meat sector to the stage to take questions from the audience throughout the duration of the show.

Jim McLaren, Chairman of QMS, said the Royal Highland Show offers a unique opportunity to showcase the quality of the Scotch Beef PGI, Scotch Lamb PGI and Specially Selected Pork produced in Scotland and the hard work and commitment behind its production.

“Every inch of our stand is dedicated to communicating the positive messages our industry has direct to consumers – from quality assurance and animal welfare to red meat’s positive environmental and human health role,” said Mr McLaren.

“Farmers and others involved in our industry are, very welcome on the stand and we hope to engage much more closely with both the general public and those involved in the production of top quality red meat. 

“We want our levy-payers to see at first hand the sort of marketing, public relations and health and education work we undertake year-round on behalf of the Scottish red meat industry.”

QMS is also delighted to offer hundreds of children the chance to cook simple, nutritious dishes with Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb and Specially Selected Pork at this year’s show at the Scotch Beef Children’s Cookery Theatre, in the Royal Highland Education Trust (RHET) Discovery Centre.

Hamish, Ewenice and Harry Trotter, our Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb and Specially Selected Pork brand mascots will be joining our brand ambassadors to give away goodies and a special Scotch Kitchen magazine packed with recipe ideas throughout the show (you’ll find more at www.scotchkitchen.com).

There will also be the chance to buy a the much sought after limited edition Royal Highland Show 2018 Scotch Beef t-shirt with all proceeds going to the Royal Highland Education Trust during 2018, Scotland’s Year of Young People.