Scotland’s future rugby stars ‘beef’ up their skills in the kitchen

Scotland’s next generation of rugby talent has swapped the pitch for the kitchen to attend a series of workshops all about the benefits of red meat.

The first of four ‘Red Meat Cookery and Nutrition’ events, delivered in partnership between the FOSROC Scottish Rugby Academy and Scottish Rugby Healthy Eating Partner Quality Meat Scotland (QMS), saw players learn about the important role red meat plays as part of a healthy, balanced diet.

As well as learning top tips on nutrition, students also heard from leading chef Scott Lyall, who covered some essential kitchen skills, the importance of preparation and then demonstrated three Scotch Beef PGI dishes – Meatballs with Ginger Noodles, Mediterranean Meatballs with Couscous and Scotch Beef Burgers with pesto.

The players then went head-to-head to replicate the three dishes, building skills such as knife work, food preparation and portion control all while delivering a tasty, top quality dish. 

Jennifer Robertson, Health & Education Manager for Quality Meat Scotland, said: “We’re really proud to support the FOSROC Scottish Rugby Academy students’ education, with the knowledge helping fuel performance on the pitch while ensuring that off the pitch they can perform just as well in the kitchen.

“Including red meat as part of a balanced diet has a huge amount of nutritional benefits, acting as a key source of protein as well as essential minerals such as zinc. Combining this with top quality, local ingredients such as Scotch Beef PGI means that you can be confident your meat has come from trusted Scottish farms with a commitment to producing the very best ingredients.”

Tom Coughlin, Scottish Rugby Performance Nutritionist, said: “Within our age-grade nutrition curriculum it’s extremely important to develop the practical skills alongside a solid knowledge base. Eating well on a budget is one of our core modules and this was a perfect opportunity to work with QMS and Chef Scott Lyall.”

Tom was also on hand throughout the event to highlight the benefits of batch cooking to save time and money, whilst also providing hints and tips to players to educate them on the impact of their diet on performance.

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