Tom Kitchin Supports Perthshire Food Initiatives

Michelin-starred chef Tom Kitchin, one of Scotland’s most revered chefs, has revisited his student days during a tour of the teaching kitchens at Perth College UHI.

Chef Kitchin joined hospitality students and staff at his former college during a visit to highlight his support of a new Perthshire food initiative.

Perth College hospitality students will be supporting a line-up of celebrity chefs, including Tony Singh and Rosemary Shrager, at Perth Show which is for the first time hosting Perthshire on a Plate, organised by Perthshire Chamber of Commerce.

The aim is to create a unique annual event to showcase top quality produce from the local area and excellent culinary skills, as a double celebration of food and farming. A new Food Charter has been developed for the event, with support from Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and Scotland Food & Drink. 

The Food Charter means that, where possible, suppliers to the public catering and hospitality at the on August 5th and 6th are required to serve only locally-produced food, such as quality assured Scotch Beef PGI, Scotch Lamb PGI and Specially Selected Pork.

Chef Kitchin, who regularly appears on Saturday Kitchen and The One Show,  joined Perth College Hospitality Sector Manager Ian Gibb and some of the students, including those who will be supporting the cooking demonstrations at this year’s show. 

The visit continued his long links with the college, having previously selected a student from Perth College as a protégé to mentor and develop as part of BBV TV series “The Chef’s Protégé”. 

Jim McLaren, Chairman of Quality Meat Scotland, said QMS was pleased to be supporting the Perthshire on a Plate/Perth Show Food Charter initiative.

“One of the challenges we face as an industry is lack of understanding by consumers of the benefits of buying quality, local produce and this year’s Perth Show promises to be an excellent opportunity to inspire, entertain and educate the public through a fabulous celebration of food and farming.”

Perthshire on a Plate will be one of the area’s largest food festivals, celebrating the very best in local produce and culinary talent. “Perthshire On A Plate is set to become an annual showcase for the finest local produce and we’ll be pulling out all the stops to ensure this first joint event with Perth Show is a huge success,” said Vicki Unite, Chief Executive of Perthshire Chamber of Commerce.

“Visitors to the event will be able to see celebrity and local chefs and demonstrations and tastings. There will also be book signings, food and drink related trade stands and fun-filled activities for “Kitchen Kids” as well as a dining area and pop-up restaurants.”

And Neil Forbes, Secretary of Perthshire Agricultural Society, said the Show, now in its 154th year, will continue to feature top livestock from the area.

“Perth Show is the third largest of Scotland’s agricultural shows and attracts thousands of visitors each year. 

“This year’s show will continue to feature many of the traditional aspects of agricultural shows, valued by generations of farmers, as well as the new and exciting visitor attractions, including the Cookery Theatre and food and drink marquee.”