Young Farmers Pair up for National Foodie Challenge

Members of the Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs (SAYFC) are hoping to impress judges with their culinary talent over the coming weeks as they battle it out in a national cooking competition.

SAYFC members have been 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 which is being supported by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS).

The competition will see the entrants challenged to devise a main course in one hour from a bag of eight ingredients. They will be judged not only on taste but teamwork, technical skills and the appearance of the dish.

Members of QMS’s Scotch Butchers Clubs are also getting involved in the national cooking competition as suppliers of the quality assured beef, lamb and pork for the competition. 

The Scotch Butchers Club, run by QMS, has over 250 members who are committed to sourcing top quality Scotch Beef PGI, Scotch Lamb PGI and Specially Selected Pork from approved suppliers.

The young farmers will compete in pairs, in regional heats across Scotland. Four finalist teams will then compete in front of a crowd of spectators in live cook-offs at the QMS stand of the Royal Highland Show. The final heats will take place on the Thursday and Friday of the show, with the final taking place on the Saturday.

Alan Clarke, Chief Executive of QMS, said: “We’re delighted to be supporting SAYFC’s national cooking competition during Scotland’s Year of Young People and we’re looking forward to hosting the finals on our Royal Highland Show stand.

“It is fantastic to see the next generation of our industry taking such pride in their brands and we hope our Scotch Kitchen website will provide a great source of inspiration for the young chefs in the weeks to come.”

Penny Montgomerie, SAYFC CEO, said: “We are delighted to partner with QMS for the Scotch Kitchen Country Cook competition, it’s a great opportunity for our members show their skills cooking with the meat they are so proud to produce”.