Tag: cooking

Andrew Fairlie Scholarship winners announced

The Hospitality Industry Trust (HIT) Scotland has announced two worthy recipients of the fourth annual Andrew Fairlie Scholarship.

Darren Seggie, 35, Lecturer of Culinary Arts at City of Glasgow College and Rachel Bremner, 34, Commis Pastry Chef at The Balmoral, were the talented chefs who most impressed the expert industry judges.

Positioned as the ultimate scholarship any aspiring chef could receive, the Andrew Fairlie Scholarship is awarded annually to a chef working in Scotland, carrying on the legacy of Andrew Fairlie’s commitment to nurturing culinary talent in Scotland.

The finalists had to prove their worth in a skills test, and were challenged to create a dish with potato as its star ingredient while incorporating Scottish dairy. They had the further challenge of delivering an impressive surprise dish using hand-dived scallops. 

Darren Seggie impressed the judges with his creative potato-based dessert comprising butter gold potato pudding and espuma, sourdough crumble and ice cream and caramel sauce. While Rachel Bremner blew everyone away with her dish – potato and egg yolk ravioli, crispy potato skins and potato espuma. 

The final skills test took place at Perth College UHI with the winners announced afterwards during a ceremony at Gleneagles.

The judging panel included some of the country’s finest chefs, all of whom knew Andrew Fairlie well. The panel was headed up by Stephen McLaughlin, Head Chef at 2 Michelin-starred Restaurant Andrew Fairlie; alongside fellow 2 Michelin-starred chef Sat Bains; 1 Michelin-star Head Chef at Cail Bruich and winner of Great British Menu, Lorna McNee; and Masterchef The Professionals winner and National Chef of Scotland, Gary Maclean.

The winners will be taken on an incredible 2-day educational trip to France with Grande Cuisine, and gain hands-on experience at the 2-Michelin star Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles, the 3-star Core by Clare Smyth in London, an international stage, as well as receiving a bespoke chef’s jacket from Goodfellows. These highly informative experiences will be taken over two years, allowing both talented scholars to develop their learnings over an extended period of time.

The scholarships are offered in partnership with HIT Scotland, an industry charity with which Andrew Fairlie was closely connected. Now in its fourth year, the Andrew Fairlie Scholarship is supported by HIT Scotland, Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, Perth College UHI and The Gleneagles Hotel. 

Stephen McLaughlin, lead judge and head chef at Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, said: “Our five finalists have competed fiercely and fairly today and they have all given it everything to win this year’s Andrew Fairlie Scholarship. Everyone competed with great character and commitment and showed a real respect for one another this afternoon.

“The chefs should all be extremely proud of themselves for getting to the final but must also take great pride in how they handled the pressures of the day and in the fabulous dishes that they all produced. This was a tough one to find just one winner today as everyone cooked so well and all had showed great application in getting this far.

“We had no choice but to award two deserving winners… This year’s winners not only submitted immaculate application packs but followed this through and showcased themselves clearly as the best on the day with clean, precise and creative cookery”. 

David Cochrane, HIT Scotland Chief Executive, added: “It was a true delight to see our group of finalists demonstrate a passion for cooking that Andrew Fairlie would be proud of.

“A huge congratulations goes to Darren and Rachel, who have demonstrated exceptional skill, creativity, and dedication to their craft. They have bright culinary futures ahead!”

Ype van der Schaaf, Sector Manager of Hospitality and Food Studies at Perth College UHI said: “Offering our kitchens and facilities to support HIT Scotland and being part of the Andrew Fairlie Scholarship is very important to us, as he was our well-respected alumnus. 

“Hosting for the third time, we have really enjoyed watching the finalists create their fantastic dishes, they’re at the top of their game and their efforts demonstrate to our students the very top of industry standards. Huge congratulations to the two winners!” 

The 2023 finalists were:

  • Daniel Robb, 27, Chef de Partie at Gleneagles 
  • Rachel Bremner, 34, Commis Pastry Chef at the Balmoral
  • Darren Seggie, 35, Lecturer of Culinary Arts at City of Glasgow College
  • Spud Henderson, 34, Sous Chef at Craig Millar @ 16 West End
  • Rita Varga, 31, Chef de Partie and kitchen departmental trainer at Voco Grand Central Hotel. 

ELREC’s new Creative Kitchen project

ELREC is pleased to announce our new small project, The Creative Kitchen, thanks to the cost of living part of The Lottery Community Fund. And in partnership with Cyrenians who give us fresh ingredients.

The project aims to deliver free weekly workshops on sustainable cooking, making simple yet nutritious and fresh meals from whatever you have left in the fridge.

The sessions will be delivered in different locations, with the first one held at Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre, by our staff member and chef, Shana.

You can find out more by following us on Instagram:

THECREATIVEKITCHENCOMMUNITY

The sessions are free, to sign up please email: bolyn@elrec.org.uk

Healthy Heart Tip: Eggs & Heart Health

Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by the Health Promotion and Education Team at Heart Research UK

Healthy Heart Tip: Eggs & Heart Health

Eggs & cholesterol

Egg yolk is rich in cholesterol and therefore there has been some debate about whether people with raised cholesterol levels should eat them or whether they’ll considerably increase blood cholesterol levels.

However, experts agree that dietary cholesterol, such as that found in eggs, has much less of an effect on the level of cholesterol in your blood compared to the amount of saturated fat you are consuming.

How you eat your eggs matters

How people cook eggs varies widely and what people use to cook eggs in can differ too. We recommend poaching, boiling or baking your eggs to limit your use of oils and fats when cooking.

What we eat eggs with matters too, for example, consuming poached eggs with wholegrain bread and some vegetables is much more healthful than consuming them as part of a greasy fry up which lacks fibre.

The takeaway points

Eggs are an affordable source of protein and are rich in vitamins and minerals. It’s therefore perfectly healthy to include them as part of a balanced diet.

As with many diet recommendations, the key is moderation and not consuming one thing in excess. Specifically in relation to cholesterol, we should focus more on reducing our consumption of saturated fat rather than worrying about the cholesterol in eggs.

To help keep your heart healthy, why not try out some of our healthy recipes from our website: https://heartresearch.org.uk/heart-research-uk-recipes-2/.

Eat Well for Oral Health programme at Pilton Community Health Project

We’re delighted to offer our Eat Well for Oral Health cooking, nutrition and oral health 8 week programme at @PiltonComHealth with LINKnet Mentoring.

These sessions will provide culturally appropriate nutritious food, recipes and support accessing an NHS Dentist

Family Animaton & Cooking Workshop at Corstorphine CC

Last remaining Free places

Wanna work with a professional animator? And a professional chef? Get creative on all fronts!

From 4pm – 7pm on Monday 18th October at the Hub 191 St Johns Road we are cooking up a storm and creating a cracker!

Email Fiona on development@ccchub.online to grab your free space- open to family groups

Book your free space now!

East Lothian mum signs deal to have her Spice Pots stocked in Aldi

East Lothian based Spice Pots are the latest product to hit Aldi’s shelves for Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight.  The tasty and simple to use spice mixes feature in all 96 Aldi stores in Scotland since the 5th September.

The annual campaign, launched on 4th September, celebrates the unbeatable larder which Scotland produces, and, in support of the industry, Aldi Scotland is showcasing its largest ever special-buy range of Scottish produce.

Included in this range are Spice Pots’ Dry Spice Blend in Tandoori Masala (£1.49, 40g) or Bhuna (£1.49, 40g),which are on sale from 5th September. The Dry Spice Blends are a mix of herbs, spices and ground ingredients designed to add a punch of flavour to any meal. After enjoying success in independent shops in the Lothians and beyond, the simple, healthy and tasty curry blends will be available throughout Aldi Scotland’s 96 stores while stocks last.

Founder, Melanie Auld, began the business back in 2014 after being inspired by the Indian chefs and mothers who taught her how to cook authentic curries during her time travelling and working in Chennai, India.

Melanie believes simplicity and ease is the most effective way to encourage people to eat and cook diverse and healthy foods, and with each blend developed from her own culinary experience, she is sure that Spice Pots will be every busy family’s saviour in the kitchen.

She said: “I’m an advocate for making it easy – take the short-cut. If you can do it in one pan – then do it in one pan. The idea for Spice Pots came from watching the amazing mothers and chefs I was staying with in Chennai cook for their families and friends, but it wasn’t until I was a mother myself that I realised the complexity of cooking balanced and varied meals for others.

“I had three very small children and nothing but my creativity and a tiny kitchen when it all began in 2014. From then until now the only thing that has really changed is that I have a team who are as passionate as I am, and we have the capacity to grow and bring Spice Pots to a wider market thanks to retailers such as Aldi Scotland.

“As part of our mission to make dinner time easier, we also provide our customers with recipes, instructions and inspirations for how to use their Spice Pots to complement the seasonal produce available at that time in Scotland.  I am proud to be working with a retailer which really embodies my own mission to provide top quality, delicious and local products without all the fuss.”

Graham Nicolson, Group Buying Director, Aldi Scotland said: “Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight is one of the biggest dates in our calendar, allowing us to put the spotlight fully on our fantastic collection of Scottish producers. 

Working with Melanie and her team to offer these tasty and simple to use Spice Pots has been a pleasure and I am sure our customers will enjoy cooking up a storm with them. 

This year, we are excited to bring our largest ever Specialbuy range of Scottish sourced produce, which will truly highlight the diversity, creativity and passion of our local suppliers.”

Aldi Scotland’s Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight range will be in stores from 2nd September 2021, adding 46 products to its shelves in celebration of Scotland’s natural larder. Aldi currently stocks over 450 products from 90 suppliers and aims to reach 500 products within the next 2 years.  

You can find your nearest Aldi here.  

Auld Reekie Retold: Cooking Up the Past

Museums & Galleries Edinburgh have launched ‘Cooking Up the Past’, a new digital series which brings the city’s history to life through cookery during lockdown.

The series is the latest strand of activity as part of the ongoing Auld Reekie Retold inventory project, features videos of staff members cooking up historic recipes at home which have been sourced from digital copies of historic recipe books discovered in the city’s collection. 

During lockdown many have tried their hand at new recipes and kitchen skills, from sourdough starters to viral feta pasta bake recipes. ‘Cooking Up the Past’ provides audiences with an opportunity stave off that lockdown boredom and cook up some historic recipes while discovering some fascinating stories from Edinburgh’s history.

The first episode in the series which is available to view via the Museums & Galleries YouTube channel features Curator Vicky Garrington and Collections Assistant Oliver Taylor each attempting to make a recipe for soda scones from a 1932 edition of the book Plain Cookery Recipes from the Edinburgh College of Domestic science. 

They filmed their preparation, cooking and tasting from their own kitchens at home.

Commenting on the new series, Vicky Garrington said: “With our venues closed and staff working from home, the Auld Reekie Retold team have been looking for new ways to share our amazing collections with the public.

“When I suggested the idea of filming a recipe to Oliver, he was up for the challenge, and hopefully the film we’ve made will inspire people to explore more of our collections online, and to revisit some old family recipes’.

Vicky and Oliver’s soda scones might not win the Great British Bake-Off, but the pair enjoyed tackling a recipe from the past, and are hoping that the film might inspire others to do the same.”

On researching the new series, Oliver Taylor added: “There were plenty of appetising recipes to choose from in the recipe book, but some were distinctly unappealing!  

Alongside a tempting selection of recipes for pies, puddings and cakes were instructions for how to make dressed sheep’s head, raw beef tea to fortify invalids, boiled tongue and ‘Poor Man’s Goose’ which included sheep’s liver and heart.

These recipes show how public tastes have changed over the years, as well as attitudes towards treating the sick. We’d be more likely to tempt a patient with ice cream or fresh fruit these days, than to brew up some raw beef tea!”

The Edinburgh College of Domestic Science began life as the Edinburgh School of Cookery and Domestic Economy in 1875. Its founders, Christian Guthrie Wright and Louisa Stevenson, were heavily involved in furthering the education of women.

In founding the College, they had two aims: to improve women’s access to higher education and to improve the diets of working-class families. They began to hold lectures at the Royal Museum (now the National Museum of Scotland), as well as arranging lectures and demonstrations across the country.

In 1891, the School moved to Atholl Crescent in Edinburgh’s West End, where its main campus remained until 1970. It became the Edinburgh College of Domestic Science in 1930, but to many in the City it will always be ‘Atholl Crescent’. Many developments followed, including a broader curriculum, and the institution eventually became Queen Margaret’s University.

Museums & Galleries Edinburgh holds a fascinating collection of objects relating to the College. It includes text books, millinery samples, needlework examinations pieces, exquisitely embroidered blouses and even furniture.

The edition of Plain Cookery Recipes from which the recipe in Cooking Up the Past was taken is enclosed in a beautiful linen cover, embroidered with strawberries, by a student at the College.

The Auld Reekie Retold team have plans for more cookery adventures as part of the series including: a recipe from the domestic notebooks belonging to Edinburgh suffragist Nannie (Agnes Henderson) Brown and a World War 2 rationing recipe.

Vicky Garrington commented: “A lot of people have enjoyed cooking at home during the pandemic restrictions, and searching our historical recipes adds another layer of interest to this activity.

“We’ll keep searching our stores for new recipes to try out, and we’ll be sure to share our cooking and the background stories of the recipes with the public”.

Oliver Taylor added: “We’d love people to try the recipe with us, and to tag us with the results on social media using #AuldReekieRetold”.

Culture and Communities Convener, Cllr Donald Wilson said: “A lot of people are drawing huge comfort from culture and heritage activities online at the moment. They can help us stay connected with our past and our shared heritage, as well as providing a welcome break from the stresses of daily life.

“As the Deacon of the Baxters (Bakers) which is one of our oldest Incorporated Trades I am aware of both the proud history represented in these collections but also the recent interest which has arisen as a response to the pandemic.  This is a fantastic project and I hope it encourages others to try the recipes.

Culture and Communities Vice Convener, Cllr Amy McNeese-Mechan said: “Museums & Galleries Edinburgh have been trialling online talks, craft events, art films, podcasts and more over the last few months, and Cooking Up the Past is another great example of the service adapting what we do during these unprecedented times.”

Episode 1 of Cooking Up the Past can be viewed here.

Government agrees measures with energy industry to support vulnerable people

The UK Government has agreed new emergency measures with the energy industry to protect the domestic energy supply of those most in need during the disruption caused by COVID-19.

From today, customers with pre-payment meters who may not be able to add credit can speak to their supplier about options to keep them supplied. This will benefit over 4 million customers.

This could include nominating a third party for credit top ups, having a discretionary fund added to their credit, or being sent a pre-loaded top up card so that their supply is not interrupted.

More broadly, any energy customer in financial distress will also be supported by their supplier, which could include debt repayments and bill payments being reassessed, reduced or paused where necessary, while disconnection of credit meters will be completely suspended.

Secretary of State for Business and Energy, Alok Sharma, said: “While friends and family will play a role in helping people impacted by the Coronavirus, we recognise there will be many customers who will need additional support and reassurance, particularly those who are financially impacted or in vulnerable circumstances.

“The government has committed to do whatever it takes to get our nation through the impacts of this coronavirus pandemic. Today those most in need can rest assured that a secure supply of energy will continue to flow into their homes during this difficult time.”

The government and energy industry have agreed to prioritise those existing customers most in need, while identifying customers whose circumstances may have changed as a direct or indirect result of COVID-19.

Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, Dame Gillian Guy, said: “This is an uncertain time for many people. Energy suppliers need to play their part by communicating clearly and supporting their customers as much as possible.

“Keeping people on supply, making sure they have warm homes and don’t face additional financial or other stresses about their energy supply will be essential.

“Suppliers will need to put in place support measures for people on prepayment meters, people and families who need to self-isolate or take steps to reduce social contact, and people who may otherwise be in vulnerable situations.”

The measures set out and agreed will be implemented immediately by energy suppliers to alleviate pressure on energy customers.

Chief executive of Energy UK, Audrey Gallacher, said: “As providers of essential services and critical infrastructure, the energy industry has well-practised contingency plans in order to ensure the delivery of services and is working closely with the Government on a daily basis to ensure there is no disruption to the generation and supply of energy to customers during these extraordinary circumstances.

“The sector is very conscious of the potential consequences for customers confined to their homes for prolonged periods and in particular those customers in vulnerable circumstances or on prepayment meters who may need additional help. Suppliers will be doing all they can to identify such customers and provide additional support wherever possible.”

Ofgem will continue to ensure suppliers meet their regulatory obligations. However the government also recognises this will be a challenging time for many supply businesses.

The Chancellor has this week set out a package of targeted measures to support businesses through this period of disruption caused by COVID-19. This includes £330 billion for companies to access loans, a business rates holiday, and help for small firms without insurance. In addition, a new temporary Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme is to be launched in days to support businesses access £1 billion of additional bank lending.

Chief Executive of Energy Networks Association, David Smith, said: “These are unprecedented times but the energy industry is working hard to keep gas and electricity flowing, look after our vulnerable customers and keep customers and staff safe.

“The UK’s electricity and gas network is one of the most reliable in the world and over 36,000 employees are working flat out to continue to provide a safe and reliable supply of energy during this time.”

Customers that are unable to top up their pre-payment meter are advised to contact their supplier immediately to discuss how they can be kept on supply.

Ofgem recommends consumers leave the meter box unlocked if they need someone else to top up the meter. Smart meter customers should be able to top-up remotely, such as by phone, mobile application or online.

Natalie Hitchins, Head of Homes Products and Services, Which?, said: “Hardup energy customers will breathe a sigh of relief that these new emergency measures will protect them from steep bills and losing their energy supply during these uncertain times.

“If you are worried about your ability to pay your energy bill because of the impact of coronavirus on your circumstances, it’s important to talk to your supplier as soon as possible to discuss your situation and find out what kind of support they can offer you.”

The UK government is working in lock step with the Devolved Administrations, World Health Organization, and international partners to keep the whole of the UK safe. Its approach is clinically led, based on the expert advice of the UK’s Chief Medical Officer for England, the NHS and Public Health England.

The Power of the Haggis!

SCOTTISH FEAST USES ENOUGH ENERGY TO POWER STIRLING HOMES FOR THREE WEEKS!

  • Energy used across Scotland to cook St Andrews Day feast could power Stirling homes for three weeks
  • Preparing one dinner uses the same amount of energy as powering an LCD TV for six weeks
  • Haggis is the most energy-intensive ingredient to cook, using enough energy to power a games console for almost four days

Continue reading The Power of the Haggis!

Top chefs serve up a new series of their culinary road trip as they explore Canada

Top chefs Paul Rankin and Nick Nairn set off on their latest epic culinary road trip and cultural journey of discovery in their new series, which starts tonight at 8pm on STV. Continue reading Top chefs serve up a new series of their culinary road trip as they explore Canada