GLASGOW DOMINATES THE SECRET INGREDIENT COOK OFF TO REVEAL SCOTLAND’S FAVOURITE INGREDIENT
Eat Drink Discover Centre, which is being at the Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston from 12th-14th September, have announced the six finalists in their competition to discover the hidden gems located in Scottish pantries – with three coming from Glasgow!
Joyce Brady, from the e Wee Fudge Company who entered Hebridean Sea Salt as her secret ingredient; Graeme Taylor, a food blogger, who entered Squat Lobster from Glasgow’s Fish Co as his secret ingredient; and broadcaster Viv Lumsden, who entered courgette flowers from Ardross Farm Shop in Fife, have all been chosen to come along to the event in September and compete in a ‘cook off’ where they will battle it out against each other and a further three finalists. They will have thirty minutes to prepare the dish they entered to the competition that uses their secret ingredient.
Award winning chef Mark Greenaway, who has spearheaded the search to unearth the ingredients Scottish cooks simply cannot do without. The public were invited to reveal their favorite Scottish – the criteria ranged from herbs to condiments, alcohol to meats and even vegetables – provided they were either grown or produced in Scotland. Eat Drink Discover Scotland visited and spoke to local suppliers to find out what customers bought, and why, whilst Mark Greenaway kept a weekly food for thought blog, discussing Scottish regional ingredients he uses in particular dishes
The winner of the cook off gets to award the supplier of their ‘secret ingredient’ with a free stand at next year’s Eat Drink Discover Scotland event.
Shortlisted Viv Lumsden said: “I live in Glasgow and travel to Ardross Farm Shop in Fife to buy my courgette flowers – they can be filled with any flavoursome, gooey ingredients but a favorite is with ricotta, garlic, basil, parmesan and a spoonful of grated ciabatta. I am looking forward to sharing the recipe for these wonderful treats at Eat Drink Discover Scotland”.
Joyce Brady, owner of The Wee Fudge Company, said: “I am absolutely delighted to be shortlisted. Using Scottish products in our fudges is a massive part of what we are about and Hebridean Sea Salt has proven to be one of our best finds yet. Our Hebridean Sea Salt and Caramel fudge helped us win a finalist place in the Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards 2014 and has just won a gold star in the Guild of Fine Food Great Taste Awards. I’m very much looking forward now not only to exhibiting at Eat, Drink, Discover Scotland but to sharing our favorite ingredient and how we use it in the cook off.”
Graeme Taylor, who runs Scottish food blog ‘Scotslarder, said: “I feel delighted to be shortlisted as I really feel squats are the best seafood found in Scotland, yet are so little known and understood and can be hard to find. I am really looking forward to Eat Drink Discover Scotland and the opportunity to bring the flavours of Scotland, such as squat lobster, to a wider audience at home.”
To read Mark Greenaway’s eleven blogs from around Scotland please visit www.markgreenaway.com/news
For more information on Eat Drink Discover Scotland, please visit www.eatdrinkdiscoverscotland.co.uk
Joyce of The Wee Fudge Co.