A leading celebrity chef donned a pair of wellies last night for a tour around a north-east beef farm.
Jean Christophe Novelli visited Boghead Farm, at Chapel of Garioch, Pitcaple, ahead of today’s Taste of Grampian food festival.
The cooking maestro is among the line up of celebrity chefs carrying out cookery demonstrations at the event.
He will also be joined by Great British Bake Off winner Nancy Birtwhistle and fellow contestant Norman Calder, from Buckie.
Mr Novelli had a tour around the farm to see first-hand the work that goes into producing prime Scotch Beef.
Taste of Grampian chairman John Gregor, who is an executive director at north-east farmers’ co-operative ANM Group, said: “We were delighted to be able to give Jean Christophe an opportunity to meet a north-east farming family to ensure he has a good understanding of the stockmanship skills and dedication which go into producing top quality Scotch Beef.”
Uel Morton, Quality Meat Scotland chief executive, said one of the areas which had been highlighted to Jean Christophe during the visit was the importance of the quality assurance which underpins the Scotch Beef PGI brand.
Quality Meat Scotland oversees meat assurance in Scotland and promotes the Scotch Beef brand.
Mr Morton said: “Scottish farmers are very proud of the fact that Scots were global pioneers of quality assurance and our scheme is the longest-running in the world. Animal welfare is a key part of quality assurance and gives consumers the reassurance that animals have been very well looked after and it was great for Jean Christophe to be able to see that first hand during his visit to the Ingrams’ farm.”
The Taste of Grampian food festival, which takes place at the Thainstone Centre in Inverurie from 9.30am to 4.30pm, is free to attend with car parking charged at £5 per car.
As well as cookery demonstrations, visitors will get a taste of the delights of Grampian’s larder at the stalls of food and drink producers from the region and beyond.
There will also be a new beer garden and a typical local street market, alongside craft stalls, music and entertainment.
The Press and Journal Motor Show is also taking place at the festival, while youngsters can visit a special educational area or have a ride on one of the many fairground rides at the show.
PANEL
Today’s festival will also feature the final of two prestigious cooking competitions.
A new bakery competition, launched this year by Taste of Grampian and the main sponsor for the event J.G. Ross, tasked baking enthusiasts with coming up with a new recipe for a tasty baked good.
Two finalists were selected at a semi-final last month and they will now battle it out today alongside celebrity bakers Nancy Birtwhistle and Norman Calder.
The winner will be selected by the audience and their winning bake will go on to be mass produced and sold in J.G. Ross bakeries and Scotmid stores.
Meanwhile, for the second year in a row, the Aspiring Young Chef competition will be staged at Taste of Grampian.
Youngsters were tasked with producing dishes using locally-sourced ingredients.
The winner will receive a Hospitality Industry Trust Scotland Scholarship tailored to their future career, a £200 voucher for kitchen equipment and a signed cook book.
The runner-up will receive a £100 voucher.