Two leading celebrity chefs will bring a bit of spice to the north-east at this year’s Taste of Grampian food festival.
Tony Singh and Cyrus Todiwala – also known as The Incredible Spice Men – were yesterday unveiled as the headline celebrity chefs for this year’s event at the Thainstone Centre, Inverurie.
Leith-born Tony Singh, who is famed for his legendary haggis pakora, said: “I am delighted to be part of this year’s event and fly the flag for the Grampian region. I am passionate about enhancing fresh and local Scottish ingredients through the use of subtle spice and look forward to getting creative on the day.”
The spicy duo will be joined by local Masterchef celebrity and chef proprietor of Moonfish Cafe in Aberdeen, Brian McLeish, and food writer and Press and Journal columnist Lady Claire Macdonald.
This year’s event will be held on June 4, and visitors will be able to enjoy indoor and outdoor cookery demonstrations, pick-up tips from celebrity chefs and local talent, browse stalls of local produce and the beer and wine tent.
Taste of Grampian chairman John Gregor – an executive director at ANM Group which is hosting the festival – also revealed that red meat promotion body Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) is the mainline sponsor for the event.
QMS will use Taste of Grampian to promote its Specially Selected Pork brand, which is present on pork from Scottish farms under quality assurance schemes supported by the Scottish SPCA.
To mark the launch of the festival, Mr Gregor was joined at an Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce Shire Connections by Aberdeenshire pig farmer and QMS board member, Philip Sleigh, and Mr McLeish.
Mr Gregor said: “Specially Selected Pork is a fantastic product combining quality, versatility and value for money and Scottish pig farmers have a great brand to be proud of. Scottish pig producers also deserve full recognition for being among the most committed and efficient producers in the Scottish farming industry.
“The north-east of Scotland is where the majority of Scottish pig farming takes place and home to over 60% of the Scottish sow herd. Indeed, pig production is worth around £40million-£50million annually to the north-east economy.”
Taste of Grampian, which recently won best festival of the year at the Aberdeen City and Shire Tourism Awards, is in its 17th year and attracts more than 14,000 visitors.
The Brewfest will return for its second year allowing visitors to taste, try and buy locally produced beers, wines and spirits, while a new outdoor kitchen arena and BBQ workshop is set to take place alongside butchery masterclasses and demonstrations. There will also be the Press and Journal Motor Show and a host of music and entertainment.
Young budding chefs will also have the opportunity to get involved with some friendly battles through the Healthy Lunchbox Creation Competition – open to Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray primary school teams – and the Aspiring Young Chef competition for young people aged 14 to 18.
Taste of Grampian, which is organised by ANM Group, Aberdeenshire Council, Grampian Food Forum, the P&J, Prime Events and Scottish Enterprise, costs £5 to attend, with children under 16 permitted for free. Parking is free.