City chefs take up challenge to get Glasgow eating more greens
GLASGOW has become the first city in Scotland to rise to a challenge to cook and eat more vegetables.
Restaurants across the city are taking part in Veg Cities Chefs’ Challenge, which is backed by celebrity cooks Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
Starting today, chefs from 16 restaurants will receive a “mystery” box of vegetables grown in and around the city to create a new plant-centred dish.
Judges will then compile a shortlist of eight finalists to take part in a live cook-off on October 10. The winner will be decided by a panel of experts headed by Gary Maclean, winner of Masterchef: The Professionals and Scotland’s national chef.
Ox and Finch, The Gannet, Alchemilla, Cail Bruich, Porter & Rye in the West End, Project Cafe and Red Onion in the city centre, Cafe Tibo in the East End and Gnom and Balcony Cafe on the South Side are taking part in the challenge in a bid to improve the city’s health.
Their head chefs will be using freshly harvested traditional and exotic vegetables grown in community and market gardens, including Urban Catch at Barrowlands, Tenement Growers at Toryglen, Greenheart Growers at Parkhead, Cranhill Development Trust, Blackhill Growers, Locavore at Queen’s Park and Neilston.
Aurelien Mourez, head chef at Ox and Finch, was one of the first restaurants to take delivery of a box of “weegie wasabi”, aretti, golden beetroot, pak choi, lemon sorrel, courgettes, squash, carrots and beans from which his new dish will be created.
The Glasgow competition has been organised by Glasgow Community Food Network (GCFN) in partnership with the UK-wide Sustainable Food Cities network, whose joint aim is to promote access to fresh, local produce for everyone.
GCFN chair Abi Mordin said: “If people see more vegetables on the menu they’re more likely to
‘‘ More demand will help develop community gardens
emulate that when cooking at home.
“More demand will help develop a network of smallscale market and community gardens, which in turn helps us reconnect with the land.
“With the Veg Cities Chefs Challenge we want to make vegetables the star of the show and demonstrate that Glaswegians could eat more fruit and veg every day if we have enough land to grow them.”