Fun dished up at Perthshire on a Plate
The crowds enjoyed the cookery theatre Gary Maclean meets a donkey while walking around Perth Show. Picture by Graeme Hart
Phil Vickery with some of the staff and students from Perth College UHI. Picture by Graeme Hart Hundreds enjoyed sampling food from local and celebrity chefs last weekend at Perthshire On A Plate.
The popular food festival saw pop-up restaurants, food stalls and a cookery theatre set up at Perth Show on Friday, August 2 and Saturday, August 3.
And the highlight of the food and drink celebration was demonstrations by celebrity chefs Phil Vickery from ITV’s ‘This Morning’ and Gary Maclean, winner of ‘MasterChef: The Professionals’.
Other demonstrations in the cookery theatre came from Praveen Kumar of Tabla Indian restuarant in Perth, Kate Thornhill from Perthshire Preserves, Jonathan Greer from The Old Manse of Blair in Blair Atholl, Andrew Moss from Perth’s North Port, Marie-Clare James from George Campbell and Sons, and David Barnett from Fonab Castle Hotel in Pitlochry.
Gary Maclean headlined Saturday’s proceedings as the celebrity chef.
As well as winning the professional version of ‘MasterChef ’ back in 2016, he has also since been named Scotland’s first national chef.
He wowed the crowds by making pork katsu curry and a lamb dish with vegetables and potatoes.
Speaking before he took to the stage, Gary said: “I want to showcase Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb and Specially Selected Pork.
“The whole idea is I do everything during the demonstration so people can see good food is actually quite easy.
“I am a teacher, so I do a lot on why things are done instead of how, so what is the reason for doing something.
“People are intelligent enough to understand the theory behind food, and if they can get that they can make hundreds of things instead of being a slave to a recipe book.”
Having opened The Bothy in Perth a number of years ago, he was keen to meet with the local farmers and producers.
He continued: “A lot of the guys here I have known and used their produce for years.
“There is a diverse selection of produce here, with those selling curry spices right next door to someone selling marshmallows.
“Even for me, who does shows and events a
Phil Vickery opens the festival with Stephen Leckie, president of Perthshire Chamber of Commerce, and co-organisers Vicki Unite and Maureen Young by cutting the ceremonial clootie dumpling. Picture by Graeme Hart
lot, it is good to get up close and personal with farmers and their animals, so it is really special to come to Perth Show.
“As national chef, I have a responsibility to promote their produce, because they are the backbone of all of our work.”
All of the chefs on stage were also assisted by students from Perth College UHI.
Gary, who is a lecturer at City of Glasgow College, said: “All of the colleges in Britain are quite well connected because we do competitions together, so we all know each other really well.
“It is great to get involved in another college and with other college lecturers and I am looking forward to working with all the students.”
Maureen Young, one of the co-organisers of Perthshire On A Plate, hailed the two-day event as a great success.
She said: “We have had a packed programme
of local chefs, headlined by our guest celebrity chefs Gary Maclean and Phil Vickery.
“It has been tremendous, an amazing two days with some fabulous producers giving us a variety of food.
“Our pop-up restaurants have also been a great success as well, dishing up some amazing dishes.
“The theatre has been back-to-back with demonstrations and the crowds have been flooding in, so we couldn’t be happier as organisers.
“And the sunshine has come out, so we couldn’t have asked for more.”
She continued: “It makes absolute sense to have a platform where chefs and producers can showcase their wares at Perth Show.
“They are the backbone of our economy, and Perth Show has been very supportive because they get the link between farming and food.”
A lot of the guys here I have known and used their produce for years