Scottish Food on the Menu at Royal Highland Cookery Theatre

The Scotland Food & Drink Theatre at the Royal Highland Show will stage nine demonstration sessions daily over the four days of the show this year. The theme of the food and drink industry showcase, which is under the supervision of writer-broadcaster Wendy Barrie, is “A Celebration of Scotland”.

One of the highlights will be a Friday slot for Lady Claire Macdonald of the Michelin-starred Kinloch Lodge on the Isle of Skye. A winner of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006, Lady Claire is a passionate advocate of seasonal food from Scotland.

Other top chefs appearing include Tom Lewis, proprietor of Monachyle Mhor at Balquhidder, Paul Wedgwood, from Wedgwood restaurant in Edinburgh, the “kilted chef” Craig Wilson, proprietor of the Green Restaurant at Udny Green in Aberdeenshire and Mikey Prentice from the First Coast bistro in the West of Edinburgh.

To mark this year’s RHASS President’s Initiative from the Borders, food from the region will be celebrated with demonstrations from Angela Tyrer from Whitehouse, Ross Horrocks from The Caddy Mann and Katrina and William Reynolds from the Allanton Inn, culminating on Sunday with a Vintage Afternoon Tea with Lynne Hume.

Morven Hastie from the Wishingwell Farmhouse Coffee & Gift Shop at Drymen will be featuring her “Truly Tempting Whoopie Pies” while Catherine MacCarthy, a goodfoodology graduate from St George’s School, Edinburgh, makes her debut at the show.

Also on the menu are demonstrations by trade organisation Seafood Scotland on Sustainable Scottish Seafood, Vion Food UK, Paterson Arran of shortbread and oatcake fame while haggis-maker Jo Macsween will be taking a look at “Hasty, Tasty Haggis”.

For Wendy Barrie it will be an especially busy four days as she highlights a celebration of East Lothian food and drink under the title Edinburgh Coast and Countryside and “zeros in on waste” as part of the Scottish Government drive to reduce food waste and be thrifty.

The Scotland Food & Drink Theatre is located at the North end of the Food & Drink Hall which features around 100 companies displaying the best of Scottish produce and speciality foods from other areas.

The Royal Highland Show takes place at the Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston, Edinburgh, on June 23-26.