East Mainland Young Farmers Take Top Honours in Highland Cook-Off

East Mainland Young Farmers have taken top honours at the Highland eliminations of the SAYFC Ready Steady Country Cooks competition, held on Sunday 14 December at Thurso High School.

The event, organised by SAYFC North Region and kindly supported by the Ulbster Arms Hotel, Halkirk, saw 15 teams compete for a place in the National Finals, which will take place in February. The competition was judged by past national winner Helen Campbell alongside Kat Mackenzie.

Teams of two were given one hour to prepare dishes using a bag of eight mystery ingredients, including quality venison mince kindly provided by Glenkilrie Larder, puff pastry and pears. With no recipe books allowed, competitors had to rely on their skills, creativity and teamwork in a fast-paced Ready Steady Cook-style challenge.

It was a fantastic atmosphere on the day, with members keen to impress the judges. It was Anne Smith and Jasmin Brown of East Mainland who caught the judge’s attention with a premium venison Cornish pasty served alongside a sweet pear pudding. Their tidy, methodical preparation and strong teamwork helped secure first place with a score of 88 out of 100.

Second place was closely contested, with a joint tie between Forss members Abby Mill and Rhianna Mackay, and Bower members Kirsy Gunn and Millie Bates, who both scored 85 points. Judges praised all teams for the high standard of dishes produced and the variety of ideas shown throughout the competition.

We would like to wish our East Mainland team the very best of luck in the National competition.