Borders College students win Field to Fork award

The Field to Fork competition involved Gamekeeping and Professional Cookery students from three colleges: SRUC Elmwood, Borders College and North Highland College UHI. The contest encouraged students to collaborate to source and create a dish using seasonal Scottish game.

The winners from each college attended the Celebration of Game Dinner in Burghfield House Hotel in Dornoch last night to hear Mark Stephen of BBC Radio Scotland announce the overall winning team of Monica Ndungu and Connor Gray from Borders College. Runners up were Craig Trewern and Jordon Kirk from SRUC Elmwood, and Mark MacKenzie and Sophie Gault from North Highland College UHI. A special award for an exceptional standard of cookery went to Anthony Khoury from Borders College. 

Judging took place in each college in recent weeks and each team, made up of a chef and gamekeeper, demonstrated their skills to a three-person judging panel. The judges were particularly looking for knowledge of best practice game handling and preparation from gamekeeping students, and innovative use of seasonal or foraged ingredients along with well-cooked and flavoursome game from the chefs. Dishes of partridge, pheasant and pigeon were among the entries, served with ingredients as diverse as barley risotto, bramble jelly and wild mushrooms.

In keeping with the rest of the competition, the awards dinner was expertly cooked by students of the North Highland College UHI.

Donald Muir from BASC said, “These three colleges are the only places in Scotland where gamekeeping courses are offered, so we’re pleased to again have all three represented in this competition. Not only does ‘Field to Fork’ promote the use of local, seasonal produce, it also allows each group of students to share their knowledge with each other about shooting seasons, types of game, habitat, best practice handling, cookery methods and presentation techniques.”

Speaking at the ceremony, Pete Moore from SNH, one of the judges said, “We were really impressed with the level of skill and knowledge demonstrated throughout the competition. There were some outstanding entries, showcasing a real passion for sourcing and using game and other seasonal ingredients from nature.”

Commenting after receiving the award, Monica said, “It was great to learn more about game. I hadn’t tried cooking with game before this competition, but now I know a lot more about what’s available, when it’s in season and how to cook it.”

Her teammate, Connor, added, “It was a really good experience for me to learn more about what goes on in the kitchen and what chefs are looking for. We’re delighted to be the overall winners!"

Scotland’s Natural Larder aims to reconnect people with food that has been sustainably harvested or hunted. For more information, see www.scotlandsnaturallarder.co.uk

Picture captions: Winning students, Monica Ndungu and Connor Gray from Borders College, preparing food.
Monica Ndungu and Connor Gray from Borders College with Mark Stephen of BBC Radio Scotland.

ENDS

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