Photo of
August 14, 2015
Gregg and Jamie shake on who gets first go at the lamb burgers. Pic: Alan Richardson Dundee, Pix-AR.co.uk
Gregg and Jamie shake on who gets first go at the lamb burgers. Pic: Alan Richardson Dundee, Pix-AR.co.uk

Last week, the 5pm Dining blog spent an afternoon with Masterchef presenter Gregg Wallace and Jamie Scott, winner of BBC Masterchef: The Professionals.

We were all there to learn about Scotch lamb PGI. And, in between watching Gregg show off his silky dancing skills, that’s exactly what we did.

Curiously, our lamb is top quality but, on average, we eat less of it per head of population than our neighbours south of Hadrian’s Wall.

There are all sorts of reasons for this. One is that there is a different mix of ethnicities in the two countries and people with roots in, say, the Middle East or North Africa eat more lamb than the UK’s indigenous population.

Eat more lamb

Other reasons are historical. There is much less of a tradition of having Sunday lunch in Scotland than there is in England.

Whatever the reasons, Scottish farmers and Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) would like to see consumption of Scotch Lamb PGI go up.

Traditionally, we have exported around 30% of our lamb to Europe. Currently, the strong pound makes our lamb expensive for Europeans which makes exporting it more difficult.

If Scots ate as much lamb as the English do then we wouldn’t have to export any of it.

Gregg with new friends. Pic: Alan Richardson Dundee, Pix-AR.co.uk
Gregg with new friends. Pic: Alan Richardson Dundee, Pix-AR.co.uk

Research by QMS showed that younger Scots ate lamb but they weren’t buying it. It didn’t figure in their shopping lists but they were perfectly happy to tuck in when visiting their parents or grandparents.

QMS’ solution was to draft in Jamie and Gregg to demo quick and easy Scotch lamb recipes which busy working parents or time-short young professionals could bosh up quickly for a mid-week meal.

Natural product

‘Cooking two lamb chops on a griddle pan takes what?,’ asked Gregg. ‘Two minutes each side? It’s just the easiest thing. Today, I’ve followed the food chain of this lamb from the farm to a master butcher to here in the kitchen with talented Scottish chef, Jamie. The quality of Scottish meat is extraordinary and the lengths that your producers go to in terms of their animal welfare is also extraordinary.

‘Lamb has always been my personal favourite and there is real potential for lots more of us to be making the most of this natural, easy-to-cook product.’

You can find lots of quick and easy lamb recipes on the Wham Bam Thank You Lamb site. The stir fry is a belter.

Gregg getting ready to slam the lamb at Yorkes of Dundee. Pic: Alan Richardson Dundee, Pix-AR.co.uk
Gregg getting ready to slam the lamb at Yorkes of Dundee. Pic: Alan Richardson Dundee, Pix-AR.co.uk