Just a quick mention of the fifth Budding Chefs – the annual exchange programme in which young Scottish and French chefs visit each other’s home countries and learn about each other’s national produce and cooking customs.
The programme was set up in 2011 by the Institut français d’Ecosse and a regular guest on this blog – Chef Fred Berkmiller, boss at L’escargot Bleu and Blanc restaurants.
This week, nine young chefs from the Lycée Hôtelier de Dinard in Brittany are exploring Scotland’s gastronomic landscape.
Isle of Mull Cheese, Guy Grieve’s Ethical Shellfish Company and The Bay Fish and Chips Shop in Stonehaven are among their destinations.
The video clip shows an interview with Guy Grieve talking about diving for scallopos. It comes from the Potluck channel.
You can follow the chefs’ adventures from their Twitter account: @BuddingChefs. Later on this year, a brigade of young, Scottish chefs will head over to France for a return match.
Le pop-up
Happily, it’s easy to give the Budding Chefs a helping hand while enjoying the fruits of their travels. On Saturday 21st March, the Budding Chefs will be running a pop-up at the Institut français d’Écosse on Edinburgh’s Randolph Crescent. The ticket price goes towards supporting the Budding Chefs programme.
For this new, intimate version of their pop-up, a couple of former Scottish Budding Chefs will join the French brigade in the kitchen to deliver a ‘Retour de Mull’ menu – small sized dishes intertwining Scottish products with French culinary traditions.
The Budding Chefs’ pop-up is on Saturday 21 March, 6pm-10pm. Institut français d’Ecosse, 13 Randolph Crescent, Edinburgh EH3 7TT
Tickets: £15 (includes 3 small dishes + 1 drink). Booking essential: www.buddingchefs.net or 0131 225 5366.