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Eat in Season? There’s an app for that!
22/06/2012
Some of Scotland’s top chefs are backing the Scottish Government’s seasonal eating campaign and have dished up recipes for an Eat in Season recipe finder.
Nick Nairn, Roy Brett, Albert Roux, Tom Kitchin, Graeme Pallister and Donald Munro are among those who have provided recipes for the recipe finder app which is part of the wider Eat in Season campaign, launched today.
Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead was joined at the Royal Highland Show by Nick, Roy, and Donald to demonstrate how tasty, quick and easy cooking with seasonal produce can be.
The campaign aims to increase awareness about what food is in season and persuade people to eat more seasonal produce.
Mr Lochhead said:
“Fresh, in season food, is tastier, and can often be cheaper as well as healthier. In Scotland, we’re blessed with a fine natural larder on our doorstep and eating seasonal food means we can enjoy it at its absolute best.
“It’s great that so many of Scotland’s top chefs are backing our campaign because – as they’ve shown me here today – it’s easy to whip up a tasty meal, using seasonal produce, in next to no time.”
Nick Nairn said:
“We all know we should be eating in season, but most of us don’t know what’s in season when. We need a reliable source of information to find the best produce at the best time of year. People can use this app to help plan what they should be eating – and it’s great that it’s free.”
Roy Brett, from Ondine restaurant in Edinburgh, said:
“Our menu at Ondine turns and twists all year round as we follow what the seasons bring. Just now our menu is really colourful with outstanding produce landing at our door step from all over Scotland and the UK.
“Asparagus, broad beans, peas, mint and samphire are just a number of the flavours our season brings today. It’s very satisfying indeed - the real food heroes are the growers, harvesters and producers - without them we’re lost!”
Donald Munro, executive chef at Kibble Education and Care Centre, said:
“Last year we created a market garden at Kibble growing our own seasonal fruit and vegetables.
“Scottish fruit and vegetables taste their best and have higher nutritional content when they are in season. Also buying Seasonal foods help support the local Scottish economy with local farmers. Buying seasonally helps with the family budget too.”
The Eat in Season app will allow people to search for recipes using seasonal ingredients. It’s also linked to the Love Food Hate Waste recipe tool, to help use up leftovers.
The online tool includes around 230 recipes, including those provided by the top chefs.
Evaluation of last year’s campaign showed:
- 98 per cent of people were motivated to buy or eat in-season food
- Morrisons saw a 42 per cent increase in the sale of seasonal foods that were featured as ingredients in the recipe cards distributed in-store
- 85 per cent of those surveyed said the campaign motivated them to think about which foods they choose and when
- 82 per cent agreed the campaign told them something new
The Eat in Season campaign runs until August 3. As well as press adverts there will be a series of promotional marketing events at supermarkets.