Souper success for Kyle chef as her Cullen skink tantalises taste buds at World Championships
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A KYLE chef who has a winning way with Cullen skink is savouring the sweet taste if success yet again.
The Cullen Skink World Championships returned to the town’s Seafield Arms Hotelo as hopefuls from near and far got their ladles at the ready.
In the last championships before lockdown, top accolades were scooped by Margaret Macrae, of Buth Bheag’s Fisherman’s Kitchen, Kyle of Lochalsh.
It was a worthwhile return trip to Cullen for Ms Macrae, who went on to successfully defend her Traditional Skink title – although it was not to be repeated in the Twist category.
There was trophy glory for the host venue in the Skink with a Twist section in the shape of Seafield Arms head chef Luke Green.
A delighted Ms Macrae said: “To be honest, I wasn’t really confident in either category, the standard was really, really high. The secret of my success is down to the fact we smoke our own haddock. I’ve won both categories of skink twice, so I think I’ll be retiring from the championships now. However, hopefully my daughter will be entering the competition next year.”
After a Covid-induced hiatus of three years battle was resumed for the coveted titles. There was a change of venue for the championships, with the focus shifting to the Seafield Arms Hotel in the centre of the town. It was a move that was to pay dividends with an estimated 400 spectators coming along to the contest over the course of the day.
There was trophy glory for the host venue in the Skink with a Twist section in the shape of Seafield Arms head chef Luke Green.
Taking the runner-up slots were Lynne Watson, of Lily's Kitchen Café in Cullen and Kelly Spooner of the Aberlour Hotel respectively.
Mr Green, who was a last minute entrant to the contest, had to combine competitive action with preparing meals for Seafield Arms guests, having to forgo throwing his hat in the ring for the Traditional Skink contest in favour of lunch service before nipping upstairs to the function hall to whip up a winning recipe to claim the Twist title.
Cullen skink is a dish he is not unfamiliar with, he said.
"We sell quite a lot of Cullen skink, it's very popular – we make around 40 to 60 litres of it a day," he continued.
"It's quite a weird feeling to have won it, I wasn't really confident of doing well, especially as I finished making my skink after 20 minutes. I suppose I make so much of it that it's second nature.
"For my Skink with a Twist I used fermented garlic and leek with a roast halibut stock, served with pickled vegetables, which gave a nice sweet and sour side to the soup."
Praising his victory was Seafield Arms general manager Ailie Flett.
She commented: "We're delighted Luke has won – he wasn't going to enter the competition at first but we persuaded him and it worked out really well!"
Mr Green has been with the hotel since it opened in 2019.
Handed the difficult task of choosing a winner for the two categories up for grabs was a judging panel comprising Jimmy Buchan – of Trawlermen fame – from Amity Fish Ltd, UHI Moray's Alistair Fowlie, Louie Paterson of Cluny Fish Ltd and former Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Banffshire Patricia Seligman MBE.
Unveiling the champions and runners-up was a task undertaken by the Lord Lieutenant of Banffshire Andrew Simpson.
He said: "It's terrific we have this competition going again after the lockdown.
"Can I add my congratulations and thanks not just to the hotel but the organisers as well for their amazing work, for their vision, their promotion [of the event] and making this happen.
"Thank you to everyone for involved in promoting and organising today's event."
Mr Simpson went on to say that not only did the championships showcase a wealth of talent but was also a "fantastic occasion to celebrate local ingredients".
He added that he was glad not to have been handed the responsibility of being a judge such was the high standard of the entries, going on to praise the competitors not just for their skill but for taking the time during the competition to interact with the public.
Organising the event once again were the Cullen Voluntary Tourist Initiative.
The group's chairman, David McCubbin, said: "It's been absolutely fantastic.
"Ultimately we wanted to do was have [the championships] in the centre of town so the spin-off benefits of having people coming to the competition would be felt in the town and we've certainly seen that today.
"After the morning competition, at lunchtime, the hall emptied and everyone went out and ate, drank, shopped, walked and did all great things you can do here in Cullen.
"It's just been amazing, today has certainly exceeded our expectations. We had no idea how it was going to turn out, it's the first time we've done this in three years.
"Three years is a long time and it's kind of fallen out of people's memories so we've tried as a voluntary tourist group to get the message out there."
Mr McCubbin added that one of the things which made the championships special was the fact that it attracted both from professionals and amateurs to enter.
