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Family heirloom pan a winner for World Champion Stovies


By Pat Scott

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World Stovies champion, Shaun McLeod, centre with other food competition winners.
World Stovies champion, Shaun McLeod, centre with other food competition winners.

THE secret to world championship winning stovies is in the pan according to the man who claimed the title at Huntly Hairst last Saturday.

Shaun McLeod from Fyvie has fond memories of stovies being made while he was a child on the family farm and in his travels all round the world he has always made stovies.

Food competitions were hosted by Huntly Golf Club and the move took the trick with more entries than previously for the stovies and good entries for the pickled beetroot and oatcake contests added for 2021.

Runner up in the stovies was Trevor Buckley and judge, Keira Allan said the two top entries were very close.

Stovies judge, Keira Allan with the entries.
Stovies judge, Keira Allan with the entries.

She described Mr McLeod’s entry as good old fashioned stovies with proper beef and plenty of flavour.

Mr McLeod said that tradition was for stovies to be made with the skirt of beef which had been used to make soup the previous day and he stuck with that.

He said: “Granny would serve up onto big, old white plates. There would be a plate with home made oatcakes, a large bowl of beetroot and a jug of milk from the cow.

“Granda would make a hollow in his stovies and pour milk into it. Me and my brothers always had a race to see who would scrape the bottom of the pan.

“My stovies were made in a 52-year-old pan which has been handed down through three generations - the taste is in the pan.”

Mr McLeod also won the pickled beetroot competition. Judge Anna Wilson, from Huntly Herbs, said the entry was a clear winner.

Highly commended was Ann Ralph who thanked her grandchildren for growing the beetroot which she used.

Norma Breathet from Ardersier, won the competition for oatcakes and highly commended was Wendy Walker.

Diane Ingram, who has her own oatcake business at Corse and helped in the making of a video to show how they are made, judged the six entries and described all of them as a good standard.

She said: “It’s good that people had a go. The winning oatcakes were crispy and evenly coated and nicely seasoned.”

Mrs Breathet had seen the competition promoted online and as a regular competitor in shows decided she wanted to have a go.

She said: “There haven’t been shows to enter, so this has been good.

“I do make oatcakes quite regularly and for special occasions like Christmas and my dad’s birthday.

“It’s been a great day and I will enter again.”


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