2007 winner Maria Soep & Speciality winner Al Beaton
2007 Photos & Press Release
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2007 winner Maria Soep & Speciality winner Al Beaton
2007 winner Maria Soep cooking her winning porridge
2007 winner Maria Soep & David Fisher the roving reporter for the Paul O'Grady Show
and runner up in the Speciality
2007 Speciality winner Al Beaton
2007 winner Maria Soep
Al Beaton finishes his 2007 Speciality winner
5k, 3k and Fun Run winners 2007
Results 2007
Winner of the Golden Spurtle World Porridge Making Championships is Maria Soep of Roineabhal Country House, Kilchrenan, Taynuilt.
Winner of the Speciality is Al Beaton of The Porridge Bowl mobile porridge bar based Inverness.
Results Press Release
GUEST HOUSE OWNER WINS WORLD PORRIDGE MAKING CHAMPIONSHIP 2007
A GUEST HOUSE OWNER from Argyle beat off tough competition to take the title of World Porridge Making Champion 2007 as expert porridge makers from far and wide gathered in Carrbridge on Sunday to compete for the coverted Golden Spurtle Award.
Maria Soep runs the Roineabhal Country House at Kilchrenan where she makes sure porridge is on the menu for guests from around the world.
Maria has been involved in the hotel and catering trade since she was 15. In her younger days she worked as a chalet girl which led her to being invited back to France to take ove the kitchen at a small family run hotel in the Pynrenees.
She has run her own country house guest house in Taynuilt for the past seven years.
Delighted to take the world porridge making title, she commented: " There was some very strong competition and a lot of very good professional chefs taking part. I just didn't expect to do so well."
The secret of her success, she says, is in using traditional organically grown pinhead oatmeal which the judges commended for its nutty texture.
As well as the prestigious Golden Spurtle trophy, the World Porridge Making Champion was presented with a £350 hotel voucher and £250 spending money from the event's main sponsors, oatmeal producers Hamlyns of Scotland.
In the speciality category, sponsored by Columba Cream, the first prize went to Al Beaton from The Porridge Bowl, Inverness - a mobile porridge catering unit which is much in demand for festivals and events across the Highlands.
Al explained that his winning recipe, which is from his Porridge Bowl menu, included stewed apples, cinnamon and raisins with whipped cream dusted with grapenuts and served with a chocolate scroll.
The delighted chef was awarded the Duncan Hilditch Memorial Trophy named in memory of porridge making legend and four times world champion Duncan Hilditch and a £150 cash prize.
The championship attracted a strong line up of competitors from across Scotland as well other parts of the UK.
They included professional chefs, caterers and individuals keen to prove they could make a perfect bowl of porridge.
Among the competitors was a 21-year-old barber from Inverness who also lays claim to TV fame as a roving reporter fro the Paul O'Grady Show and a retired chartered accountant with a passion for porridge.
The line up for the final cook off included last year's champion army chef Sgt Coleen Hayward MacLeod from the 1st Royal Irish Regiment based at Fort George and Simon Humphreys, a market researcher from London whose interest in porridge, which he proclaims as the "new museli", was prompted by a health scare showing he was suffering from a high cholesterol count.
This year's judges included George McIvor, Chairman of the Master Chefs of Great Britain, Colin Bussey, Executive Head Chef of the prestigious Cameron House Hotel, Loch Lomond and Shirley Spear from the famous award-winning Three Chimneys Restaurant on the Isle of Skye.
The annual contest is organised by Carrbridge Community Council whose chairman, Mr Scott Bruce was delighted at the success of this year's event.
"There was a very high standard of competitors and a great sense of rivalry which led to some very tense moments particularly when it came to the final cook off," he said.
This was echoed by Mr George McIvor, chairman of the Master Chefs of Great Britain who has been involved with the championship since it first started and headed up the judging panel.
He commented: "Each year the standard of competitors is extremely high and this year was exceptional. It was the toughest championship I have ever had to judge."
The championship got off to a flying start with a Toast to the Porridge and the procession of judges and competitors to the village hall led by the Badenoch and Strathspey Pipe Band.
Among the other added attractions was the Carrbridge Challenge Forest Run sponsored by Nairn's Oatcakes with fund raising for Maggie's Highland, an aerobic warm up led by local fitness instructor, Sam Bain, the Cairngorms Farmers Market, product tastings, live music and street entertainment.
A TV broadcast on the championship is to be broadcast on the Paul O'Grady Show on Wednesday (October 10) and can also be seen on the Scottish TV website at www.scotlandontv.tv
Media enquires, please contact Linda Jolly, tel: 01479 841 211 or email lindajolly@aol.com.
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Photo © 2006 Roy Brown. May
be used without fee for media reporting of event. Photo credit "Roy Brown"
Email "roy at roybrown dot co dot uk"
2006 Media Photos
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2005 Media Photos
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2004 Media Photos
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2003 Media Photos
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© 2005 - Carrbridge Community Council
