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Do You Make the Best Soup In Perthshire?

When it comes to food, there are three things in life I know to be true. 

1) When it comes to bragging rights, us Perthshire people live in one of the tastiest and most culinary diverse corners of the world.  Keep your exotic star fruits and kangaroo steaks.  Here we boast the very best in beef, vegetables, berries, orchards, lamb and game… and we’ve not even started on the whiskey and ale!

2) In Scotland, soup cures all.  From our first foray into real food as babies, through our childhood and into old age it is a reassuring presence in our lives. It’s how your granny poured her love into a big pot and straight into you.  It will chill you down in Summer (gazpacho anyone?) and warm you through in winter. Add some spice, keep it chunky or zap it up and drink from a mug.

3) My Mum makes the best soup ever. Yes she does. She does.  

Are you reading this thinking ‘Actually, I think you’ll find my Granny’s soup is the best in Scotland?’.  If you are, you won’t be alone. In my experience all of us Scots come from a long, long line of braw soup makers.  A puckle tatties, a few leeks and a bit ham shank from Lindsay’s and you’ve got lunch sorted for a week.  

In Scotland, soup cures all.  From our first foray into real food as babies, through our childhood and into old age it is a reassuring presence in our lives. As our culinary tastes have changed so too has the variety of soups you’ll find bubbling away on a Scottish stove but the sentiment, the love and the perfectly reckless throwing in of veg and meat and stock remains as true as it always has.

This year, the people at Giraffe, aka those who brought you The Great Perthshire Picnic, are inviting all of us to put our recipes right where our mouths are and enter into their Zuppa! Great Perthshire Soup Competition. 

Whether your favourite recipe is a hale and hearty lentil, a warming butternut squash or a super cool gazpacho, this is your chance to proof that your family recipe is the best.

Great Perthshire Picnic soupremo, Gareth Ruddock, said: “ We are so pleased to be working with Zero Waste Perth this year – after all, some of the finest soups ever made come from almost wasted food! The base for a good chicken soup is nothing without the leftovers from a tasty roast chicken, bones and all! This event is a perfect opportunity for people to not only compete and then taste lots of awesome soups, but also learn ways to reduce their own food waste”.

There’s only one condition:  when your pot boils in the heartland of Scotland’s Larder then the main ingredient should come our local land.  So we’re looking for your signature ingredient to showcase the wealth of produce reared or grown right her in Perthshire.  Veggies, beef, lamb, mutton, venison, chicken, veggies…. You get the idea!   You could also finish it off with a drizzle of extra virgin rape seed oil, a crafty dash of beer, a tot of gin or dash of local whisky.

Zero Waste Perth Coordinator, Fiona McBain, said, “The average family of four in Scotland could save £60 per month by reducing their food waste. We think making soup is a great – and tasty! – way to use up vegetables, meat and even dairy products like cream, which would otherwise be thrown out.”

A panel of local chefs and judges from Giraffe will draw up a shortlist of six finalists who will be invited to attend the Zuppa! Festival, to be held in Perth City Centre on Sunday 17th November, during Christmas Light Switch On Weekend.  The live tasting event will include demos by two of Perth's best known and more respected chefs Graeme Pallister of 63 Tay Street and Andrew Moss of North Port - see them from 11.30am to 2.30pm. 

Graeme and Andrew will also have the tricky task of shortlisting the recipe entries!

All six soups will be served up to festive shoppers visiting the city and this mass public tasting will result in a vote to determine the overall Zuppa! Champion 2019.  I bet it’s my mum.

Check out last year's winner: Honey and Thyme Roasted Root Veg Soup

How To Enter Your Soup - And What You Can Win!

Pass me a spoon - I can barely contain my excitement! 

If you need some inspiration check out our Soup Recipe section.

The Fun doesn't stop on Saturday! On Sunday 17th November the town will be full of festive food and fun with the Perth Chocolate, Gin & Things Market, Perth Festive Market, The City of Perth Christmas Feast, Zero Waste Zuppa and Cake Fest Perth & Kinross 2019!

There will also be live music on both the Mill Street and King Edward Street Stages on Sunday 17th November 2019.

King Edward Street Stage

12.00 - Introduction by Colin Baird, Compere

12.00 - 12.30 - Russell Jones

12.45 – 13.30 - Alicia Deanna Music

13.45 – 14.15 - Russell Jones

14.30 – 15.15 - The Carloways

15.30 – 16.15 - COVER DADDY

16.15 – 17.00 - State of Emergency

17.00 - Closedown by Colin Baird, Compere

Mill Street Stage

12.00 - Introduction by Mark Conroy, Compere

12.00 - 13.00 - FunBox

13.15 – 14.00 - Just The Brave Official

14.15 – 15.00 - Longstay

15.15 – 16.00 - Jen Ella

16.05 - 16.15 - The Zero Waste Zuppa Soup and Cake Fest Perth & Kinross 2019 Prize-givings

16.15 – 17.00 - Last Orders

17.00 - Closedown by Colin Baird, Compere