Game on as top chefs line up

This year has a fantastic array of expertise and talent with 27 local chefs cooking with game alongside butchers, fruit and veg suppliers, a fly fisherman and students, all coming together in the Country Pursuits Area to create an exciting event during the show.

There will also be an introduction to game by Simon Hamlyn, the northern regional director of the Countryside Alliance.

Among the chefs demonstrating at the theatre will be Michelin star chef James Mackenzie, chef proprietor of The Pipe and Glass at South Dalton, near Beverley; and Tim Bilton, chef proprietor of The Butchers Arms in Hepworth as well as TV celebrity chef Rosemary Shrager, who will be staging two game cooking sessions over each of the three days.

Stephanie Moon, who has coordinated the Game Cookery Theatre timetable, says this year’s programme will include many different types of game.

“It’s a real mix of wild fish, wild game, venison, pigeon, pheasant, rabbit – you name it we’ve got it,” says the chef consultant at Rudding Park Hotel, in Harrogate, who will cook with venison and pigeon alongside Paul Nicholson, head butcher from Fodder Game, on the Wednesday. “And it’s healthy, that’s the great thing. It’s healthy, locally produced food by local chefs and really good for you.”

Along with the live kitchen action there will be 71 stalls in the ever-popular Food Hall, showing an extensive range of quality and mouth-watering delights. Many of the exhibitors are local, with 60 per cent of exhibitors based in Yorkshire.

Michelle Mackey, the show and trade stand co-ordinator of the Great Yorkshire Show adds: “The Game Cookery Theatre is always incredibly popular and is a wonderful showcase for the region’s food as well as providing lots of valuable hints and tips from the chefs.”