Great Scots! Flocking to the flour show

Working for an Honest Crust panel. Credit: Chris Young / www.realbreadcampaign.org CC-BY-SA-4.0

Published: Monday 6 March 2023

Saturday 25 February 2023 saw more than 1000 people gather for the first-ever Scottish Real Bread Festival.

Organised by Scotland the Bread at the home of their mill, Bowhouse in Fife, the programme included:

Working for an Honest Crust: a panel discussion with thoughts on grain security, health, diversity, equity and inclusion from professor Lindsay Jaacks (Edinburgh University), writer and artist Neel Paul, professor Wendy Russell (University of Aberdeen) and Real Bread Campaign coordinator Chris Young.
The premiere of a short film celebrating a new wave of agroecological Scottish grain, flour and Real Bread.
A Taste of Diversity: A chance to try heritage and ancient varieties; as well as landraces and other mixed populations.
The Big Thrash, giving children a hands-on chance to follow the trail from sheaf to sourdough.
Bannocks & Ballads: stories and songs from Marie Louise Cochrane, aka Mrs. Mash the Storytelling Cook
Straw weaving with Elaine Lindsay.
Heritage grains workshop with Bosse Dahlgren.
Flour to the People: Breaducation in Comrie with Wild Hearth Bakery.
The People’s Bread: Real Bread demos.
A market of Real Bread and more.

Photos of the event

Scottish Bread Championship winners

The event also included announcement of the Scottish Bread Championship results. Gold awards, including the supreme and reserve champion, were presented by Mairi Gougeon MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs & the Islands.

Supreme Champion: New York Rye Sourdough by Company Bakery, Edinburgh
Reserve Champion: Beremeal Boule by The Culinary Kiwi Bird, Insch, Aberdeenshire.

From nearly 140 entries from 36 bakers (double the number in 2022) those chosen to receive gold awards in each category were:

Classic Sourdough Bread
(Made using only flour, water and salt)

Company Bakery - Baguette
Station House Bakery - Station House Sourdough

Enriched Sourdough Bread
(with additional natural ingredients - seeds, fruit etc.)

Wild Hearth Bakery - Light Seeded Sourdough
Mhor Bread - Walnut Sourdough
Mhor Bread - Oatmeal Sourdough
Cadzow Bakehouse - Seeded Sourdough
Cukie Patisserie - Farmer
Company Bakery - White Family Sunflower
Knapdale Artisan Bread - Cranberry & Pecan Sourdough

Bread Made From Scottish-Grown Grain, Milled In Scotland

Beremeal Boule by The Culinary Kiwi Bird, Insch, Aberdeenshire
Station House Bakery - Spelt Sourdough

Bread Reflecting Scotland’s Food Culture
(e.g. made with historic grains, or drawing on the nation's diverse and evolving food heritage)

New York Rye Sourdough by Company Bakery, Edinburgh
City Market Bakery - Struan
Mhor Bread - Garlic Foccaccia Sourdough
Mhor Bread - Choc Chip Sourdough Brioche

Bread Excelling In Nutritional Quality

Wild Hearth Bakery - Rye, Wheat & Sunflower Schotbrott
Bruntlands Bread - Balcaskie Landrace Organic

Sourdough Pastries

Wild Hearth Bakery - Sourdough Pain Au Chocolat
Wild Hearth Bakery - Sourdough Cornetto
Wild Hearth Bakery - Rhubarb & Blueberry Danish
Wild Hearth Bakery - Sourdough Almond Croissant
Wild Hearth Bakery - Sourdough Cinnamon & Walnut Buns
Wild Hearth Bakery - Sourdough Bomboloni & Vanilla Creme
Ante Coffee - Sourdough Rhubarb Cobnut Danish

Cottage Loaf
(inspired by the benefits of baking at home for the family)

There were no gold awards but Warout 6/7 was awarded a bronze in the school category.

The full list of gold, silver and bronze awards can be found on the Edinburgh Bakers Trust website.

Photo (L/R) Andrew Whitley, Chris Young, professor Wendy Russell, professor Lindsay Jaacks, Neel Paul.

See also

News • Real Bread Campaign

Share

Sign up for news

Real Bread Campaign: The Real Bread Campaign finds and shares ways to make bread better for us, better for our communities and better for the planet. Whether your interest is local food, community-focussed small enterprises, honest labelling, therapeutic baking, or simply tasty toast, everyone is invited to become a Campaign supporter.

Press office

Chris Young
Campaign Coordinator
Real Bread Campaign

Chris Young has coordinated the Real Bread Campaign since March 2009. In addition to lobbying for an Honest Crust Act of better loaf composition, labelling and marketing laws; he created and runs Sourdough September; Real Bread Week; Real Bread For All; Together We Rise promoting therapeutic/social benefits and bread making; the No Loaf Lost surplus reduction initiative; as well as Lessons in Loaf and Bake Your Lawn for schools. He’s the author of the Knead to Know…more microbakery handbook and Slow Dough: Real Bread recipe book; and edits True Loaf magazine.

From 2014-18, Chris also coordinated the London Food Link network, which included editing The Jellied Eel magazine and helping to launch and run the Urban Food Awards. Chris has pulled on his judge’s wig for BOOM Awards, The Cateys, The Great Taste Awards, The Scottish Bread Championship and The World Bread Awards. In 2017, The School of Artisan Food honoured Chris with its first Fellowship.

Staff profiles