It began as a small event celebrating the Moray town’s eponymous dish. It’s growing into a contest attracting international attention. What’s the recipe for success?

Cullen is gearing up for the annual celebration of the iconic dish that helped place the coastal town on the culinary map. Since 2012, visitors from across the country have descended on the Moray community to watch finalists compete in the Cullen Skink World Championships.

Held on the 22 November at the Cullen Bay Hotel, the competition sees entrants compete to prepare the best Cullen Skink, and the best Cullen Skink ‘With a Twist’. In previous years, the Championships have attracted dozens of supporters and provided a welcome boost to the area’s valuable tourism industry.

VisitScotland hopes this year’s competition, which takes place during the Year of Food and Drink 2015, will be no exception and will help highlight the region’s outstanding natural larder and delicious dining experiences. Organiser Simon Tucker, who is also vice-chair of the Cullen Voluntary Tourist Initiative, took time out recently to describe the origins of the event.

“We saw the success and interest created by the annual Golden Spurtle World Porridge Making Championship and were keen to try and replicate it. We also felt that Cullen Skink, although internationally recognised could still be promoted and celebrated with more vigour.

“Cullen is proud of its heritage and links to the fishing industry. We are also immensely proud of Scottish produce. Its quality, freshness and diversity should all be promoted.”

It wasn’t easy: “Putting together the competition was daunting, starting with a ‘blank page’. We spent most of a year – we are all volunteers – researching how other competitions were run and speaking to various bodies to get advice. The ethos of the competition was to be fun, open to anyone to participate in, to promote and celebrate Scottish produce.”

But they can’t be accused of lacking in ambition, calling the event a ‘world championship’. Tucker explained: “Cullen Skink is internationally known. We have followers in America and Europe. Some of the UK’s top chefs have featured Cullen Skink on their TV programmes, as well as some of the major newspapers. We have had entrants from as far as the Wirral, as well as local entries.

“Our winner from last year [Neal Robertson, from Fife] has an impressive pedigree having won several titles including the World Porridge Making Championships. The most surprising benefit has been the number of spectators who attend the event. We attract approximately 200 spectators every year, a mixture of both locals and tourists.”

The event has grown each year, and in 2014 the organisers added another category, Cullen Skink With and Twist, which was won locally by Ian Watson from the Cullen Bay Hotel, whose recipe was based on rum-smoked haddock with chillies.

The event has relied on local support: “Our local Environmental Health Department has been key in allowing the competition to get off the ground. Lady Claire Russell [of Ballindalloch Castle] and Louie Paterson [of Cluny Fish] have supported us each year by carrying out the daunting task of judging the competition.

“The Cullen Bay Hotel has provided the venue and support to run the event, along with the businesses in Cullen who have advertised the event and distributed the paper competition entry forms. Many other organisations have helped promote the event through their news feeds and websites and press contacts.”

Tucker has this advice for others thinking about developing a local event with national or international reach: “It is important to create a ‘unique’ event and spend time doing as much research as possible.

“Having a team of people with different skills is vital. Our original group had marketing and development skills as well as people with business experience and contacts from different industries and sectors. This allows the organisers to discuss in depth the various pitfalls as well as the potential.”

“The event has to be sustainable, especially in this current economic climate as to rely on funding from an external source would risk the long-term viability. To start small and be willing to learn from your mistakes as the event starts to mature and grow.”

Leave a Reply