The annual contest for culinary excellence has very recently taken place at Whisky Galore. Once a year our team battle their egos and colleagues for the chance to claim the Collier Cup and more importantly bragging rights for year to come.
A little context; a traditional dish from either Scotland or New Zealand (taking year about) is selected and staff are notified. Dishes such as Pavlova, Ecclefechan tart and mutton pies have made appearances over the years. These have varied in state from spectacularly overboard with accoutrements such as micro herbs, to completely inedible offerings that require a strong whisky to cleanse the palate. A few weeks are allowed for research and development, before the carefully chosen impartial judges assemble to discern the true gastronomic skills available at Whisky Galore.
Judgement day arrives, with some folk having spent their time in the kitchen very seriously for research and development, others having spent their time resorting to alternative techniques such as bribery and skullduggery. This year you'll be pleased to hear the challenge was laid down to present a fine traditional oatcake, compulsory category, with the optional extra of a wildcard entry. Some oatcakes arrived looking like digestives, others like wafers, others piles of who knows what. The wildcards involved oatcakes that had been mucked with, including outrageous additions such as biltong, chocolate or chilly.
Our talented judges, Lottie & Tam, took their time to examine the goods presented before them, carefully noting how they fell within the judging criteria of presentation, texture, authenticity, and flavour. It became obvious to all that they weren't going to be swayed by heckles, kind gestures or bribes, this was serious business.
As a team, it is with our greatest sympathies for all that may come into his bragging rights proximity, that we announce Michael Fraser Milne as the 2025 winner of the Collier Cup. He is currently pondering how he is going to tell Stella that he would still like her provide him with her superb weekly dose of home baked oatcakes with a title like that.