Top line-up of Master-full events on HCC’s Winter Fair stand

Master chefs, master butchers and masterful cookery presentations headline a set of showpiece rolling demonstrations by HCC’s handpicked team at next week’s Royal Welsh Winter Fair.

Ceredigion Welsh Lamb Club stars Nigel Jones, the Chef patron at the grand Georgian dining room of Nanteos Mansion Country House Hotel, and Rhodri Edwards, of Y Ffarmers, Llanfihangel y Creuddyn will be cooking up great Welsh Lamb recipes on stand, ably supported by HCC stand favourite, Nerys Howell, a regular contributor to Welsh and English television and radio food programmes.

Master butchers Chris Rogers and Julien Pursglove will be showing how to joint, cut and prepare great PGI branded Welsh Lamb and pork from Wales for cooking wonderful winter recipes from the HCC recipe showcase. Chris and his wife Collette’s shop in Carmarthen has just been named Welsh Butcher’s Shop of the Year. Julien Pursglove is a Sainsbury’s master butcher and his on-stand contributions are sponsored by Dunbia.

HCC’s own consumer expert Elwen Roberts, a regular on S4C’s Prynhawn Da programme, will take the stage on the stand to give visitors tips on cooking wholesome, hearty seasonal favourites and Christmas cooking with a twist.

For farmers there will also be an opportunity to learn more about HCC’s hugely successful 2014-15 EID project, which saw producers representing an incredible 25 per cent of the Welsh flock sign up to find out how they can take their businesses forward using recording and its associated benefits, and, of course, plenty of opportunities to discuss technical and marketing issues with HCC’s expert staff.

Lamb producers attending will be asked for their views via a questionnaire with the findings assisting the HCC-led industry initiative investigating extending the shelf life of PGI Welsh Lamb.

“Every year this great festive event sees tremendous interest in HCC’s cookery demonstrations using prime Welsh Lamb, Welsh Beef and pork from Wales,” said HCC’s Consumer Executive Elwen Roberts.

The HCC standwill also have leaflets from the HCC “Knowledge House” library - a wealth of technical literature available for farmers to take away - and a lamb carcass competition will highlight the commercial importance of producing for market.

Entrants will be required to guess the amount of saleable meat on a lamb carcass to a retail specification, with a £50 meat voucher as a prize.