It was a sunny Saturday in Nairn, I was ready to watch people make tattie scones and even willing to sample a few out of the goodness of my heart.
Little did I know, minutes later, I would be donning an apron and fiddling with the gas on a portable stove.
The World Tattie Scone Championship took place at Taste of Nairn on Saturday, with a number of heats being held throughout the day leading up to the big announcement of whose creation reigned above all others.
More than 20 people added their own flare to a provided mix of mashed potato, butter and flour, all hoping to take home the trophy.
As an excited crowd gathered, I reminded my insanely competitive side which was starting to come forward that I had not in fact even entered.
Chaos
My heat for the competition was chaotic in the best of ways.
It consisted of me, Marleen who had also been thrown in the deep end at last minute, and four members of the Mad Hatters of Moray – all dressed as characters from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Willy Wonka was under the table at one point, Veruca Salt was sticking a lollipop into the top of her tattie scone tower, my rubber glove was falling into my mashed potato mix, it’s all a blur.
The lovely Elaine Sutherland from Oakwood Kitchens well and truly got me through, coaching me through each step and even making me believe for a brief moment tattie scone making might be something I could do unsupervised at home.
The results
After tasting our creations, which featured ingredients from chorizo to chocolate, the judges were ready to announce the winners from the day.
Unfortunately, no one from our heat made the top three, but Augustus Gloop was treated to a special mention for his tattie scone which had just about everything on it.
In third place was Layla Neelan with a pina colada tattie scone, Widow Twanky, also from Mad Hatters of Moray, was second with her Chinese inspired recipe and Donna Cunningham was awarded first place for her maple and bacon creation.
Ready for next year’s tattie scone championships
Despite the initial shock, I am glad I was roped into taking part in the World Tattie Scone Championship.
Community events like these bring people together in a time when we need it most as we recover from two years of pandemic-induced restrictions.
Taste of Nairn as a whole celebrated all things local, highlighting makers from the area and encouraging the conversation between customer and creator you don’t get while online shopping.
I had never made a tattie scone, but with a little encouragement and a lot of help, I got there and it did not look half bad.
I’ve now got around 364 days to prepare for next year’s competition. I reckon by that time I will be both unstoppable and sick of tattie scones.