Ewe Beauty! Students rack up national competition win

Two New College Lanarkshire Culinary Art students have racked up a win at the Quality Meat Scotland Lamb competition - and their prize-winning dish will feature in the national campaign.

During the competition for St Andrew's Day HNC Professional Cookery students Ryan Ritchie and Rune Martin beat four other teams from Fife College, Borders College and Forth Valley College at Edinburgh College’s Milton Campus on Wednesday 4 November.

Their rack of lamb dish will now be used in QMS’s Lamb for St Andrews Day promotional material, released this month. The pair will also recreate it at the Royal Highland Show in June 2027.

Teams had one hour to prepare and cook. Judges praised the dish, but also the way the pair worked. They noted the students’ teamwork and communication, how relaxed they appeared, how confidently they spoke to the judges, and the tidy, methodical way they worked.

The team was mentored by NCL’s Paul Clark, who attended the competition with Leanne Mason.

Ryan, who started out on the SLC Gradu8 schools programme, works for Sodexo at Hamilton Racecourse. His dish from the Young Risotto Chef competition was showcased at Hampden Park before Scotland’s send-off match against Curaçao ahead of the World Cup.

Rune also competed in Young Risotto Chef and is a medal winner in the Scottish Chef’s Skills Challenge, where he was part of the winning team in the Team Challenge. He has worked at Crossbasket Castle since June 2026.