If you take your beef seriously, you may have heard of Netflix film-maker, Franck Ribiere, who directed films Steak (R)evolution and Wagyu Confidential.
On Thursday October 7, he’s coming to Edinburgh to host a Meat and the Maker event, in collaboration with in-house butcher MacDuff, at Bonnie & Wild food hall at the St James Quarter. As part of An Evening with Franck Ribiere, the director will be discussing his latest film, Look Back in Angus - a documentary on how the Aberdeen Angus breed came to dominate food culture. He’ll also be joined by Geordie and Julia Soutar of Kingston Farm, near Forfar, who have rescued the Native Angus breed, which has a pedigree dating back 180 years. There were only 27 left in existence in the Nineties, as, over the last half century, this breed has been usurped by the taller Aberdeen Angus, which is considered an archetypal Scotch beef cattle, despite having imported genetics from North American and Canada.
“It’s the only farm in the world to hold all nine original Native Angus bloodlines, “ says Andrew Duff, director of MacDuff. “In 2020, Geordie Soutar was awarded an MBE for his work in safeguarding the breed and getting Native Angus off the Critically Endangered List. The couple have since achieved special designation status for this pure Scottish cattle, which has no imported bloodlines”.
This will be the first time in decades that the Soutars’ Native Angus beef will be on sale from anywhere except their own farm and their local butcher, and ticket holders to the event will have the option of taking a cut home or having it cooked in front of them by chef John Munro of The Gannet.
“We’re giving attendees the opportunity to buy this exclusive pure Scotch beef for the very first time in 30 years!” says Duff.
Franck Ribiere, says; “I am thrilled to be part of this new opening in Edinburgh as I have known Andrew for a while now and I know his true dedication to good meat and good food. Also, having Native Angus meat for the show is quite a dream too!”'
For tickets, £25, see www.eventbrite.co.uk
