SOUTH WEST farmers Sheena Horner and Gregor Christie have teamed up to highlight the 'perfect pairing' of locally produced chillies and Specially Selected Pork.

Sheena is a partner at Galloway Chillies and Gregor farms 200 sows in partnership with his brother in nearby Wigtownshire, and were brought together as part of QMS’ recently launched ‘Go Places with Pork’ campaign, a six week long promotional push on Specially Selected Pork, showing consumers how pork can be used to create a wide variety of exotic recipes from around the world.

“I think we are all a bit guilty of getting stuck in a rut when it comes to meals and always picking up the same ingredients week after week when we are shopping,” said Gregor. “Pork is not only versatile and healthy but incredibly budget-friendly and it works with a huge amount of flavours.

“Scottish pig farmers work incredibly hard to produce a quality product which tastes great. When in their butchers or supermarket, I would encourage shoppers to look for the Specially Selected Pork logo which guarantees that the pork they are buying comes from selected Scottish farms where animal welfare and high production methods are a priority.”

While chillies are an ingredient you wouldn’t traditionally associate with Scottish farming, Galloway Chillies have found that thanks to the extra hours of daylight during the summers in Scotland, the climate is perfect for growing this vibrant spice. Sheena said: “Flavoursome, spicy and sometimes hot chillies are highly sensitive to frost which is why when you think of chillies, Scotland isn’t the first place you’d think of growing them.

“What people don’t know, is that while chillies need to be kept warm, something else they need, which Scotland has plenty of, is daylight. During the summer months, Scotland has long daylight hours which the chillies love, allowing us to grow so many vibrant and delicious varieties.

“Here on the farm, we use large propagators that sit at 28˚C to germinate the chillies and keep them warm until they are ready to be moved into the tunnels. Thanks to having a heated tunnel and the extra hours of daylight in the summer, we can grow a full range of beautifully bright and colourful chillies.”

To discover a range of exciting recipes using Specially Selected Pork, consumers are encouraged to visit www.scotchkitchen.com or Scotch Kitchen on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.