A COOKERY school set up less than three years ago is celebrating after scooping a top prize at a national ceremony.

Scotland’s champions in the 2013 Countryside Alliance Awards were announced at a Holyrood reception.

And it was Colstoun Cookery School, near Haddington, who was celebrating after being crowned the Start-Up Champion at the ‘Rural Oscars’.

Freddy MacNamara, a director at the cookery school, was delighted with the prize.

He said: “We had a couple of nominations by members of the public and we picked up on that.

“We tweeted about it and loads of people nominated us, so we had enough nominations to get put up for the award.

“Then, we got judged and the judges came out to us a few weeks ago.

“They did an inspection, a review and talked to us about the school and what we do here.” MSP Tavish Scott handed out the coveted prizes to businesses from across the country, with winners also coming from Fife, Stirlingshire, Orkney, and Perthshire.

Mr MacNamara said: “We went to the awards as finalists, which was incredibly exciting.

“We absolutely did not expect to win at all.

“We were just looking forward to a nice evening out at Holyrood but we were very surprised to win.” Jamie Stewart, Scottish Countryside Alliance director, announced the Scottish winners in Edinburgh.

Speaking about Colstoun Cookery School, which is based at Colstoun Stables Cottages, he said: “Our Scottish champions have redefined the traditional take on cookery schools.

“The warm farmhouse kitchen and wide variety of game and local produce prevails but gone are the floral tabards and the Rosie-cheeked damsels; more two young men than two fat ladies… “Colstoun Cookery School has certainly achieved the criteria but, more than this, the owners have a vision and enthusiasm that was hard to match.” Now, they will go forward to the UK final, which will be held in the Houses of Parliament next month.

Then, the overall champions, one in each of the five categories, will be announced.

The school, opened late in 2011, offers both day and week-long courses.

The shorter versions offer cooking techniques covering an array of subjects, including Japanese sushi preparation, traditional Indian cooking and also smart kitchen suppers, where game can be cooked.