Gary Maclean is a Scottish chef, author and the first National Chef of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

Early life

Gary Maclean grew up in Knightswood,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and was educated at

Knightswood Secondary School Knightswood Secondary School is a secondary school located in Knightswood in the west-end of Glasgow, Scotland. The school is one of the city's largest secondaries with a roll of approximately 1500 pupils. Knightswood is co-educational, non- ...

, where he first developed an interest in cooking through his school's home economics course. Maclean continued his culinary education at the Glasgow College of Food Technology, which has since merged with several other institutions and is now known as the City of Glasgow College.

Career

Maclean began his career at the age of 15, finding his first employment in hotel kitchens in the 1980s. He was appointed the head chef of 55BC, a

restaurant, at the age of 22. This was his first head chef position. He later became executive chef of Glasgow Museums, this post gave him responsibility over the restaurants at the

Burrell Collection The Burrell Collection is a museum in Glasgow, Scotland, managed by Glasgow Museums. It houses the art collection of Sir William Burrell and Constance, Lady Burrell. The museum reopened on 29 March 2022 with free entry, having been closed for ...

and the

Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow The Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) is the main gallery of contemporary art in Glasgow, Scotland. GoMA offers a programme of temporary exhibitions and workshops. GoMA displays work by local and international artists as well as addressing contempora ...

. Maclean began full-time teaching at the City of Glasgow College in 2010, he had previously spent 13 years working at the college in a part-time capacity. Maclean successfully auditioned to appear on 2016's edition of '' MasterChef: The Professionals'', this was his third attempt at applying for the show. After competing against 47 other professional chefs over 7 weeks of competition, Maclean was declared the winner in the final episode of season 9. The Scottish Government announced, in November 2017, that Maclean was to become Scotland's first National Chef. This role includes promoting Scottish produce on the world stage and encouraging the domestic consumption of healthy, locally produced food. Maclean released his first book, ''Kitchen Essentials: The Joy of Home Cooking'', in October 2018. It features a foreword by

Marcus Wareing Marcus Wareing (born 29 June 1970) is an English celebrity chef who is currently Chef-Owner of the one-Michelin-starred restaurant Marcus (formerly Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley) in Knightsbridge. Since 2014, Wareing has been a judge on '' Mast ...

, a Michelin-starred chef and one of the judges on '' MasterChef: The Professionals''. His second book, ''Gary Maclean's Scottish Kitchen'', was released in April 2022. It features a foreword by

Sam Heughan Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictional ...

, the star of '' Outlander''. Both of Maclean's books were published by

Black & White Publishing Black & White Publishing is an independent publishing house based in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland. Since 1999, the company has produced a range of titles, with more than 350 in print, including over 50 in the award-winning ''Itchy Coo'' ...

. Maclean opened his own seafood restaurant, called Creel Caught, in 2021. It is located in the Bonnie & Wild Scottish Marketplace in the St James Quarter,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

Awards

Maclean won the

Craft Guild of Chefs The Craft Guild of Chefs is the main professional association for chefs in the UK. Established in 1885 under its former name of the Cookery and Food Association, it is sited near Kew Gardens station in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thame ...

' chef lecturer award in 2015. Maclean received the Hospitality Educator of the Year Award at the 2017 CIS Excellence Awards. Maclean was inducted into the College Development Network's College Hall of Fame in November 2019. Maclean was awarded the Mark Twain Award by the

Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York The Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York is the oldest Charitable organization, charitable institution in the state of New York (state), New York and is focused on helping Scots in the New York community. History The organization was ...

, in November 2021, for 'his contributions to the global Scottish community'. The award was bestowed at the Society's 265th annual banquet, held in the

University Club of New York The University Club of New York (also known as University Club) is a private social club at 1 West 54th Street and Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Founded to celebrate the union of social duty and intellec ...

Published works

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maclean, Gary Living people Scottish television chefs Reality cooking competition winners People from Glasgow 1972 births People educated at Knightswood Secondary School