It is not everyone that can say they reached Finals Week in the pressure pot of the MasterChef kitchen but, three years on, Perthshire’s Sarah Rankin is content to cast her gaze forward.

Not that she seeks to diminish that experience, of course (as a Marketer, by calling, she understands its weight), it’s just that she too much on her personal menu to spend time looking back.

“I want to be my own brand now,” she says, honestly, adding a chuckle, “If I’d won, I might have thought differently.”

It’s not easy to get a catch-up with the self-taught cook these days, which is exactly the way she planned it, after her whirlwind in the public eye.

In fact, when PBN got in touch, she was re-routed on a replacement bus via Carlisle after the train bringing her back from a BBC radio show in England had been cancelled.

Typical UK transport chaos, she was back home by 6pm, many hours later than planned.

Broadcast work is just as much a part of her broad portfolio mix these days as the cooking itself. Throw in her books, pop-up Supper clubs in her Kinross home, cookery classes and demonstrations, Private Dining and food writing and you get a glimpse of her life after the reality show.

Indeed, when it comes to the business of being a known – and growing - name in the food world, she understands very well the metaphor of spinning plates.

“My background is in Marketing, and I still do a little of that, although my time for it is less and less, sadly. After MasterChef, I wanted to create a good business and make it pay. I couldn’t have done that if I didn’t have my marketing background, which was really useful in creating a strong brand, creating branded produce and making the brand recognisable.

“There needs to be a lot of ways to make it work because margins in food are so slim today,” she says – something which will resonate with others working in food and drink and hospitality in 2025.

Sarah’s signature approach of using quality Scottish ingredients, in-season, and inspired by the understated recipes of her mother and grandmother, was something which wowed MasterChef judges but also provided the theme for her book, ‘Kith’, published by Birlinn in April 2024.

At the time of speaking, she had just handed over edits for book 2, expected out in October. “It’s exciting,” she says, almost breathlessly.

The Subscriber secret sauce

A big part of the reason for her popularity and buy-in amongst her own fans - and the wider ‘foodie’ community – stems from her approach to communications.

The ‘secret sauce’, she says, comes from engaging with her Subscribers and ensuring they get the chance to participate, actively, in her work, with offers, recipes and release dates given to them, first. Her email opening rate reflects the care taken on this aspect of her promotion.

“I have my social media accounts, Facebook and Instagram, and that is part of what I do, but I am aware that Followers is just a number, really. For me, it is much more important that people are engaged. That is why communicating directly with my Subscribers is so important. I want to offer them real value and for there to be a benefit in it for them.

“My supper clubs, for example, are normally sold out through my mailing list.”

If you want to have a meal cooked for you, personally, by Sarah, you can.

At her pop-up Supper Clubs in Kinross, 10 guests are treated to 5-course tasting menu. You also get the full after-dinner chat (including MasterChef anecdotes) and a personal favourite of Sarah’s when cooking – French bistro Jazz!

She also does private dining deliveries to customers’ homes as well as cookery classes, often in collaboration with another known Perthshire foodie hub, Violet Kitchen Studios in Bridge of Earn.

“My really big thing is cooking seasonally which is how we ate at home when I was growing up, in Inverness.

“When we moved to Perthshire, I realised how lucky we were. Everything is either here or it is just over the boundary, in Fife or Angus.

“I talked a lot about the seasonal Scottish larder in my first book. It is better for the grower and better for health. The nutrients and flavours are better and it means low carbon miles.

“When I do my classes, or private dining, my rule of thumb is everything from a 30 mile radius. If I am using venison, it is from Perthshire. OK, I am not going to get local lemons, at least I don’t think so!

“But if I can get produce which is Scottish, I will. If not, I will try to make sure it is UK grown.”

No compromise on taste

While she might sacrifice a few social media posts to speak directly to her community, one thing she won’t compromise on is flavour.

That may come at a cost, in terms of margins, but quality is sacrosanct. It is a major part of her values when it comes to food.

“The type of ingredients I want to use are so much more expensive. I want quality and I want home grown or UK grown. I am not going to compromise on that so the costs are higher. If I went cheaper, there would be a loss in flavour so I am not going to do that.”

Her philosophy on advocating home grown has even seen her advising some supermarkets on their offering in the shopping aisles.

“I encourage them to do more in terms of home-grown produce,” she says.

“What I want, I suppose, is that the onions are not coming from Egypt!”

Some of her favourite Perthshire businesses, doing things the way she appreciates, include Arngask Home Farm in Glenfarg; their pork she describes as being, ‘some of the best I’ve ever had.”

Gloagburn Farm Shop in Tibbermore and Rootin’ and Roamin’ in Cleish are on her list, too, for fresh, local ingredients.

She even recalls spending more time than she was paying for, at Loch Leven’s Larder in her hometown, when writing Kith – something she truly appreciates.

“I probably wrote most of my first book, there, in the restaurant. The staff were great,” she laughs.

“I would ask for Table 1, with a charger, and tell them to boot me out when the lunch diners came in.”

Joking aside, the support for her work, locally, means a lot to Sarah but she, too, is a champion for the area- and its larder.

“There is so much great produce all around, here, and people doing great things. We really are very lucky.”

Visit Sarah’s website and remember to Subscribe to get the latest news and dining dates (before anyone else!)