Taste of Edinburgh: Sample the signature dishes of top restaurants and celebrity chefs

TASTE of Edinburgh, in association with AEG, is many things to the tens of thousands of people who visit it each year. Celebrity chef and Taste festival regular Jean-Christophe Novelli calls it "one of my favourite events in the food and drink calendar."

A slap-up feast of gastronomic entertainment, brought to the boil by household name chefs, seasoned with local food heroes and served on a bed of the finest Scottish producers, it is an annual highlight for the country's food fans.

If you enjoy good food and drink then Taste of Edinburgh is one pie you must get your teeth into.

Now in its fifth year, Taste is taking place in The Meadows on 1 to 3 July. Some 25,000 gastronauts are expected to attend Scotland's largest food and drink event and help celebrate the country's top chefs and the dedicated farmers, fishermen and other producers that supply both the restaurants and the food-loving public.

One of the main ingredients of Taste is the fourteen or so pop-up restaurants run by some of the best chefs in Scotland. Designed to showcase signature dishes, they give visitors the opportunity to sample the culinary creations that put the participating restaurants on the map. Served in tapas-sized portions, they offer an easy way to discover the dishes that several restaurants do best.

As well as the cream of Scotland's cooking talent, celebrity chefs such as Atul Kochhar, Rachel Allen and Martin Blunos will demonstrate their culinary craft in the AEG Taste Theatre, La Ptisserie Peugeot, the Waitrose Cookery School and at the Chef's Table.

Not that the cooking will be the sole preserve of the professionals. If you want some hands-on experience, sign up for a free session of AEG's Perfekt Cooking Classes with Cook School by Martin Wishart.

The chefs at Taste will testify to the importance of good suppliers and more than a hundred of the UK's top producers will be showing their wares at the event.

As well as familiar faces from Edinburgh's Farmers' Market, exhibitors include craft brewers; oyster farmers; wine merchants; chocolatiers, bakers, butchers and cheese makers. Everything you need for a gastro-tour of Scotland and beyond.

The restaurants' signature dishes can only be bought using Crowns, the official currency of Taste of Edinburgh. These can be bought on-site at a rate of two crowns to 1.

On average, dishes cost between six and ten crowns. Taste is split into six afternoon and evening sessions over the three days. Your ticket is valid for one session.

Whatever time of day you go, there is little risk of feeling peckish or indeed thirsty. As well as all the opportunities to sample the best food in Scotland, there will be plenty of thirst-quenchers available.

Whether you sip champagne in the No 12 Picardy Place VIP Lounge or pick up a freshly squeezed juice or a gourmet tea from one of the exhibitors, you can wet your whistle at Taste.

Monsieur Novelli is champing at the bit to get there. "I can't wait to be part of it again," he says.

"I took part when the event launched in 2007 and have returned every year since. I will be celebrating the fifth year by showcasing some really special seasonal summer recipes to get guests' taste-buds flowing."