THEY are some of the biggest culinary names in the country whose secrets of the trade have earned plaudits for Scotland's finest restaurants.

But now chefs including Nick Nairn and Andrew Fairlie, whose eponymous restaurant at the Gleneagles Hotel is the only one in Scotland to have two Michelin stars, are to share their knowledge with enthusiasts at a residential cook school.

And although the masterclasses come with a hefty price tag of £3,245 per person, the first session for 15 people has already been sold out.

It is the first time Fairlie, one of the world's top chefs, has imparted his knowledge in this way.

The once-in-a-lifetime residential cookery course, called the 5-Star Chef Week, takes place later this month and is the brainchild of Nairn whose cook school on the banks of the Lake of Menteith in Stirlingshire will be used for classes, with participants living in lodges in the grounds.

The course offers those taking part the chance to spend quality time learning, cooking and eating with some of Britain's most talented chefs, while also picking up kitchen tips from them.

Nairn, the youngest Scottish chef ever to have a Michelin star who also runs a second cook school in Aberdeen, will show off his meat dissection skills, with participants making bone marrow fritters, confit of lamb and chicken stock.

Roy Brett, who worked with Rick Stein and whose seafood restaurant Ondine in Edinburgh is regarded as one of Scotland's best, will teach participants how to make brown crab risotto, fish filleting skills and Scandinavian cured salmon with Swedish mustard dressing. Fairlie will teach variations of the dishes he serves at his restaurant, including his acclaimed smoked Johnshaven lobster with lime butter, plus turnip soup, melting onion and Parmesan foam, Perthshire grouse, beetroot sousvide and Valhrona chocolate biscuit.

Tuition in fusion cookery will be provided by Paul Rankin, Ireland's best-known chef and co-presenter on TV's Paul & Nick's Big Food Trip; while TV chef Phil Vickery will help students make faggots, black pudding fritters, pork scratchings, kidneys, pigs ears and smoked sausages and learn charcuterie techniques.

Nairn said: "We are honoured to have five of the biggest names in British food joining us.

"The public interest in cooking and learning is at an all-time high and we wanted to raise the game for cookery classes by offering a one-off experience."

He added: "The fact we've sold out so quickly can leave nobody in any doubt that food is a hugely important issue for many Scots."