British food writer and food critic Tom Parker Bowles will present the 2017 Butchers Q Guild Smithfield Awards at Ironmongers Hall, London on 1st February 2017.
Parker Bowles is a restaurant critic for The Mail on Sunday as well as a food writer, with his most recent publication, The Cook Book for Fortnum & Mason, due out this autumn.
Parker Bowles has also been a judge on the first series of the Australian Network Nine restaurant competition series, The Hot Plate, ITV show Food Glorious Food and was a regular contributor to Gordon Ramsay’s The F Word on Channel 4.
The Smithfield Awards, which have moved from its usual end of year spot to early in 2017, are open to all Q Guild members throughout the UK.
Q Guild national chairman and Alnwick butcher Mark Turnbull, explained: “We have responded to members’ comments about the promotional longevity of the Smithfield Awards and decided to make the presentations early in the year rather than at the end. This will allow winners to promote their products for a full 11 months within the current year of the awards.”
The 2017 awards will see a brand new Gluten-Free Products class, which will make up one of the ten categories.
The categories are:
- Traditional Pork Sausages
- Speciality Sausages
- Burgers
- Ready to Eat Meat & Roasts
- Bacon & Cured Products
- Pies & Bakery – Hot
- Pies & Bakery – Cold
- Kitchen Ready Products
- Ready Meals
- Gluten-Free Products
Individual category winners will compete for the Smithfield Awards supreme champion title. There will also be prizes for the best beef and lamb products from English, Welsh and Scottish origin, and the best pork product overall.
“The Q Guild’s Smithfield Awards remain a highly respected and recognised product evaluation. Nothing says ‘we’re the best’ like winning a Smithfield Award,” Turnbull commented.
“Last year’s Smithfield Awards attracted a record entry of 472 individual products from 56 Q Butchers – more than half the national membership – and we’re hoping to do even better this time around, such is their growing popularity.”
The deadline for entries is 23rd September.
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
