The first ever BritishCharcuterie Awards took place last week and the winners have been revealed.
MasterChef 2010 winner, Dhruv Baker of Tempus Foods, was named Champion Producer for his pork products – Smoked Jowl, Spiced Loin, Smoked Coppa and House Salami. Meanwhile, the award for Champion Product went to Phil and Melissa Beals of Beals Farm for their Mangalitza Ham.
The inaugural BritishCharcuterie Awards was co-founded by food industry experts Henrietta Green and Charlotte Sharpe-Neil.
Meat Management editor Emily Ansell Elfer was invited to join the 33-strong judging panel, which blindly tasted 432 products made by nearly 100 British charcuterie producers over nine classes.
She said: “It was an honour to be a part of the judging panel alongside the likes of celebrity cook Prue Leith and Institute of Meat CEO Keith Fisher. Charcuterie has seen a real boom in the UK recently and many of the products I tasted truly rivalled their European counterparts. The variety of products coming through was very impressive and many were of excellent quality.”
Dhruv Baker, Champion Producer winner, commented: “I’m flabbergasted at the result, we’ve been producing charcuterie for just six months, although there’s been a lot of blood, sweat and tears in developing the range going back several years. I’m delighted to be a winner, and it’s a great motivation for us to carry on with what we do.”
Phil and Melissa Beals, Champion Product winners, added: “What stands out for us is the strength in the competition, the sheer amount of product getting gold and silver is the best thing ever for British charcuterie. Winning Champion Product is an endorsement of the hard work that small artisanal producers put in, and for us to get recognition within such a high level award makes Monday mornings worth it!”
The judging took place at BBC Countryfile Live, at Blenheim Palace on 2nd August within The British Charcuterie Tent which was open to charcuterie-lovers throughout the show.
The competition covered British charcuterie made by butchers, farmers, chefs, artisanal and larger-scale charcuterie makers, using pork, lamb, beef, venison, duck, poultry or game.
Over 200 gold, silver and bronze awards also presented. The full list of winners can be found here.
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.
