A humble corned beef from a Northern Ireland family butcher has beaten over 7,000 entrants to be named Supreme Champion in this year’s Great Taste Awards and in doing so, has re-defined our perception of a hitherto ordinary mainstream food.
McCartney’s of Moira has been in business in County Down for around 140 years but only started producing corned beef four years ago. It makes the product by hand using dry-aged local beef and a traditional meat press.
The Supreme Champion title, presented last night at the Great Taste Awards finals at London’s Royal Garden Hotel, instantly places McCartney’s corned beef among the elite of UK speciality foods.
George McCartney, of McCartney’s of Moira said "I’m stunned. I have such a fantastic team with my longest members having been with me for 27 years. I want to pay tribute to the Guild of Fine Food for the amount of effort they put into each producer. As we all know, there is a recession still on and this will really give Northern Ireland the boost it needs and deserves"
Now in its 18th year, the Great Taste Awards scheme recognises the best-tasting food and drink available in UK delis, farm shops, upmarket food halls and, increasingly, supermarkets.
Over 350 chefs, restaurant critics and specialist retail buyers and other independent food experts were involved in this year’s judging, including TV chef Antonio Carluccio, Masterchef winner Dhruv Baker and top food buyers at Fortnum & Mason and Selfridges.
They whittled an initial 7,482 entries down to around 2,400 Great Taste Awards winners who can now add the familiar black-and-gold one-star, two-star or three-star labels to their jars and packs. Just 114 of these were awarded the top three-star gold awards.
The big regional and national winners, chosen from among the three-star gold products, were presented with their Great Taste Awards ’golden forks’ last night. They included fine chocolates from London chocolatier Mark Demarquette, Oolong tea from Wan Ling Tea House and Sicilian pistachio ice cream from Spurreli in Northumberland.
While the awards attract many of the country’s most sophisticated – and expensive – foods, the major trophy winners are often simple, traditional products based on high quality ingredients. Other big winners this year included oak-smoked herring from Scotland’s J Lawrie & Sons and Duchy Originals dry-cured organic bacon, produced by Denhay in Devo.
Recent Supreme Champions have included a smoked wild Irish salmon, a hand-raised pork pie and a culinary oil pressed from Kentish cobnuts.
Awards organiser Bob Farrand, national director of the Guild of Fine Foods, said: "Often the best food is all about doing the simple things really well, and you can’t find a better example than McCartney’s corned beef. Our judges were blown away by it."
A world away from cheap ’bully beef’ sold in cans, McCartney’s version is made for slicing on deli counters and is now on sale in Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason.
The Supreme Panel members were:
Antonio Carluccio, chef and TV personality
Alex James, cheese producer and TV personality
Dhruv Baker, chef and TV personality
Sophie Michell, chef and TV personality
Karen Barnes, delicious Magazine
Tony Turnbull, The Times
Charles Campion, Evening Standard
Glynn Christian, TV personality
Simon Burdess, Fortnums & Mason
Georgie Mason, Gonalston Farm Shop
Brett Sutton, chef at the Eastbury Hotel
Lucas Hollweg, Sunday Times
Charlie Turnbull, Turnbulls Deli
Xanthe Clay, Daily Telegraph
Ewan Venters, Selfridges
The major trophy winners are as follows:
Supreme Champion and Northern Ireland
Corned Beef, McCartney’s of Moira
Wales
Dark Side of the Moose Beer, Purple Moose Brewery
South East
Royal Merina Chocolate, Demarquette Fine Chocolates
South West
Dry-cured Organic Un-smoked Bacon, Duchy
Midlands & East Anglia
Smoked Gammon, Hill Top Smokehouse
Scotland
Traditionally Cured and Oak-smoked Herring, J Lawrie & Sons
Ireland
Yeats Country Organic Full Fat Soft Cheese, Green Pastures (Donegal)
North
Sicilian Pistacchio Ice Cream, Spurreli
Speciality Importer
Oolong Tea, Wan Ling Tea House
Best Ambient
Sweet Raspberry Vinegar, Stratta
Best First Time Entrant
Beef Fat for Roasting Potatoes, Hand Cut Chips, Potato Skins and Rose Veal Fillet Steak from Alternative Meats Ltd
Speciality Producer
Farmhouse Cheddar, Quckies
Lifetime Achievement
Nigel Cope, Cottage Delight
Deli of the Year
Arch House Deli, Bristol
Great Taste Champion
Sheila Dillon, BBC Radio Four
