Scottish kippers claim 2021 Great Taste Supreme Champion title
Scottish family smokehouse J. Lawrie & Sons has won the 2021 Great Taste Supreme Champion trophy for its for its Jaffy’s Mallaig Kippers.
The Highlands-based company has seen its kippers regularly pick up Great Taste awards – with four 3-star, and three 1-star awards under its belt for the smoked herring, and has even picked up the Golden Fork from Scotland three times in 2011, 2014 and 2016 – but it has gone one step further this time.
Having already been awarded the Golden Fork for Scotland, the Mallaig smokehouse was called to the stage a second time to pick up the Supreme Champion trophy.
The award was the last to be announced at the first in-person Great Taste Golden Fork Reception since 2019, held at the Yorkshire Event Centre in Harrogate on Sunday 17th October.
The product fought off competition from 218 Great Taste 3-star award-winning products that were re-judged to find this year’s regional Golden Fork Trophy winners. The “plump and succulent” herrings, which are traditionally cured and cold smoked, impressed the judges at every stage of the blind-tasting process to earn Jaffy’s Mallaig Kippers the biggest prize in food and drink.
Carefully and artfully produced at the last remaining traditional kipper yard in Mallaig, using a 30ft brick kiln powered by the wind, these herrings are cured in sea salt and slowly smoked over whisky cask oak shavings. “Juicy and tender, silky and sweet, Jaffy’s Mallaig Kippers deliver the perfect balance of wood, smoke and fish,” said the judges.
For more information about J. Lawrie & Sons, please visit www.jaffys.co.uk.
In total, 14,113 entries to Great Taste 2021 were blind tasted by 355 judge over the course of 86 days at four venues, including Guild HQ in Gillingham, Dorset, and the Guild’s London home, No. 42 Southwark Street. Of these entries, 4,027 received 1-star awards and 1,138 were awarded 2-stars.
Just 218 products were deemed worthy of the highest 3-star award and were assessed again to determine which would win the coveted Golden Forks.
The reception was the final event in the Great Taste calendar, but you can catch up on all of the action here:
Facebook: @greattasteawards
Instagram: guildoffinefood
Twitter: @guildoffinefood
YouTube: Guild of Fine Food
Website: gff.co.uk/greattaste
Great Taste 2021 Golden Fork award winners:
Great Taste Golden Fork from London
Sublime Butter in Twickenham for its Great Taste 3-star award-winning Ridiculous No55 Lobster & Crab Butter
Great Taste Golden Fork from the South East, sponsored by Label.co.uk
Slake Spirits in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex for its Great Taste 3-star award-winning Sussex Dry Gin
Great Taste Golden Fork from East Anglia, sponsored by Shire Foods East Anglia
S J Frederick & Sons from Roydon in Essex for its Great Taste 3-star award-winning Temple Farm Bronze Free Range Turkey
Great Taste Golden Fork from the Midlands, sponsored by Angel Refrigeration
Willy’s from Ledbury, Herefordshire for its Great Taste 3-star award-winning Willy’s Live Apple Balsamic Vinegar
Great Taste Golden Fork from the North of England, sponsored by Fine Food Show North
Three Wrens Gin in Malpas, Cheshire for its Great Taste 3-star award-winning Apple Crumble Edition
Great Taste Golden Fork from Scotland, sponsored by Scotland Food and Drink
J. Lawrie & Sons in Mallaig, Highland for its Great Taste 3-star award-winning Jaffy’s Mallaig Kippers
Great Taste Golden Fork from Northern Ireland, sponsored by Invest NI
Morelli Ice Cream in Coleraine, Derry for its Great Taste 3-star award-winning Caramelised Hazelnut Ice Cream
Great Taste Golden Fork from Ireland, sponsored by Bord Bia
Carlingford Oyster Company in Carlingford for its Great Taste 3-star award-winning Louet Feisser Select Carlingford Oysters
www.carlingfordoystercompany.ie
Great Taste Golden Fork from Wales, sponsored by Food and Drink Wales
Pembrokeshire Lamb in Haverfordwest for its Great Taste 3-star award-winning Hogget Shoulder
Great Taste Golden Fork from the South West, sponsored by Bishop Fleming
The Artisan Kitchen in Gloucester for its Great Taste 3-star award-winning Tropical Marmalade
Charcuterie Product of the Year, sponsored by Fine Food Digest
Prices Spices in Warwick for its Great Taste 3-star award-winning Chipotle Coppa
Golden Fork for Best International Food and Drink
.pepper..field in Prague, Czech Republic for its Great Taste 3-star award-winning Freeze-dried Green Kampot Pepper
Nigel Barden Heritage Award, sponsored by BÄRO Lighting (UK)
Macleod & Macleod in Stornoway, Western Isles for its Great Taste 3-star award-winning Stornoway Black Pudding
Great Taste Startisan of the Year, sponsored by Partridges London
Simsom West London for its Great Taste 3-star award-winning Pistachio and Honey Sesame Butter
Small Artisan Producer of the Year, sponsored by Speciality & Fine Food Fair
The Artisan Kitchen in Gloucester
Guild of Fine Food Lifetime Achievement
Judy Bell MBE, Chairwoman at Shepherds Purse Cheeses
Details of this year’s 1-, 2- and 3-star winners can be found at www.greattasteawards.co.uk
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Discover all the Golden Fork winners >>
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