From sodas farls to wheaten, barmbrack and boxty, Northern Ireland is well known for its unique bread and baking traditions. In recent years new and different breads are emerging in cafes and bakeries across Northern Ireland and with that is coming a resurgence in traditional baking methods. With different monthly themes throughout 2016, September has the distinction of Bread & Baking month as part of the Northern Ireland Year of Food and Drink.

To celebrate, we’re excited to announce that the BBC Good Food Show Northern Ireland is on the hunt for Northern Ireland’s Best Bakery. The winner will receive a free stand at the BBC Good Food Show Northern Ireland at Belfast Waterfront 14 – 16 October to showcase their produce to thousands of food loving visitors, plus the opportunity to meet local celebrity chef Paul Rankin at the Show.

Bakeries will need to record a short video, maximum two minutes, capturing ‘a day in the life of the bakery’ highlighting all the stages of a typical day at the bakery – from choosing the finest ingredients, to baking their products and serving to local customers. Bakeries will need to upload this to social media, making sure they tag @BBCGoodFoodShow & @NITouristBoard and use #GFSNIBakery. Judges will be looking at the following, with best videos being shortlisted:
– Range, quality and value of baked goods
– Product knowledge and enthusiasm
– Customer service

The shortlisted bakeries will need to send a selection of their baked goods to a tasting day where judges, including Aine Kearney from Tourism Northern Ireland, Michele Shirlow from Food NI and lecturers Lorna Johnston & Mark Magee from the NI Home Bakery School at Belfast Metropolitan College. Judges will be scoring the products on a range of criteria, including taste and appearance. In addition, the video with the most shares and likes via social media will be automatically shortlisted.

Michele Shirlow comments, “This month is a celebration of our local bread and baking traditions. Our visitors love to see first-hand how our traditional griddle breads are made. We have talented bakers whose award winning products are stocked at farmers markets, restaurants and to retail. I’m delighted to judge Northern Ireland’s best bakery to promote the industry.”

Lorna Johnson also comments, “Mark and I are very excited to form part of the judging panel for Northern Ireland’s Best Bakery. Bread is, and always has been a staple in the NI diet, we are world famous for our varieties. Belfast Met has been a part of the great baking tradition in NI dating back to early 1900’s. This industry is growing in strength and especially in artisan breads, so these home bakeries will continue to provide us with our daily bread for many generations to come.”

Deadline for video submission is Monday 5th September with shortlisted bakeries being announced by Friday 9th September and the winner being announced by Friday 16th September.

Visitors to the new BBC Good Food Show Northern Ireland can enjoy a delicious day out in the food-loving city of Belfast. Visitors will be able to see top chefs cooking regional and seasonal dishes live in the Supertheatre, including James Martin, Paul Hollywood and the Hairy Bikers, plus local star Paul Rankin leading the Northern Ireland Year of Food and Drink sessions. Visitors can delve into the wealth of fantastic produce that Northern Ireland has to offer, and discover, sample and buy from the producers themselves in the Food NI Pavilion and Producers’ Village, plus shop from favourite brands around the Show.

A world of gin awaits guests at Bert’s Jazz Bar this summer as the art deco venue launches its first dedicated gin cocktail menu.

The mouth-watering offering will feature gins from across the globe including Spain, Australia, Italy as well as gins that are distilled a bit closer to home including Belfast, Cork and Kerry.

The menu has been designed to put an innovative twist to the classic G&T serve and each drink will be carefully paired with garnishes and a tonic that have been handpicked to enhance the different flavours and botanicals present in the gins.

Serves on the new menu include the locally distilled Jawbox Gin which is served with Merchant’s Heart Ginger Ale, ginger root and lime and an Italian Gin, Malfy, which is served with Fever Tree Elderflower Tonic and sprig of thyme.

Lucy McConville, manager of Bert’s Jazz Bar, helped create the new menu with the bartenders;

“The popularity of gin has grown significantly over the last few years and the industry has been reinvigorated with many new, independent craft distilleries opening up.

“We’ve had a surge in the number of customers asking us about different gin brands, which is the reason why we’ve decided to create a bespoke cocktail menu dedicated to gin.

“Each gin brand has its own distinct flavour and we’ve put a lot of time and effort into handpicking tonics, fresh fruit and herbs to complement the drinks.

“Of course, if you don’t find something on the menu that you like, our bartenders have a wealth of great knowledge on gin and are more than happy to help you create your own perfect serve.”

For further information, call The Merchant Hotel, Belfast on 028 9026 2713 or visit themerchanthotel.com

A great tasting cider produced from Armagh’s famous apples has been shortlisted in the prestigious Irish Quality Food and Drink Awards 2016.

Plum and Ginger, a cider which is rosé in colour with delicate bubbles making it a perfect spring-summer tipple, is produced by Mac Ivors Cider Co in orchards on the family farm at Ardress in the food heartlands.
Greg MacNeice, a fifth generation apple grower, has brought the latest edition to the Mac Ivors Cider Co range to market in the last few months and reviews to date are more than complimentary.

Named in the Irish Examiner recently as its ‘Cider of the Week’, Plum and Ginger is certainly making its mark and is earning its prime position in bars, restaurants and off-licenses across Ireland.

Speaking about the shortlist announcement, Mr MacNeice said: “To win an Irish Quality Food and Drink Award would be a huge accolade for Mac Ivors Cider Co especially for Plum and Ginger which has hit the market quite recently.

“It is a busy marketplace and we are very lucky in that we are attracting a new generation of cider drinkers as well as satisfying the appetite of people who have been drinking cider for a much longer period of time.
“Mac Ivors Plum and Ginger cider is the outcome of our continued commitment to create deliciously different ciders to provide new taste experiences, and, based on tastings in bars and supermarkets as well as at major industry festivals in Belfast and Dublin, the feedback is amazing.

“Plum and Ginger are two fantastic flavours in their own right but combine them with the taste of real County Armagh apples, and you have a winning combination. The plum provides a rounded, fruity flavour while the ginger adds a subtle amount of heat to the finish.
“We are delighted to have been announced as a finalist so we are hoping to take back an Irish Quality Food and Drink Award to County Armagh.”

The awards, which are in their fourth year now, will take place at The Round Room at the Mansion House in Dublin on September 8 and are open to all food and drink retailers, producers and manufacturers north and south of Ireland.

The glittering ceremony will be hosted by Ballymaloe Celebrity Chef and cookery author Rachel Allen.

Local Company Wins Top 3-Star Award for NI’s Favourite Tea

Belfast based Thompson’s Family Teas, has won the maximum three stars for its hero brand, Punjana, Northern Ireland’s best-selling tea, at the prestigious UK Great Taste Awards 2016. Three stars is the highest achievement a product can win and is normally reserved for exclusive and specialised products rather than an affordable everyday product.

In this year alone, the family-owned business amassed a record breaking tota

l of 23 Star Awards. Another blend, Thompson’s Irish Breakfast tea bags also achieved top honours with the maximum 3 Stars.

Punjana tea bags now stand alone in their category – winning more Great Taste Awards than any other blended teabag in the UK and ROI over the past 10 years.

Cousins, Ross and David Thompson, who blend all of their company’s teas, have long held a passion for blending. Ross comments: “I feel that with this latest endorsement, we have come one giant step closer to our ultimate goal of blending the perfect everyday cuppa.”

The recently aired television advert, which features Ross and David on their tea journey, finishes with the line, “Punjana is everyday tea, but when the Thompson’s make it, everyday is special.” This award comes as a timely endorsement to their lofty claim.

Other winning tea products include Thompson’s Signature Blend

tea bags, Thompson’s Everyday tea bags, Thompson’s Decaf tea bags, and even Punjana’s brand leading loose tea which was accredited with 2 Stars.

The Thompson’s recent development into the luxury loose tea sector, serving the growing demand for special tea drinking occasions, was rewarded with a raft of awards for their exotic infusions, including Hedgerow Heaven, Scent of a Rose and Rhubarb Spritzer.

The Great Taste Awards are commonly referred to as the ‘Oscars’ of the food and drink world and are run annually by the Guild of Fine Foods in England. Food and drink entries are blind tasted by up to 40 judges in six different locations across the UK with less than 2% of all entries making it to the hallowed 3 Star status.

All Thompson’s Family Teas are imported into their state-of-the-art blending and packing facility in Belfast, before being distributed to outlets across the province and beyond to markets stretching from the United States to Australia.

David Thompson concludes: “Our factory has achieved BRC Grade A accreditation and is equipped with some of the world’s most advanced tea packaging and blending machinery, indeed our factory now produces tea for over a third of the country’s tea drinkers, equating to more than 1 million tea bags every day, in Northern Ireland alone.”

To find out more, visit www.punjana.com or like us on facebook at The Official Punjana Tea.

The only craft beer brewer in Northern Ireland to obtain a 2 Star Rating in Great Taste Awards 2016

Warrenpoint based Mourne Mountains Brewery has become the only craft beer brewery in Northern Ireland to be awarded a 2-star Great Taste Award for its Red IPA, Red Trail at the 2016 Great Taste Awards, the world’s most coveted blind-tasted awards that celebrate the very best in food and drink.

The brewery’s Red Trail Red IPA was judged by over 500 of the most demanding palates, belonging to food critics, chefs, cooks, restaurateurs and producers as well as a host of food writers and journalists in the Great Taste Awards 2016.

Of 10,000 Great Taste entries this year, only 878 products received a 2-star accolade, making Mourne Mountains Brewery’s success with Red Trail Red IPA even more phenomenal.

Brewery founder Connaire McGreevy said: “It is incredibly exciting for us to have been awarded our first Great Taste Award for Red Trail, our red IPA. It was one of the first beers developed by our talented master brewer Tom Ray when we established the brewery. He combines speciality caramalt and crystal malts with roasted barley in the grist and carefully creates a generous hop flavouring and aroma along with a long, dry finish.

“Winning a 2 Star rating for the Red Trail Red IPA at the Great Taste Awards is a massive statement about the quality of this beer. Mourne Mountains Brewery was only officially launched last September, and since then the momentum and support has been amazing. Having a brewer like Tom on the team has been integral to our success, his brewing experience is unrivalled in the local brewing sector.

 

“Our East Coast IPA has also been celebrated, winning a silver medal at the Dublin Craft Beer Cup earlier this year. Again it was the only brewery from NI to be recognised, and I’m just incredibly proud of everything the team has achieved so far.

“It’s early days for us as and we have some very exciting plans in the pipeline for new concepts and flavours. One of the best things about running a craft brewery is the freedom to be as creative and innovative as we like,” he added.

Great Taste is widely acknowledged as the most respected food accreditation scheme for artisan and speciality food producers. As well as a badge of honour, the unmistakable black and gold Great Taste label is a signpost to a wonderful tasting product, which has been recommended following hours and hours of blind-tasting by hundreds of judges.

Recognised as a stamp of excellence among consumers and retailers alike, Great Taste values taste above all else, with less regard for branding and packaging. All products are removed from their wrapper, jar, box or bottle before being tasted. Judges savour the products, confer and re-taste to decide which products are worthy of a 1, 2 or 3-star award.

The panel of judges comprised of industry behemoths including; TV chef and author, Valentine Warner, MasterChef judge and restaurant critic, Charles Campion, fifth generation baker, Tom Herbert from Hobbs House Bakery, and Great British Bake Off winner, Frances Quinn; food buyers from Harrods, Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason, Harvey Nichols and Waitrose and chefs including, James Golding, chef director of THE PIG Hotels, and Kevin Gratton, chef director of HIX Restaurants.