Picture shows: Key Stage 4 student Niamh McCrossan from Aquinas Grammar School celebrates being announced as the Dairy Council for Northern Ireland’s Young Cook of the Year 2013. The prestigious accolade was awarded to Niamh, who beat off stiff competition to triumph over twelve finalists at a cook off in Thornhill College, Derry / Londonderry.

Niamh took inspiration from this year’s theme, which celebrates that Derry/Londonderry has been awarded the honour of the first ever UK City of Culture, by creating a two course meal using Northern Ireland dairy products to entertain friends who will be watching the celebrations.

Tandragee crisp company Tayto and Lisburn restaurant Del Toro topped the leader board in this year’s Food NI sponsored categories of the Northern Ireland Food and Drink Awards 2013 (NIFDA) – the most important awards in Northern Ireland’s food industry calendar.

The awards, which honour the work of our home grown producers and celebrate the contribution which the agri-food industry plays in our economy, took place at Belfast’s Ramada Plaza Hotel where food and drink producers and restaurateurs gathered to celebrate the growth in the sector.

Michele Shirlow, chief executive of Food NI, Northern Ireland’s promotional body for the food and drink industry, praised the high standard of entries in this year’s categories for NIFDA 2013 and congratulated the winners in both of their sponsored categories.

She said: “There was a great buzz about the awards this year. We all clearly have one thing in common and that’s our love for food and drink and enjoying meals out. We received thousands of votes which demonstrates the strength of feeling in Northern Ireland for our producers and restaurants.

“What is special about these awards is that they are driven by the public who get an opportunity to have their say. We would like to thank everyone for taking the time to be part of our categories.

“My congratulations go out to everyone who participated and especially to Tayto and  Del Toro.”

Food NI sponsored The People’s Choice and Taste of Ulster Restaurant Award categories which attracted 23 producers to nominate one of their own products while 22 restaurants battled it out for the Taste of Ulster Restaurant Award.

Tayto put forward theirTayto Cheese and Onion Crisps which scored most popular with voters securing the product the People’s Choice Award while Del Toro of Lisburn, a busy restaurant in Lisburn, secured the title of Taste of Ulster Restaurant Award.

Elly Hunter, who collected the award at the Ramada Plaza Hotel, Belfast, for Tandragee based Tayto, said: “We are delighted that Tayto has been crowned ‘People’s Choice’ at the NIFDA 2013.  This is a tremendous achievement and means a lot to us as it was voted for by the general public.  I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who took the time to vote for Tayto Cheese and Onion.  We know our crisps are much-loved and it means a lot of have our fans stand up and be counted.”

Coming in close second in the People’s Choice Award was Punjana Tea and in third place was Armagh Cider Company for their Madden’s Mellow.

Anton and Bronagh Campbell were also at the glittering ceremony to collect the award for Del Toro in Lisburn.

Bronagh said: “The team at Del Toro are delighted to pick up this award again which follows our success in 2011. We use locally produced food in our restaurant which is what people want and what we support. This award is testament to the amount of hard work which we put in to the restaurant and we thank everyone who voted for us.”

Taking second place in this category was Katch 27 of Kircubbin and Denvirs Hotel in Downpatrick taking third place.

In Northern Ireland, over 100,000 private sector jobs depend on the success and continued growth of the agri-food sector which has an estimated turnover of £4billion.

Michele Shirlow added: “2013 will be another exciting year for food and drink producers in Northern Ireland, especially with the opportunities that the World Police and Fire Games will bring, and we look forward to building on the success of the sector.”

Food NI were delighted to be Highly Commended for the Best Local Food and/Or Drink Promotion Event/Initiative for the 2012 Balmoral Show Food Pavilion 2012!

Any food and drink producers wishing to become a Food NI member can contact 02890 249449 for more details.

Photo Caption 1: Michele Shirlow (Food NI) with Elly Hunter (Tayto)

Photo Caption 2: Michele Shirlow (Food NI) with Anton and Bronagh Campbell (Del Toro)

After a series of triumphant performances by foods from the island of Ireland in the annual Great Taste awards scheme, its British-based organiser is to stage part of 2013’s judging in Dublin.

The Guild of Fine Food, the trade body for speciality food & drink retailers and producers, is looking for chefs, deli owners and other food experts to take part in a week of tastings in late April at Bewley’s Hotel. They will join teams of judges working in London and the south-west of England to help independently assess around 10,000 food and drink products, to see if they are worthy to carry the influential black and gold Great Taste logo.

Northern Ireland has provided the Great Taste Supreme Champion for the past two years. McCartney’s of Moira triumphed in 2011 with its traditional corned beef, and Hannan Meats, also based in Moira, securing the trophy last year with an Italian inspired bacon called Moyallan Guanciale. In 2006, a smoked wild salmon from West Cork’s Woodcock Smokery was crowned Supreme Champion.

“Our panel of experts is continually impressed with the products entered into Great Taste from the Republic and Northern Ireland and we felt the right thing to do was take Great Taste to Dublin,” explained John Farrand, organiser of Great Taste. “In order to maintain our robust judging process, we need to bring together a balanced team of judges and we are asking chefs, food producers, food buyers and fine food retailers to step forward if they feel they would like to be part of the judging team.

“This involves blind-tasting a wide variety of food and drink, which is a wonderful experience for people with an interest in supporting the fine food sector,”

“Judging Great Taste involves simply tasting products and giving honest feedback – it is important that producers get constructive, accurate feedback from our judges and this is part of the value of Great Taste. This is an opportunity for buyers, chefs and anyone working in food to be part of finding what could be the best Irish product for 2013 so there is a lot at stake.”

The week’s judging, supported by distributor Pallas Foods, also means that the majority of producers from Ireland will not have to send their products to London or Dorset – ensuring their foods are judged in peak condition.

“Great Taste is the most trusted and recognised food and drink awards in Ireland and the UK. Pallas Foods is delighted to support the awards in Dublin this April. Being awarded a Great Taste star or more is a fantastic achievement and great acknowledgement for any business. In Ireland we have brilliant artisan food producers, I would encourage any of them to enter the award and get the stars they duly deserve giving their products great recognition,” said Patrick Clement, Marketing & Development Manager at Pallas Foods.

Judging will be held at Bewley’s Hotel at Ballsbridge in Dublin during the week commencing 22 April 2013.

The Guild of Fine Food is recruiting judges in Ireland. If you feel your palate is qualified, contact charlie.westcar@finefoodworld.co.uk for an application form.

Since 1994, Great Taste has been organised by The Guild of Fine Food and over the last 19 years more than 70,000 products have been blind-tasted by judges including top restaurateurs, chefs, food critics, fine food retailers, buyers and cookery writers.

The announcement of the Supreme Champion 2013 sponsored by Harrods, will be made on the 9th September.

For further information please contact any of the following:

Joanne Myram at Positive PR on: joanne@positivepr.co.uk 01935 389497

Or tortie.farrand@finefoodworld.co.uk/ john.farrand@finefoodworld.co.uk / 01963 824464

Guild of Fine Food, Guild House, Station Road, Wincanton, Somerset BA9 9FE
www.finefoodworld.co.uk www.greattasteawards.co.uk

Cloughbane Farm: Lasagne & Shepherd’s Pie made from Beef reared on the Dungannon home farm
A successful, multi- award-winning farmshop in the heart of County Tyrone is reaping the rewards of its commitment to local produce with a major supermarket supply deal. Cloughbane Farm uses only locally sourced vegetables, potatoes, milk and flour in its pies, the poultry in its roast dinner meals is reared on local farms and the minced beef in its lasagne and shepherd’s pie is sourced from cattle reared on the home farm in Pomeroy. This local provenance is proving to be a big seller with Tesco shoppers.
The 180-acre Cloughbane Farm is a fourth-generation, family-run beef and lamb farm outside Dungannon. Ten years ago, owners Sam and Lorna Robinson established an on-site Farm Shop and Butchers, from where they began selling home-cooked pies and take away meals in 2006. Through increased demand from independent retailers and the new development of a farm shop kitchen, they have gradually increased the scale of their production, all the time sticking to the tried and tested family recipes and a firm commitment to local produce.
Following months of preparation, Cloughbane started as a new supplier to Tesco in December 2012, with seasonal Turkey & Ham parcels, stuffed with their Great Taste Award-winning stuffing and a range of heat-and-serve Roast Beef, Chicken and Turkey Dinners with creamy mash, local veg, and home-made gravy. In January it introduced its Chicken & Broccoli Bake, made from chicken breast from local poultry farms and broccoli grown by farmers based in the Cooktown area. But it is the local provenance of its lasagne and shepherd’s pie ingredients that are proving the brand’s biggest selling point now.
Lorna Robinson of Cloughbane Farm said, “We aren’t doing anything different now than we have always done. We understand the importance of the provenance and quality of food – it’s our life and our living. Even the breadcrumb we use on our savoury bakes is sourced from Irwin’s, the whole milk, butter and flour in our white sauce are locally produced and everything is made from scratch in our Farm Kitchens. The minced beef in our lasagne and shepherd’s pie comes directly from our own beef herd reared on the farm here in Pomeroy and as demand has grown, we’ve been able to support other neighbouring farmers too. We have complete traceability from farm to fork. We know precisely what’s in it and exactly where it came from. ”
Sandra Weir, Buying Manager, Tesco NI said, “We are delighted how the Cloughbane Farm products are going down with our customers. This supplier epitomises everything we are doing with the Tesco Taste NI campaign – showing Northern Ireland shoppers the tremendous range of high quality local ingredients we have right on our doorstep. They, like us, are committed to sourcing as much locally as possible. Northern Ireland has an amazing agri-food industy, which is delivering fantastic quality tasty foods, produced with hard work, with pride and without compromise. We are so pleased that Tesco shoppers are recognising this in Cloughbane’s products and responding so positively to it. The Cloughbane Farm range is now available in 19 major Tesco stores. The journey direct from the Robinson’s farm to our shelves is one we are very pleased to support and promote.”
For more information on the Tesco Taste NI campaign, visit www.tasteni.com or follow onwww.facebook.com/tastenorthernireland

…for whatever tickles your fancy really! Voting starts on Monday 25th February

CLICK HERE TO VOTE NOW!

Food and drink lovers across Northern Ireland are being invited to have their say in this year’s Northern Ireland Food and Drink Awards which are taking place next month to celebrate the resilience and growth of the sector across the province.

The awards, which are considered the most important awards in Northern Ireland’s business calendar, honour the work of our home grown producers and celebrate the contribution which the agri-food industry plays in our economy.

This year, Food NI, our region’s promotional voice for food and drink producers, are sponsoring two awards – The People’s Choice and Taste of Ulster Restaurant of the Year 2013.

For The People’s Choice award, producers, from across Northern Ireland, have been asked to put forward the product which they feel deserves recognition and are now putting its fate in the hands of the public.

As well as that, independent inspectors for Food NI have been busy anonymously assessing Northern Ireland’s top restaurants to score their food quality, use of local produce and standards of service. The top 20 Taste of Ulster Restaurants, selected from independent assessors scoring, will be nominated for the public vote via social media. The restaurant achieving the highest level of votes will win the Food NI Taste of Ulster Restaurant of the year award for 2013.

Michele Shirlow, chief executive of Food NI, said: “This is the 12th Northern Ireland Food and Drink Awards and we are delighted to be sponsoring two categories. It has been great fun getting the nominations in. Food and drink producers play a massive role in our economy. We all love something nice to eat and drink and somewhere nice to dine out. But the public can now have their say on whether it’s bread or butter, yoghurt or ice cream or burgers or steak or, indeed whatever, which tickles their fancy, by nominating online.”

In Northern Ireland, over 100,000 private sector jobs depend on the success and continued growth of the agri-food sector which has an estimated turnover of £4billion.

To vote for your favourite produce and your favourite restaurant visit www.nigoodfood.com. Voting is open from Monday morning (February 25) at 9am and runs through til Friday, March 8th at 5pm.

See Monday’s update for the full list of nominations.

The heat is on for the next generation of budding chefs as the deadline approaches for entries to the Dairy Council for Northern Ireland’s Young Cook of the Year competition.

Open to all Key stage 3 and 4 pupils across Northern Ireland; the competition has a closing date of 1st March 2013 so there’s still time for the next budding Jamie Oliver or Nigella to apply!

To celebrate that Derry/Londonderry has been awarded the honour of the first ever UK City of Culture for 2013, the popular cooking competition is inviting students to chose an event from the calendar of activities and prepare a two course meal to entertain friends who will be watching the celebrations.

To be in with a chance of winning a cash prize for both themselves and their school, entrants will be required to demonstrate their cooking skills as well as highlight the importance of incorporating dairy products as part of a balanced diet to produce a nutritious meal.

Dr Mike Johnston, Chief Executive of the Dairy Council for Northern Ireland, said: “Each year we look forward to starting our search to find the next promising culinary talent in our schools.

“We recognise that 2013 is an exciting time for Northern Ireland so we want students to help celebrate this by producing a balanced meal, using locally sourced products including dairy ingredients. As the deadline for entries is fast approaching, we would encourage any pupils who are still keen to do so to enter by logging on to www.dairycouncil.co.uk

The competition has been developed in consultation with the Education and Library Boards and supports the Home Economics curriculum at Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4.

Winners will be chosen from each Education and Library Board area, with the overall category winners and the Young Cook of the Year announced at a special cook-off in March 2013.