The shortlists are out for the Food and Wine Ireland Magazine Awards and as ever, Taste of Ulster members are well-represented.

In the running for Best Restaurant are OX, Waterman and Roam- all in Belfast and Wine and Brine, Moira. Best Chef nominees include Stevie Toman; OX, Ryan Jenkins; Roam, Aaron McNeice; Waterman, Ian Orr; Ardtara, Gemma Austin; A Peculiar Tea and Chris Magowan; Wine and Brine.

Stove Bistro, Belfast, is shortlisted for Best Casual Dining. EIPIC is up for Best Wine Experience, plus OX. Ardtara is nominated for Hotel Restaurant of the Year as is The Seahorse at the Grand Central. Slemish Market Supper Club has been shortlisted for Best Casual Dining, and their Chef Rob Curley for Innovator of the Year.

The 2023 Food and Wine Awards will take place on Sunday November 5 th .

Shoppers at Selfridges in London, one of the UK’s most prestigious and influential stores, are now enjoying instant rice noodles developed by Coleraine chef/entrepreneur Thana Thammavongsa.

Thana, owner of Whoosh, a successful and popular food production business and café, near Coleraine town centre, has supplied a range of noodles to Selfridges following an approach from the high-end department store’s senior buyer back in May of this year. Whoosh is a Food NI member.

The approach eventually to an agreement to supply the noodles which went on sale in the hugely popular store in early September. Commenting on the new business, which is the first for Whoosh outside Northern Ireland, Thana says: “I was thrilled to receive the approach from such a prestigious and influential food store as Selfridges, one of the biggest stores in the world and one with a great commitment to quality and innovative food.”

Cartons of Whoosh Vietnamese instant curry, Thai red curry and Thai Tom Yum noodles are now on the shelves of the top store. Thana continues: “This is a tremendously exciting business for us. At Whoosh, we love cooking, we love eating! We always think about food, we dream about food…Thai and Vietnamese food.”

Whoosh was founded in 2008 in Coleraine by Thana with the aim “to share a love of food, our culture and the stories behind every recipe and every dish we cook”. “We began our journey with private and corporate event catering, which led to the opening of our own Thai and Vietnamese street food café. Our belief is in fresh, delicious food that’s cooked with love and really makes a difference, keeping consumers healthy. Over the years, we gradually won the hearts and appetites of so many foodies here,” she adds.

2022 marked the launch of Whoosh’s own range of instant rice noodle pots that can be eaten everywhere. “The noodles are authentic, three-minute meals that have been handcrafted with care, using only the best quality and purest ingredients,” continues Thana. She believes in “eating healthy, eating happy, eating together”.

UK MINISTER FOR EXPORTS Lord Offord visited Titanic Distillers at Thompson Dock today to officially open Belfast’s first working whiskey distillery in almost 90 years.

The Minister, who took up his position at the Department of Business and Trade in April this year, performed the opening ceremony at the new distillery, where whiskey production is now under way for the first time in Belfast since the days of prohibition in the 1930s.

Lord Offord unveiled a commemorative plaque at the distillery which is based on the site of the historic Thompson Dock and Pumphouse, the birthplace of the Titanic.

As well as meeting with Titanic Distillers directors, the Lord enjoyed a brief tour of the £8M distillery and visitor centre, including a whiskey tasting with Head Distiller Damien Rafferty.

He also took time to chat with attending members of the Dockers Club in Pilot Street and Welders Club in Dee Street, in keeping with the company’s ‘Blood, Sweat And Years’ theme which celebrates Belfast’s industrial and maritime past, and is inspired by the people who worked in the city’s shipyard more than a century ago.

The retired workers, from both sides of the community, shared their stories with the Minister, who said he was honoured to be invited to perform the official opening.

“It is an honour to officially open Titanic Distillers at the iconic Thompson Dock today in Belfast,” said Minister for Exports Lord Offord.

“The distilling industry has been part of Northern Ireland’s fabric for generations, and it’s been a pleasure to meet with the team and members of the community to see their skills first-hand.”

The visitor centre at Titanic Distillers opened its doors to tourists in April this year.  Last month (August), the company received its Distillers License to start producing spirits and the stills have been fired up and pouring ever since. 

Titanic Distillers director Peter Lavery reflected on the company’s journey to date.

“We are delighted to welcome Lord Offord here today to perform the Official Opening of Titanic Distillers at Thompson Dock,” said Peter.

“Today is the culmination of many years’ hard graft to bring this amazing project to life – and while it marks the end of the first ‘construction’ phase, it also signals the start of another phase as we start producing a whiskey and a brand that the people of Belfast and Northern Ireland can be proud of, and that will represent us well all over the world.”

Fellow director Stephen Symington added: “We believe the famous Titanic name resonates around the world and we have very ambitious plans to take the product to a global audience – with coast to coast distribution in the US identified as a major commercial objective for the brand.

“With this in mind, it is very fitting that Lord Offord, in his role as UK Minister for Export, be here today to officially open our new distillery. Outside of our location’s massive tourism appeal and historic significance, we’re very aware that we are now a working distillery and we are all focussed on producing our own products to build on our success to date and make the most of the growing global demand for Irish Whiskey.”

The new distillery will produce single malt premium whiskey made from ingredients that have been carefully selected to produce the best possible flavour.

A unique house blend of malted barley and yeast is used to produce the ‘wash’ which is then distilled in the three Forsyth’s stills, situated on a mezzanine floor overlooking the Pumphouse’s original Gwynne pumping engines which are deep in the building’s pump-well.

The Thompson Dry Dock first opened in 1911 to service and accommodate the massive White Star transatlantic liners Olympic and Titanic.

All of the original pump equipment and associated internal historic features in the adjacent Pumphouse have been retained and are available to view as part of the associated visitor tours, while the exterior includes a new food and beverage area.

Titanic Distillers at Thompson Dock is within walking distance of Titanic Belfast, the world’s biggest Titanic exhibition centre and Northern Ireland’s number one tourist attraction, having welcomed more than 7.5 million visitors since opening its doors in 2012. 

Also resident in the Titanic Quarter is the SS Nomadic tender ship which ferried passengers to the great liner, and HMS Caroline, a decommissioned C-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy that saw combat service in the First World War and served as an administrative centre in the Second World War. 

For more information, visit www.titanicdistillers.com.

ABP Linden Foods in Dungannon has won Britain’s Best Burger for its Marks & Spencer Collection, British Wagyu Burgers with Salt & Cracked Black Pepper at the 2023 Meat Management Awards in Bimingham.

The burgers are made by ABP Linden’s master butchers using hand selected Wagyu beef. The patties are smashed to deliver a caramelised flavour and texture when cooked. They are sold in M&S stores and the Ocado online platform. The award was presented in the Hilton Birmingham Metropole recently (12th September) at a black-tie ceremony and dinner to highlight the creativity, innovation and excellence of the UK’s meat industry.

ABP Linden Foods in Dungannon is one of Northern Ireland’s leading processors of meats, especially beef.  The business is part of ABP Food Group. It has a strong track record of working with producers to develop products derived from specific breeds the most recent of which is Wagyu Beef, as well as organic & salt dry aged beef.

 “ABP Linden Foods in collaboration with M&S set out to push the boundary of beef that was available in retail shelves.  The aim was to develop something new & different that other retailers weren’t doing at the time. The result is our Wagyu beef, an exquisitely marbled lean cut with the characteristic fine white layers of fat that run through to intensify flavour,” explained Diane Christie, Head of Innovation at ABP Linden Foods.

The farms that supply Waygu to ABP Linden are all situated in Northern Ireland where fertile grass pastures enable the cattle to be reared in a natural, stress-free environment. A strict rearing protocol on the farms means the beef is produced in a sustainable way. A carbon reduction programme is in place with regenerative practices to take care of the land. Whilst efficiency measures minimise waste.

Recently ABP Linden’s Wagyu supply chain won the Sustainable Agri Food Supply Chain Excellence Award and the business also picked up awards for its Wagyu steaks at 2022 World Steak Challenge. 

With so many worthy finalists, we are delighted to be recognised once again for a product from a unique supply chain.  We’re so proud of the team who go above and beyond every day to ensure we’re producing the very best products we can.  To have been given this prestigious award is testament to the hard work and dedication of our producers, colleagues and partnership with M&S.”

Congratulations Mauds Ice Cream in Carrickfergus on winning a well-deserved Regional Fork for Northern Ireland in this year’s highly competitive UK Great Taste Awards for its delicious Pistachio Ice Cream flavour. The prestigious award was presented at a gala showcase in London on Monday night attended by many of the UK artisan food industry’s leaders.

It really is one of the highlights of the year to see our artisan and smaller food and drink companies being recognised in such an important international challenge. It’s an event which, justifiably, attracts high-level publicity from the influential Guild of Fine Foods, the organisers, in a host of glossy publications.

Great Taste is the largest and most trusted accreditation for food and drink producers in the world and now attracts entries from across the globe. It supports, promotes and mentors the people crafting fantastic food and drinks in businesses large and small – much like Food NI’s role in Northern Ireland.

The Guild has been immensely supportive of our food and drink over very many years. In Food NI, we appreciate greatly the Guild’s ongoing support and are very keen to continue to develop our relationships with this highly influential organisation.

It is an objective of Food NI to support our companies by raising the level of awareness in Britain, our most important marketplace, by coverage for our members and their products in key magazines there. It’s vitally important that retailers, including delis and farm shops, in Britain are aware of our produce and consumers have as many opportunities as possible to sample and purchase these.

It was good, then, to hear that one of our members, Whoosh in Coleraine, is now selling its tasty noodles to Selfridges and that another member, Ke Nako Biltong in Ballyclare, won the Best from Northern Ireland in this week’s World Charcuterie Awards.

Great Taste’s mission is “to discover the best food and drink, not just in the UK but across the entire globe”. It’s essential that our food and drink are an integral part of this important process. Upwards of 500 judges were involved in assessing 14,195 food and drink entries. Some six local products reached the final stages, including entries from our members Hannan Meats, Morelli Ice Cream, Baronscourt Estate, Whitewater Brewery, Hinch and Ballyboley Dexters.

It was also tremendously encouraging to see Tandragee’s Jackson Roze non- alcoholic ginger wine, another Food NI member, listed among the top four contenders for New Product of the Year at the Speciality and Fine Food Fair in London.

Our members were also in great form at this year’s Irish Quality Food and Drink Awards in Dublin. Milgro Onions crispy onions original flavour took the gold slot; Morelli’s Ice Cream won two gold awards for their Simply Better Dunnes Stores’ Irish made butterscotch ice cream and Irish made caramelized hazelnut ice cream. Their Dunnes Stores Simply Better Irish made mixed berry ice cream took a bronze prize.

In ready meals, Karri Kitchen mango chicken curry was awarded gold. Karro Foods’ deluxe pork fillet medallions with a creamy apple cider sauce for Lidl won a bronze award. Carol’s Stock Market’s free range chicken broth and slow cooked beef bone broth – both for Dunnes Simply Better range – won silver awards. Jackson Roze extra strength non-alcoholic ginger wine won a silver as did Moocha Kombucha for organic elderflower and lemon kombucha. White’s Speedicook Oats organic oats for Aldi won a bronze prize as did Clandeboye Yoghurt’s Madagascan vanilla for Aldi. In Drinks, McCracken’s Premium Pilsner won bronze.

We congratulate all our winning members and everyone who entered and who keeps the quality of our food and drink to such a high standard.

Pistachio Ice Cream from Mauds Ice Creams is awarded top accolade for taste in Northern Ireland for 2023, at glittering Golden Forks ceremony.

Announced on Monday 11 September at a ceremony held at Battersea Arts Centre attended by food industry experts, the Great Taste Golden Fork trophy for Northern Ireland has been awarded to longstanding Food NI member, Mauds Ice Creams from Carrickfergus, County Antrim, for its Pistachio Ice Cream.  

Described as “smooth and creamy with an instant hit of freshly roasted nut”, the Pistachio Ice Cream is made by the Mauds production team at their bespoke dairy in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, using the best ingredients and is a firm favourite amongst the team. It impressed the Great Taste judges with its “thick, unctuous texture and waves of delicious flavour” at every stage of the blind-tasted judging process across 89 days in Dorset and London. An incredible 14,195 product entries from 3,609 artisan food and drink companies across the world were tasted and considered for the black and gold badge of honour.  

Rising to the top of hundreds of other entries from Northern Ireland, this “simply delicious” pistachio ice cream was celebrated as the best tasting product in its country at the highly anticipated awards ceremony which marks the culmination of Great Taste 2023, dubbed the ‘Oscars’ of the food & drink world. Not only that but it also made its way into the top sixteen highest-scoring product list in the whole competition and in the running for the 2023 Great Taste Supreme Champion.

 
For more information on Mauds Ice Creams, see here: https://www.mauds.com/

 
The Great Taste Golden Fork from Northern Ireland was sponsored by Invest NI. Also nominated this year were the Great Taste 3-star Morelli’s Pistachio Swirl Ice Cream from Morelli Ice Cream based in Derry and Buttermilk Pork Chop from Hannan Meats based in Armagh. 

Congratulations from all at Food NI.