AFTER much anticipation and a great deal of excitement, the winners in the Carlsberg UK Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards 2018/19 are finally celebrating being named the best of the county’s best!
The competition, now in its tenth year, is aimed at celebrating all that is great about local produce and drink, recognising excellence within the county’s dining venues and rewarding those who work so hard within the culinary sector.
The results were announced at a glittering Awards Dinner staged at Northampton’s Royal & Derngate in November.
The winners of all the categories were presented with trophies which had been specially designed by the Northampton firm Trinity Engineering – the figure 10 depicted as a bottle and plate to represent a decade of the awards which was crafted out of tin, the metal traditionally associated with tenth anniversary gifts – by the evening’s special guest, the former Masterchef winner, author and Wahaca restaurant group owner, Thomasina Miers and Awards Patrons William Sitwell and Sophie Grigson.
For the team from The Water Mill Tearooms in Ringstead, winning the title of Independent Cafe / Tea Room of the Year came as something of a pleasant surprise, as owner Iona Campbell explained: “We only opened the venue last year so to have this stamp of approval from such a recognised competition at such an early stage and at the first time of asking means the world to us and we couldn’t be more thrilled.
“The beautiful trophy will now go in pride of place in the cafe and we can’t wait to show it off not only to our existing loyal customers but also to all those new faces we’re expecting to see who’ll now be wanting to come and try us for themselves.”
The evening began with formal welcomes from Awards Director, Rachel Mallows MBE DL of The Mallows Company and Bruce Ray, VP Corporate Affairs and Independent on Trade (interim) with headline sponsors, Carlsberg UK before guests then enjoyed a sumptuous three-course meal designed and created by Lee Scott, executive chef at Whittlebury Hall, and aided by a team of culinary students from Northampton College who switched their regular classes for the experience of being part of the prestigious occasion – but not before broadcaster, author and former Strictly Come Dancing contestant Rev Richard Coles had said grace.
Befitting a celebration of the excellence of the county’s food and drink sector, the menu included a wealth of Northamptonshire ingredients, including a game terrine made using duck from award winners, Pastures Poultry Farm at Yardley Hastings, venison from Rutting Reds at Hannington as well as chutney from Northampton’s Friars Farm and goat’s cheese from Stanwick’s Neneview Dairy.
The local offering also continued into the puddings which used apples from New Creation Farm, blueberries from Mee Farmers at Nassington and chocolate from Corby’s Seed and Bean, accompanied by dessert wine generously provided by Amps Wine Merchants of Oundle, before concluding with petits fours generously provided by Belflair Chocolates of Brackley and tea courtesy of the Nothampton’s Tea Lab Company, which also created a special tenth anniversary tea blend called The Mallows for guests to take home.
As well as learning the results of the 20 categories, guests heard how Atul Kocchar, Britain’s first Indian chef to be awarded a Michelin Star, had reacted after he had been involved as a judge at the Booker Young Chef of the Year cook-off final back in September.
Praising the talents of the five finalists involved, Atul admired their creativity, skills and calmness under pressure as they took on their two-hour cooking challenge, and paid tribute to the awards and their impact on the sector over the last decade, something of which, he said, Northamptonshire should be most proud.
Those were sentiments echoed by Thomasina who spoke from experience of the value of competitive success following her television victory – which she admitted came despite her having served lumpy mashed potato to judge John Torode in the first episode – and commended the awards by congratulating all of those gathered for the evening’s celebration – whether finalists, sponsors, supporters or partners – for helping to create a spectacular culmination to its first ten years.
There was also a special presentation from the Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire, David Laing, who announced that the Northamptonshire – Britain’s Best Surprise marketing campaign would focus on the food and drink sector in 2019, pledging to bring the county’s culinary excellence to national attention.
For more details on the competition, including the chance to watch the videos of Atul Kocchar and the cook-offs, visit the awards’ website at www.northamptonshirefood anddrink.co.uk or contact Rachel Mallows on 01933 664437 or email
You can also follow the awards on twitter and Instagram at @foodawardsHQ or on Facebook at facebook.com/foodawards