The pitfalls of manufacturing techniques – such as being too runny, too bland – and with products such as pickles and preserves separating spoiled many an entry. But you don’t want to hear about those. What were the runaway winners and where lies the potential for innovation?
One of our first successes – being deserving of the coveted gold stars – was a gluten-free Indian snack: an artisan-style Pakora that had all the spiciness you might hope for but none of the grease. There was a truffle oil with truffle pieces and a long, intense finish; a vinegar infused with wild blackberries and a Swiss milk chocolate with walnut pieces caramelised in maple syrup.
We tasted some truly dreadful English-style ready meals that were more deserving of a minus score, but were then perked up with Wild Aberdeenshire roe deer smoked over smouldering whisky casks and pitted with cayenne – and also a smoked Suffolk beef shoulder that tasted like carpaccio. Double heaven!
In the adult soft drinks arena, an elderflower that tasted a bit weak and a ginger cocktail that took your breath away lurched from one end of the spectrum to another. Popcorn appearing in every flavour, from salted caramel to cinnamon, couldn’t raise a smile as we worried about the practical matters of inconsistency and breaking our teeth on the un-popped kernels.
There were sadly more disasters than reasons to cheer, from a pasta sauce that was over-garlicky to pickled samphire that looked brown and unappetising. “It needs a security escort from the building,” said a colleague from Selfridges.
He told me about his success in-store with a range of ultra-mini savoury bites, from mini sausage rolls and scotch eggs, while I swapped news on the move to fusion snacking with savoury macaroons.
I also heard from David Greenman and Debbie Atherton, owners of the renowned Arch House Deli in Bristol, about Henshaw Woods strawberry&rose jam from the Isle of Bute and Ardrahan cheese from Country Cork in Ireland. Both sound delicious!
My two favourites of the day? Rustic handmade triangular oatcakes, laden with seeds and made using Fife ground oatmeal and a deliciously fruit-laden plum jam, that had all of us going back for more.
A fascinating day and one I would happily repeat, but for those who managed this intensity of thought and discussion for a whole week, you have my respect!
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