Aberdeenshire businesses triumph in Great Taste awards

A number of north-east companies have had their products recognised by the 2022 Great Taste judges.

Organised by the Guild Of Fine Food, Great Taste is considered food's equivalent of the Oscars.

It is, therefore, a moment of great pride for a business to have their products recognised by judges, who consider products purely on the consumption experience and not on marketing or reputation, and for customers it is a symbol of an item of outstanding quality.

There are three categories within the awards - one star, two star and the highest ranking three star.

In total 5555 products were recognised by Great Taste 2022, 25 of which hail from Aberdeenshire.

Of those thousands of entries, approximately 25 percent will be awarded one star, 10 percent will be awarded two stars and a mere two percent will make the cut to be awarded three exquisite stars.

The following items from north-east companies have been recognised in this year's awards-

Receiving three stars-

• Redcurrant and rosemary fruit cheese (Mearns Marmalades)
• Cold smoked steelhead trout (Sutherland's Of Portsoy)

Receiving two stars-

• Glebe Farm Scotch PGI lamb (Aberdeenshire Larder)
• Barra bronzes (Barra Bronzes Turkeys)
• Black treacle bacon (Louise's Farm Kitchen)
• Passionfruit and heather honey pralines (Braemar Chocolate Shop)
• Angels' nectar single malt scotch whisky - Islay rioja cask edition (Highfern)

Receiving one star-

• Scottish wild roe venison (Aberdeenshire Larder)
• Venison steak and haggis wellington (Aberdeenshire Larder)
• Ola oatcakes (JG Ross Bakers)
• Butter biscuits (JG Ross Bakers)
• Strawberry swirl real dairy ice cream (Mackies Of Scotland)
• Organic real dairy ice cream (Mackies Of Scotland)
• Salted caramel real dairy ice cream (Mackies Of Scotland)
• Mint dark chocolate (Mackies Of Scotland)
• Chilli oatcake bites (The Kindness Bakery)
• Stilton oatcake bites (The Kindness Bakery)
• Cheese and chive oatcake bites (The Kindness Bakery)
• Maiden stane (Piggery Smokery)
• Esker Gin (Esker Spirits)
• Ledmacoy turkeys (Ledmacoy Turkeys)
• Reekit bean pie (Veg Oot)
• Peppered smoked mackerel (Sutherland's Of Portsoy)
• Speyside raspberry gin bar (Braemar Chocolate Shop)
• Panko breaded single wholetail scampi (Amity Fish Company)
• Panko breaded queenie scallops (Amity Fish Company)
• Green cardamom powder (Raman Spice And Flour Mills)
• Fresh gin (City Of Aberdeen Distillery)
• Bramble gin (City Of Aberdeen Distillery)
• Wonderland (Figment Coffee Company)
• Black as night currant (Two Raccoons)
• Black pudding slices (Speyside Specialities)
• White pudding (Speyside Specialities)
• Skirlie oatmeal and onion stuffing (Speyside Specialities)
• Navy strength AVVA Scottish gin (Moray Distillery)
• Smokin Hoot (Hoots Sauce Co)

The Golden Forks, which identify the highest scoring products tasted by judges, will be announced next month.

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