Uncle Henry’s wins 3 stars at the Great Taste Awards

Uncle Henry’s is among the Great Taste winners of 2018

Great Taste, the world’s most coveted food awards, which celebrates the very best in food and drink, has announced the Great Taste stars of 2018. Out of over 12,600 products to be judged, Uncle Henry’s near Grayingham, Lincolnshire was awarded a 3-star Great Taste award, which means the product was described by judges as extraordinarily tasty for their home reared Pork Leg Joint and a 1-star Great Taste award, which means judges dubbed it a food that delivers fantastic flavour for its Lincolnshire Sausages!

Their home reared pork leg joint was judged on presentation and flavour with some judges commenting “The crackling looks wonderful - and the meat has an excellent flavour. The crackling is salty and crunchy and worth a star in its own right” and “What a beautifully presented leg of pork, amazing aroma, fantastic crackling, the fat content is superb, the flavour profile is bordering on perfection, every part of your animal tasted fantastic, even the outer cold edges after half hour of tasting retained its flavour, and the cooked-out juices were fabulous and clean and bursting with flavour”

Judged by over 500 of the most demanding palates, belonging to food critics, chefs, cooks, restaurateurs and producers, as well as a whole host of food writers and journalists, Great Taste is widely acknowledged as the most respected food accreditation scheme for artisan and speciality food producers. As well as a badge of honour, the unmistakeable black and gold Great Taste label is a signpost to a wonderful tasting product, which has been discovered through hours and hours of blind-tasting by hundreds of judges.       

Graham Ward, Butchery Wholesale Manager explains: We are delighted to have been recognised for both our Lincolnshire sausage and home reared pork. This award is testament to the hard work of those who look after and rear our pigs on the farm right through to our traditional butchery at Uncle Henry’s and the team who create such fantastic products. The quality of our products is also recognised by the Lincolnshire Coop who stock our sliced roast pork and Lincolnshire sausages in selected stores across the county. In addition to this our home reared roast pork is featured prominently in our cafe and is often a best seller with our Sunday lunch menu.

Recognised as a stamp of excellence among consumers and retailers alike, Great Taste values taste above all else, with no regard for branding and packaging. Whether it is vinegar, granola, bacon or cheese being judged, all products are removed from their wrapper, jar, box or bottle before being tasted. The judges then savour, confer and re-taste to decide which products are worthy of a 1-, 2- or 3-star award.

There were 12,634 entries into Great Taste this year and of those products, 192 have been awarded a 3-star, 1,207 received a 2-star and 3,254 were awarded a 1-star accolade. The panel of judges this year included; MasterChef 2018 champion, Kenny Tutt, chef and food writer, Elly Curshen, eco chef and food writer, Tom Hunt, author and chef, Zoe Adjonyoh, baker Tom Herbert, author and blogger, Izy Hossack, and baker and recipe writer, Martha Collison, as well as food buyers from Harrods, Selfridges and Sourced Market. These esteemed palates have together tasted and re-judged the 3-star winners to finally agree on the Golden Fork Trophy winners and the Great Taste 2018 Supreme Champion. 

Great Taste 2018 will reach its exciting finale on Sunday 2 September, when the world of fine food gathers at the InterContinental Park Lane Hotel, London to find out the Great Taste Golden Fork trophy winners for each region, with the final applause reserved for the Great Taste Supreme Champion 2018.