The classes have been announced and The British Charcuterie Awards, the first ever national awards, are live from today. Entries are invited from all British Charcuterie producers with submission through www.britishcharcuterie.live
Co-founders Henrietta Green and Charlotte Sharpe-Neal are encouraging farmers, butchers, meat processors and chefs to compete in the nine different classes. These range from air-dried & ready-to-eat whole muscle to native and heritage products with a Champion of Champions Product and Champion of Champions Producer selected from the nine classes.
The live, blind judging will take place in the dedicated British Charcuterie Tent, on August 2nd the first day of BBC Countryfile Live 2018, held at Blenheim Palace between 2nd – 5th August.
The judging team has been expanded to more than 20 leading food, retail and hospitality experts, with more to come on-board. The line-up now includes Head Judge John Gower, who set up the New York’s Charcuterie Masters; British Bake Off co-judge Prue Leith; Chefs Angela Hartnett, James Lowe, Ben Tish, Adam Handling and Neil Borthwick; master butcher David Lidgate; charcutier extraordinaire Stephane Reynaud; Monika Linton, founder of Brindisa; Rich Summers of The School of Artisan Food; food writers Xanthe Clay and Felicity Cloake; Graham Stoodley Charcuterie Manager for Harvey & Brockless, Shane Holland of Slow Food UK and Tom Beeston of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.
Henrietta GreenThe Classes – Charcuterie makers are encouraged to enter as many products in as many classes as they wish – with a sliding scale of discounts available
Class 1 Cured, Air-Dried & Ready-to-Eat Whole Muscle Products – based on the whole muscle these are cured and air-dried products that may or may not be cold-smoked. This class includes traditional product such as Prosciutto-style hams, Lomo, cold-smoked duck breasts or Coppa etc
Class 2 Cured & Cooked Whole Muscle Products – based on the whole muscle these need cooking – roasted, boiled, baked or hot-smoked – before eating. This class includes cooked hams, salt beef etc
Class 3 Cured Fermented & Air-Dried Ready-to-Eat Sausage Products – these are traditional salami and other ground meat products that may or may not be cold-smoked.
Class 4 Cured & Cooked Ready-to-Eat Sausage Products – these need cooking – typically poached or hot-smoked– before eating. This class includes Bologna, Mortadella, Luncheon Meats and hot-smoked Kielbasa etc.
Class 5 Soft & Spreadable Products – these are made from cured and/or preserved meats. This class includes Pates, Parfaits, Potted Meats and Rillettes as well as products such as ’Nduja, Lard, Sobresada etc.
Class 6 Cured Bacon – these may be green, cold- or hot-smoked but will need cooking before eating. This class includes streaky, shoulder or back bacon as well as rashers from other meats, poultry and game such as beef, duck etc.
Class 7 British Regional Products – this class includes any traditional cured British regional recipes such as Hogs Pudding, Black Pudding, White Pudding, Haslett, Faggots, Bath Chaps, Lincolnshire Chine etc
Class 8 “House Made” Products – this class includes any cured products made in a restaurant, hotel or pub kitchen by the kitchen staff for serving within their own restaurants and bars
Class 9 Native & Heritage Products – supported by Rare Breed Survival Trust & Slow Food in the UK. Meat used in this class must be traceable and from registered stock pedigree parents. All entries will be authenticated by RSBT. This class is open to all products included in classes 1-8 of The British Charcuterie Awards
Chosen from Classes 1-9 entrants
Class 10 The Champion of Champions Product – all products achieving Gold (scoring 80+ points out of a possible 100) will automatically be put forward for The Champion of Champions Product
Class 11 The Champion of Champions Producer –this will be awarded to the Producer who performs well consistently over a number of classes – no less than three products spread over a minimum of three classes
“British charcuterie is showing such dynamic development, we feel the time is right for all producers, artisanal or larger-scale, to have an appropriate public showcase for their diverse ranges,” says Henrietta Green.
There are estimated to be over 300 British charcuterie producers in the UK at present, and the sector is growing. “British charcuterie is much more than just mirroring our foreign cousins. Our producers create great-tasting products, some new with distinctly different ingredients and characteristics, and others echoing our heritage. Our award categories are designed to reflect this complexity and quality,” says awards co-founder Charlotte Sharpe-Neal.
British charcuterie makers and associated producers will also be able to take stalls within the British Charcuterie Tent to sell their products to the public attending Countryfile Live. There were 120,000 visitors across the four days of the show in 2017.
Application forms for the awards, and information on exhibiting within the Charcuterie Tent are available from salami@britishcharcuterie.live or online.