BRITISH CHARCUTERIE AWARDS

Finding Britain’s best

The British Charcuterie Live Awards has returned to highlight some of the best bacon, hams and salumi from the UK. Here’s a round-up of the key results.

CHARCUTIERS FROM SUFFOLK and Yorkshire have been leading the celebrations as producers from across the UK picked up medals at the 2020-21 British Charcuterie Live Awards.

The competition was postponed last year but – thanks to a remote judging process staged at the end of April – it saw Dingley Dell Cured as the Champion of Champions Producer.

A joint venture between Direct Meats and third-generation Suffolk farmers Mark and Paul Hayward of Dingley Dell, the operation won the top award thanks to being the best-performing producer over a minimum of three different classes. Its coppa-style Albion, Iceni (a Felino-style salami), and smoked, dry-cured bacon all took medals.

“To be recognised for our products will undoubtedly help us to raise awareness of what we are doing on a national level and hopefully to bring us new business,” said Mark Hayward.

Meanwhile, the Champion of Champions Product was awarded to Wildman Charcuterie for its Longhorn Bresaola [see below].

Based in Malhamdale’s Town End Farm Shop with fifthgeneration butcher Chris Wildman at the helm, the Yorkshire business also picked up a Bronze medal for its Marmaduke Salami. “It is so important to us to be able to promote the business through the Awards and to seek acclaim for our products,” said Wildman. “Just as important is receiving constructive feedback from the expert judges to continue to improve our range.”

As well as these two awards, there were a number of trophies for specific categories and products deemed Best in Class (see below).

Among the new awards this year were Best British Snacking Charcuterie won by Ke Nako’s “Pain in the Hole” Biltong made in Northern Ireland.

The new Best Black Pudding and Best Smoked Product gongs were awarded to Charles Macleod Stornoway Black Pudding and Oak Smoked Streaky Bacon from Wenlock Edge Farm.

All of the products that took major awards had first achieved a Gold (other winners on the next page), while there were also a number of Silver and Bronze medals awarded by judges.

Henrietta Green, founder of the Awards, said: “Despite the challenges British producers are facing as a result of the pandemic, over 100 producers entered more than 300 products into the nine classes, and our judges were struck by the quality and range of the entries.

“It’s so encouraging to see more and more producers starting to make both British and Continentalstyle charcuterie. It’s becoming a truly vibrant sector of British food production.” For a full list of award winners, visit

britishcharcuterie.live

Dingley Dell Cured was named Champion of Champions producer

HOW THE JUDGING WORKED

Judging for the British Charcuterie Live Awards was carried out blind by small teams of experts –class by class – and each product is assessed for a number of factors including taste, mouthfeel, appearance and presentation. Led by new head judge Keith Fisher, chief executive of the Institute of Meat, the judging teams were made up of charcuterie experts from the meat, hospitality and retail industries. Among the judges were chefs Adam Handling, Thom Eagle and Jesse Dunford Wood, pictured below. Buyers Bernadette Lalonde (Harrods), Paul Patterson (The Charcuterie Box) and Michaela Pagano (The Fine Cheese Co) also took part in sessions, as did restaurateurs Roberto Costa (Marcellaio), James Allcock (Pig & Whistle) and Dan Brod from the Beckford Bottle Shop.

THE BIG WINNERS

Champion of Champions Producer

Dingley Dell Cured

Champion of Champions Product & Best in Class –Cured, Air-Dried & Ready-to-Eat Whole Muscle Products

Longhorn Bresaola, Wildman Charcuterie

Best Traditional or Heritage Product

Spiced Loin, SaltPig Curing Company

Best Smoked Product

Oak Smoked Streaky Bacon, Wenlock Edge Farm

Best Black Pudding

Stornoway Black Pudding, Charles Macleod

Best Game Product

Green Pepper Venison Salami, Great Glen Charcuterie

Best New Product

Pork & Fennel Salami, Rare & Pasture

Best in Class - Cured & Cooked Whole Muscle Products

Cooked Ox Tongue, A E Chambers

Best in Class – Cured, Fermented and Air Dried Ready-to-Eat Sausage Products

Iceni (Felino-style British Salami), Dingley Dell Cured

Best in Class – Cured & Cooked Sausage Products

Nose to Tail Terrine, North by Sudouest Charcuterie

Best in Class – Soft & Spreadable Products

Traditional Pork Rillette, Cornish Charcuterie

Best in Class – Cured Bacon

Oak Smoked Bacon Chop, Uptons of Bassett

Best in Class – British Regional Products

Faggots, Wenlock Edge Farm

Best in Class – ‘House Made’ Products

Smoked Pork Collar with mixed peppercorns, KUBARN

Best in Class – British Snacking Charcuterie

“Pain in the Hole” Biltong, Ke Nako Biltong

Champion of Champions Producer

Dingley Dell Cured

There is usually a story behind an award-winning producer. That of Suffolk’s Dingley Dell Cured can be traced back nearly a decade to the very rawest of charcuterie ingredients – the pigs themselves.

Suffolk farmers Mark and Paul Hayward were already supplying pork to high-end foodservice customers but they decided that they could make their meat even better. “The more marbling you have, the more intra-muscular fat – those little white lines running through the meat – the better the taste and tenderness,” Mark Hayward tells FFD. “It’s well understood in the beef industry, hence the different Wagyus and price points.

Whereas beef’s marbling can be adjusted through both breeding and feed, only the former option is available to pig farmers. So the Haywards drafted in scientist Caroline Mitchell and set up a breeding program to create bettertasting pork – not exactly the direction that most farming operations have been taking.

“People that produce commercial breeding animals for farmers have been concentrating on speed of growth, efficiency of feed usage – all the kind of variables that make a farm more costeffective.”

Having started with Durocs, Dingley Dell developed the Suffolk Red, now a registered breed with higher marbling and it continues to work on upping the level of intramuscular fat.

“We knew that if we could improve the level of marbling, it would be beneficial to any cut from that pig.”

So, two years ago the Haywards set up a joint venture with Direct Meats, called Dingley Dell Cured. They imported and installed ageing rooms from Italy and hired charcutier Thomas Hempstead to develop its range.

“What we set out to do was to make charcuterie and keep it simple,” says Hayward. “We didn’t want to be clever with it, we just wanted to produce great things in the way the Italians do.”

The resulting 12-strong range, tweaked for the British palate by Hempstead, includes Iceni – the Felino-style salami that won a Gold in this year’s awards – and Albion, another of this year’s medalwinners that is based on coppa.

Despite being inspired by Continental products, the whole Dingley Dell range has historically British names. Iceni was an Iron Age tribe, while its lomo is named Gullinbursti (‘Golden Bristles’, which a boar from Norse mythology that resembles Dingley Dell’s own stock) and its version of Milano salami is called Moccus (after the Celtic swine god).

“Why should we name these things after Italy?,” says Hayward. “We’ve produced the pigs in the UK, we’re proud to be British and farm the way we do, connected to the land, so we thought: ‘Let’s put our own stamp on it’.”

Currently, Dingley Dell’s core market is foodservice but Hayward says he and his business partners in the charcuterie operation very much see increasing retail listings as the next goal.

“We mainly want Dingley Dell Pork to keep going into foodservice and charcuterie is much more viable for retail.

“It has phenomenal shelf life and transport is virtually ambient, so for us to supply it nationally is not a problem.”

With whole muscles and salamis, 75g retail packs and 200g catering packs all available, Dingley Dell Cured can cover any deli or farm shop’s requirements.

And, with that all-important marbling on the rise in its pigs, the charcuterie is only going to keep on tasting better.

dingleydellcured.co.uk

Champion of Champions Product

Longhorn Bresaola, Wildman Charcuterie

To even more casual followers of the British Charcuterie scene, the Wildman name should be familiar. This Longhorn Bresaola is the latest in a long line of successful products, including the original Yorkshire Chorizo, Yorkshire Gin Salami and pancetta. And it follows owner Chris Wildman’s winning formula of combining British native breed animals with Continental styles.

“Bresaola is a classic Italian cured meat and with our passion for the Longhorn breed running through several generations it was an obvious choice,” says Wildman, a fifthgeneration butcher whose operation is based at Town End Farm Shop in Malhamdale, North Yorkshire.

Wildman, who produces the charcuterie range with brother Nigel, uses the oval-shaped silverside for this bresaola. The whole muscle is cured in herbs, spices and red wine before being hung in the ageing chamber for five weeks. “There’s about a 40% weight loss,” he says, “but it’s worth every ounce.”

Retailers can buy the bresaola in retail-ready packs or as a whole muscle for foodservice. All of the Wildman range is available direct.

wildmanbritishcharcuterie.co.uk

OTHER GOLD MEDAL WINNERS

Beef Carpaccio-Style Bresaola

Trealy Farm

Chorizo & Bourbon

East Coast Cured

Pork, Hazelnut & Cider Salami

Lishman’s of Ilkley

Sopressata

Loxley’s Larder Ltd

Fennel & Cider Salami

Somerset Charcuterie

Free range Panchetta

A E Chambers

Grizzly Adams Downfall

Piggery-Smokery

George Stafford Black pudding A E Chambers

Black pudding Uptons of Bassett

18-month Air Dried Ham from Hampshire/Duroc pig (Walter Rose & Sons)

KUBARN

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