Food Awards anxiously anticipated

Entrants in the 2011 Fine Food Awards are travelling from near and far to be in Mudgee this weekend seeking recognition for their products in a tough national competition.

Linda Wilson, co-ordinator for this years’ Awards reports, “Food producers who win a medal in Mudgee can be justifiably proud knowing they’ve a quality product worthy of national recognition”. This year’s highly qualified panel of seven Australian food industry professionals, raised the bar on standards against which the 292 entries competed, rewarding only those high caliber products scoring consistently across all criteria – appearance, flavour & aroma and texture or mouth feel.

What was entered?
As expected, the bulk of the entries were preserves – sweet and savoury jam, jelly, relish, chutney, pickled fruit and vegetables.Tapenades, sun-dried or salted olives, and olive oils inflused with citrus flavours, roasted garlic, chilli or fresh herbs were well represented.

There were also some intriguing new items - Lemon Vincotto, Truffle BBQ Sauce, a Lemongrass, Kaffir Lime & Chilli Mayonnaise and Quince Vinegar. The category of smoked and preserved meats and fish was popular and in the baking sections, the judges rated an assortment of cupcakes, sweet biscuits, macarons and sourdough bread.

Whilst the total medal tally has grown by five this year to 105, just thirteen food products will receive a Gold medal for excellence, nine fewer than last year. A further 37 entries will receive Silver and 55 will claim Bronze.

Four Champion trophies will be awarded for Sweet, Savoury, Nut and Olive product as well as the Trophy for Most Successful Exhibitor.

Entrants contesting the Packaging & Presentation Award had their product labels scrutinised for both design and standards compliance by a trio of expert judges – Bruce Wilson (marketing & packaging design), James Karbowiak (food industry legislation and compliance) and Paul Cavalier (design and print production). Bruce Wilson said, “it was a challenging task to find the winner from so many exceptional entries however labeling compliance remains an issue. Our judges were able to pass on valuable information that will help producers meet recently imposed legislation in this area.”

Now in its fifth year, The Mudgee Fine Food Awards program continues to support small batch regional food producers, both locally and right around Australia. Tickets to the Awards Presentation Lunch at 1pm at the Mudgee Brewery are still available via the Mudgee Visitor’s Centre or by calling 6372 1020.