Hampshire Food Festival Go For Gold

Hampshire's finest food and drink producers proudly showcased their fare at the Hampshire Food Festival which ran throughout the month of July.

The weather may have been against us but this didn't dampen the enthusiasm of Hampshire farmers, producers and traders who all celebrated locally sourced and locally produced goods from across the county.

The festival, organised by Hampshire Fare even attracted celebrity chefs who are behind the organisations vision of championing local food and drink.

Celebrity wine expert, foodie and writer, Olly Smith has been attending the festival for four years, and took part in a wine tasting demonstration at Basingstoke's Festival Place.

What a delight to celebrate the breadth of amazing produce Hampshire has to offer.

From farmers to local food producers, bars, restaurants pubs and shopping centres it was fantastic to see so much activity across the whole county celebrating what's best about Hampshire Fare.

I can't wait until next year's festival and salute everyone who took part this year. Three cheers for Hampshire!

Cooking and meat preparation tutorials were also available throughout the festival with award winning Uptons of Bassett showcasing their butchery skills with a meat master class.

The meat master class which included a three hour tutorial and dinner with master butcher, Simon Broadribb has been a rip-roaring success and has introduced the butchers to a whole new clientele.

Simon said: "It went amazingly. We've had so much success off the back of it that we are looking into running it beyond the festival."

Rounding up the Hampshire Food Festival was the Trout 'n' About event held in Stockbridge at the beginning of August.

The sun shone and hundreds came out to enjoy the delicious food and drink on offer.

The Baker Boys, who are based in Hook had a stall at the event and sold out fast with their blueberry and pear scones a real winner.

Robin Coles from the Bakery Boys said: "The event was fantastic, we didn't expect to sell out that fast. Simply excellent."

Hampshire Fare members have been going for gold this summer as the awards keep coming in

The results from the Great Taste Awards show more than 20 awards have been won by Hampshire Fare members.

With nearly 9,000 competitors from across the nation entering with the hope of gaining one of these prestigious awards, winning was no easy feat.

Scarlet Bakes, Hyden Farm and Jude's Ice Cream were just a few of Hampshire's leading businesses who picked up awards from a one-star gold rating to the awards highest three-star gold rating.

Judges this year included Masterchef winner and restaurantauer Mat Follas, restaurant critic and Masterchef judge Charles Campion, food writers Lucas Hollweg and Xanthe Clay and over 300 food buyers from leading food halls, including Harrods, Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason.

The Hampshire Jam and Chutney Company entered two products into the competition, with the company's coveted Raspberry Jam winning three-star gold and the Crunchy Cucumber gaining a one-star gold rating.

We are so ecstatic about the awards, it's amazing to be recognised by such a reputable group. We were also only one of 123 competitors in the whole country who were given the three-star-gold rating.

Sue Rockhill from the Hampshire Jam and Chutney Company

The Great Taste accreditation scheme, organized by the Guild of Fine Foods is recognised by both producers and discerning consumers, as a sign of quality and reassurance that the product is outstanding.

Guild of Fine Food chairman Bob Farrand, said: "To achieve a Great Taste Award is a significant achievement and for a product to merit a 3-star grading involves at least 25 experts unanimously agreeing that the product tastes divine."