Elite Meat in Starbeck, Harrogate, tasted success with a brilliant brace of 2-star awards in the 2016 Great Taste Awards, described as the world’s most coveted blind-tasted food accreditation scheme.
Organised by The Guild of Fine Food, the annual showcase this year attracted 10,000 product entries, judged by over 500 of the most demanding palates – food critics, chefs, cooks, restaurateurs and producers, as well as a whole host of food writers and journalists, who decide which products are worthy of a 1-, 2- or 3-star awards.
Elite Meat, run by Gordon Atkinson, picked up its first 2-star award with the High Street shop’s Free Range Pork Pie. The pork used in the pie comes from outdoor reared pigs from long-time supplier Colin Piercy in Easingwold, near York.
Judges described it as “an attractive little pie with a lovely burnished glaze to the pastry. The pastry is well cooked throughout and the cross section of the pie when cut is appealing – pink meat, and good jelly. The flavour is great, the seasoning well judged, and the balance of meat, jelly and pastry is well nigh perfect. We found the ‘freshness’ particularly appealing.”
Elite Meat’s second 2-star winner was the shop’s Chicken Liver Parfait with Caramelised Onion.
Judges praised this product as being “silky smooth with an extraordinarily bright, tart flavour … a very large and smooth pâté which has been expertly passed to produce a smooth and creamy pâté. There is a real creaminess, sweet onion, livers and seasoning.”
Gordon Atkinson said:
Last year, we were fortunate enough to win a Great Taste 1-star award with our Free Range Pork Pie, so to step up this year with not one, but two 2-star awards is a real feather in our cap. The award-winning products are available on a daily basis and both are firm favourites among our customers.
The latest accolades add to the multiple award wins achieved by Elite Meat, which was established by Mr Atkinson in 1999 and has expanded and diversifed significantly over the years.
The shop remains a long-standing member of the national Butchers Q Guild, which represents 118 award-winning independent butchers nationwide, who are all at the top of their game.
