Gigha Halibut gets the gold
GIGHA Halibut has been awarded the Golden Fork for Scotland, representing the best Scottish product in the 10,000 entries to the 2015 Great Taste Awards.
Judged by more than 400 food critics, chefs, cooks, restaurateurs and producers, Great Taste is widely acknowledged as the most respected food accreditation scheme for artisan and speciality food producers.
Gigha Halibut won the prize for its smoked halibut, described by the judges as ‘one of the finest smoked products of 2015’.
Amanda Anderson of Gigha Halibut said: ‘We know our product is delicious but to have that verified by such esteemed judges through such a tough process has given us the credibility and the boost we needed. It’s wonderful to be told you taste great by the country’s finest palates.
‘We are a small but hard-working team and recognition must go to our fantastic artisan smoker Ruari Murray of Murray Smoked Products who has made our fish the fine product it is. He spends a lot of time in the background while we promote our brand but he is one of our heroes in this whole story.’
There were 10,000 Great Taste entries this year and of those products, only 130 were awarded a three-star, 597 received a two-star and 2,382 were awarded a one-star accolade. The panel of judges included Masterchef judge and restaurant critic Charles Campion, TV presenter and cook Aggie Mackenzie, Great British Bake Off winner Frances Quinn, Masterchef the Professionals finalist Adam Handling, food buyers from Harrods, Selfridges, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer, and chefs including James Golding, chef director of The Pig hotel group.
James Withers, chief executive, Scotland Food & Drink, said: ‘It is fantastic that Gigha Halibut won the award for Best Scottish Speciality at the 2015 Great Taste Golden Fork Awards. Scotland Food & Drink proudly sponsor the category and are delighted by the standard of the winners each year. Food and drink is now a national success story and winning this accolade over thousands of other entries is well deserved.’