On the 6th November at the Pavilions of Harrogate representatives from the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Enterprise Partnership (YNYER LEP) attended the 16th annual Deliciouslyorkshire Taste Awards. The awards have grown to become the largest and most respected food and drink accolades in the region, and this year over 400 of the county’s finest food and drink producers and businesses attended the delicious locally sourced three course dinner, which included many of this year’s shortlisted and winning products, to celebrate the success of the Food and Drink sector in Yorkshire.
The standard of entries for the awards are always incredibly high and this year YNYER LEP and Grow Yorkshire were honoured to sponsor the Best Use of Local Produce on a Menu and Supreme Champion categories respectively.
Deliciouslyorkshire Chairman Judy Bell described the evening as a triumph and a real celebration of the county’s thriving industry: “These awards are a great reflection of Yorkshire’s diverse food and drink scene”
David Dickson, chair of YNYER LEP’s Infrastructure and Joint Assets Board, presented both awards on behalf of Grow Yorkshire and YNYER LEP. The rightful winner of the ‘Supreme Champion’ award 2019 was Hollin House Farm, a small family run dairy farm in the village of Clayton West in West Yorkshire, with their Whole Milk product. A third generation farm, who after recent diversification began selling milk directly to the public in glass bottles as well as producing Hollin House Farm Cheese. The judging panel commented ‘The quality and the richness of flavour is a joy. It’s such a pleasure for an everyday product to be produced to such a high standard.’
The just winner of the ‘Best Use of Local Produce on a Menu’ was the Devonshire Arms Hotel, Bolton Abbey Estate, who combined classical country house style with fresh, exciting and modern British menus. Head chef, Paul Leonard, is one of the country’s most exciting chefs and his exquisite tasting menus are The Burlington restaurants speciality, with each dish sourced locally including many ingredients from the hotels own kitchen garden. This year’s winning menu was heavily influenced by seasonal availability and well known Yorkshire ingredients. ‘This menu clearly articulates their passion for the local area and local suppliers and featured many innovative and interesting collaborations’ commented the judging panel.
The agriculture and food sector in Yorkshire is remarkable. It is vital to how we live and feed the country. These awards are a great celebration of the fantastic food and drink businesses in Yorkshire and a magnificent reflection of the abundance of iconic Yorkshire brands and the importance of food and drink to the regional economy.