The winners of the 2011 Produce Awards, brought to you by ABC delicious.
magazine, were announced last night at Guillaume at Bennelong, Sydney. Now in
their sixth year, the Produce Awards encourage, showcase and reward Australia's
top producers in categories including 'From the Earth', 'From the Dairy', 'From the
Paddock', 'From the Sea' and "Artisan". Within each category, the remaining top
producers have been recognised as medallists, acknowledging their consistency in
submitting top-quality produce.
All producers who entered the awards were shortlisted by a panel of Australia's
leading chefs from around the nation before being presented to the national judges
- Matt Moran, Philip Johnson, Cheong Liew, Alla Wolf-Tasker, and Maggie Beer,
patron of the Produce Awards. This year, judging took place over two days at Justin
North's new cooking school Quarter 21 in Westfield Sydney, where our five national
judges tasted their way through more than 80 finalists from around the nation
before selecting the winners and medallists in each category.
The winners of the five major, highly coveted categories are:
WINNER, FROM THE SEA & PRODUCER OF THE YEAR - PETIT BOUCHOT MUSSELS, KINKAWOOKA SHELLFISH CO. (SA)
Regarded worldwide as the benchmark of mussels, the famous Petit Bouchot, from
the Brittany region of South West France, was the inspiration for Kinkawooka's team
which left judges speechless with their perfectly formed mussel. "The almost
obsessive quality measures and real pride taken by Kinkawooka have created a
mussel that is so sweet and perfect in flavour," says Maggie Beer.
WINNER, FROM THE DAIRY - GUNDOWRING FINEST ICE CREAM (VIC) Fourth generation farmers and concerned environmentalists Sarah & Stephen
Crooke, together with their two sons, create their ice cream with fresh, rich, creamy
milk from their herd of Holstein cows and the best regional and seasonal ingredients
including superb quality local grown fruit, nuts and honey. "Gundowring is one of
those orchard-to-bowl, paddock-to-plate stories that one wishes could be true of all
food," says Alla Wolf-Tasker.
WINNER, FROM THE EARTH - SHIMA WASABI FRESH WASABI STEM & LEAVES (TAS) The word shima is Japanese for island, hence Shima Wasabi translates to Island
Wasabi. It is grown in the pristine Tasmanian environment, ensuring maximum
flavour and quality. The stem provides a hot, sweet flavour when freshly grated. The
glossy, deep green leaves are ideal as a garnish "Fresh wasabi tastes green, gutsy
and sharp," says Cheong Liew. "At last we have the real thing for our sashimi."
WINNER, FROM THE PADDOCK - MONDO WHITE ROCKS VEAL (WA) A previous winner in the 2009 Produce Awards, Mondo White Rocks Veal has been
developed as the leading quality veal in Australia and holds its own not just in the
Australian food industry, but on the world stage. "It's a product that Australia should
be proud of," says Philip Johnson. "The purity of flavour is clearly world class."
WINNER, ARTISAN - PACDON PARK HAGGIS (NSW) This year sees the introduction of this new award for artisan products, aimed at
discovering specialists and provedores working with their local primary growers.
This new category was judged and decided by judges Valli Little, Simon Marnie and
Martin Boetz. Pacdon Park pride themselves on crafting the very best of British
small goods from the best Australian ingredients. The true Highland Haggis is made
using lamb pluck and flank from a local border Leicesters stud. "The standout in this
category was Pacdon Park haggis - beautifully presented with such a complexity of
flavour," says Simon Marnie.
