Shooting Stars Welcome to our star-laden road-trip of Wales’s big winners in this year’s Great Taste Awards Where better to start off our whistle-stop tour of the Welsh winners of the Great Taste Awards 2021 than the ‘Môn Mam Cymru’ (mother of Wales) itself: Anglesey. The stars well and truly aligned from east to west, with the eponymous Fish Pie from Dylan’s Restaurant in Menai Bridge and Holyhead’s Anglesey Fine Foods’ Black Label Bone in Leg of Hogget both being awarded two stars in a stellar showing. The Menai Strait’s status as a ‘special area of conservation with marine components’ is due in part to this area’s rich abundance of fish - and Dylan’s Fish Pie is a culmination of this local lore. Lovingly crafted with haddock, smoked haddock, salmon, and prawns, the pies have been perfected over time in dedicated small batches. Road-tripping all the way across the A55 to Holyhead, the Black Label Bone in Leg of Hogget is an equally impressive ode to the island’s famed flocks of sheep. The PGI Welsh Bone of lamb is treated with due diligence, Himalayan Salt dry-aged for a total of 14 days to achieve optimal taste. Over the aforementioned Menai Strait and onto the mainland we arrive next in the home of Snowdonia: Gwynedd. Across the Menai Suspension Bridge we arrive almost directly at the door of Popty Bakery in Bangor, who were awarded two stars for their Bara Brith Fruit Cake. The 100-year-old authentic family recipe is followed to a tee, lovingly baked using traditional methods in the picturesque foothills of Snowdonia. Down the west coast in Nefyn, Dwyfor Coffee Company too have been recognised with two stars for their Colombian High Roast Espresso Beans. This is a blend of some of the finest Colombian coffee beans, hand-roasted onsite in small batches and with a flavour profile consisting of caramel, cherry and citrus. At the southern foot of the Coed y Brenin Forest Park, The Dyfi Distillery in Corris was awarded two stars for its Hibernation Gin, distilled with classic and foraged botanicals and aged in a 100-year-old White Port Cask. A special mention must go to Abergwyngregyn’s Aber Falls Distillery Inaugural Whisky Release. These initial 2000 bottles of single malt were distilled and bottled entirely in North Wales using Welsh malted barley and water, winning a star for their dark chocolate and golden syrup flavours complementing a creme brulee influence of cream, vanilla, and caramelised sugar. Also falling under the jurisdiction of Gwynedd (according to Great Taste) was Llanrwst in Conwy. This charming town is the self-proclaimed capital of the historically verdant Vale of Conwy and is also near Gwydyr Forest, the spiritual home of its own ‘Robin Hood’ legend of folklore: Dafydd ap Siencyn. The only thing being stolen around here though is the hearts of the Great Taste adjudicators, with Blas Ar Fwyd Cyf taking home a trio of two star awards for their Raspberry Extra Jam, Rice Pudding, and Traditional Christmas Pudding. The raspberry
jam with extra fruit is prepared by skilled staff in a traditional cooking environment with no additives, leading to a superior quality and taste, while their rice pudding uses sweetened round rice cooked in fresh cow’s milk and cream. As the festive season gets well and truly underway, it’s only right that the Blas Ar Fwyd Traditional Christmas Pudding gets a nod - a handmade, fully steamed, fruit-filled and stout soaked, fourth generation family recipe! Annie’s Patisserie in Flint, namesake of Flintshire, had a duo of two stars for its Cherry Bakewell Tart and Milk Chocolate Sea Salted Caramel Tart. The latter is an especially luxurious baked milk chocolate tart, flavoured with: caramel, sea salt and vanilla; and finished with chocolate glaze, drizzle, milk chocolate curls, and cocoa. Travelling down Flintshire to Mold, Fferm-y-ffrith’s Cajeta and the Hafod Brewing Company’s Fado and Dubbel Bruin were all recipients of two star awards. Cajeta is a caramel sauce that is made exclusively with Fferm-y-ffrith’s own goat’s milk, as opposed to cow’s milk Dulce de leche. In addition to the goat’s milk, the ingredients are rounded off by sugar, vanilla essence and baking soda. Hafod’s Fado is an Amber Sorachi Ace double IPA, with: coconut, vanilla and dill aromas; a sweet, smooth blend of coconut; and bubble gum flavours with a lemony finish. The deep amber Dubbel Bruin by contrast has sweet herbal, peppery aromas - leading to rich, malty flavours of caramel and burnt sugar, with a raisin and stone fruit sweetness.
Wrexham seems to have garnered quite a taste for stars now and seems to be collecting its own veritable constellation - and who can blame them? After only recently being launched into superstardom by the well-publicised purchase of the town’s football club by two of Hollywood’s own stellar names in the form of Ryan Reynolds and Robert McElhenney, that hasn’t stopped Happy Hedgehog Foods’ Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar adding another three stars to Great Taste’s Flintshire catchment area. This unique product prides itself on using fresh strawberries and sugars steeped in 100% Modena Balsamic vinegar over a 13-18 month period. Further still south and into Denbighshire, we arrive at Llangollen - where Dolwen Welsh Lamb and Beef also received three stars for its PGI Welsh Lamb
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