Kuba Winkowski wins title for best house-made products in the British Charcuterie Live Awards 2020/21

Chef Kuba Winkowski, The Craft Guild of Chefs National Chef of the Year 2019, has won the 'Best house-made product' title in the the British Charcuterie Live Awards 2020/21.

Judges said his winning product in the house-made products category - sponsored by The Staff Canteen -  a smoked pork collar with mixed peppercorns had“great flavours” and was “a really interesting product.”

The founder of KuBarn by Chef Kuba, his new Charcuterie business draws on his Polish heritage to make the range of Charcuterie for which he and the restaurant have become well known. Provenance, high-quality ingredients and a focus on rare breeds result in an exciting range including Forest of Dean Wild Boar, Paprika Lonza, Welsh Wagyu, Beef Bresaola and Yorkshire Mangalitza Culatello.

British Charcuterie Live Awards

Judging for British Charcuterie Live Awards was carried out blind by small teams of experts – class by class – and each product is assessed for a number of factors including taste, mouth feel, appearance & presentation.

Led by new head judge Keith Fisher, chief executive of the Institute of Meat, the judges are charcuterie experts from the meat, hospitality and retail industries – makers, buyers, consultants, restaurateurs, chefs, plus top food writers, including Chefs Adam Handling, Thom Eagle and Henry Harris, buyers Bernadette Lalonde from Harrods, Paul Patterson from the Charcuterie Box & Michaela Pagano from the Fine Cheese Company and restaurateurs Roberto Costa from Marcellaio, James Allcock from the Pig & Whistle & Dan Brod from the Beckford Bottle Shop.

As one judge James Robinson of Brindisa commented: “It’s an exciting time for British Charcuterie producers right now as they strive to achieve the same levels of quality as experienced continental cured meat producers, and it‘s impressive to see the improvements that have been achieved in the last few years, stimulated in no small part by British Charcuterie Live.”

Other categories

The star award, champion of champions was Dingley Dell Cured, as the best performing producer over a minimum of three classes, for their Albion Coppa-style; Iceni - Felino style British Salami; Essus - Cacciatore style hunters salami and Smoked Dry Cured Back Bacon products.

Henrietta Green, founder of the awards, said: “In spite of the challenges British producers are undergoing as a result of the pandemic, over 100 producers entered more than 300 products into the nine classes, and our judges were struck by the exceptional quality and range of the entries. It’s so encouraging to see more and more producers are starting to make both British- and Continental- style Charcuterie. It’s becoming a truly vibrant sector of British food production.

The Champion of Champions Product was awarded to Wildman Charcuterie for their Longhorn Bresaola. The judges commented on its “Lovely dark colour with uniformed slices, great aroma which was matched by the taste - great choice of species bringing the beef taste forward.”

New awards for British Charcuterie Live this year include Industry Champion sponsored by Red Tractor which will be awarded later this summer and includes, as a prize, a free stand at the Speciality Food & Drink Show, Olympia, in September.

Further new awards this year included British Snacking Charcuterie won by Ke Nako "Pain in the Hole" Biltong; Best Black Pudding and Best Smoked Product awarded to Charles Macleod Stornoway Black Pudding and Oak Smoked Streaky Bacon from Wenlock Edge Farm respectively.

Chef/Patron Jesse Dunford Wood of Parlour judging

A full list of Best in Class and Star Awards is below: