Spice festival wins top award

The winner of the Love British Food 2017 competition has been announced as the Ginger and Spice Festival, held in Market Drayton.

The brand-new event ran in September and championed the town’s culinary heritage and historical links to spices, food and gingerbread as well as promoting local food/drinks producers, suppliers and other food related organisations and community groups.

The festival was the unanimous winner chosen by a panel of prominent judges led by Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.

He will be presenting the winners with a special handcrafted award and said: “The wide range of ambitious applications for this year’s British Food Fortnight competition is testament to the nationwide pride in our homegrown food.

"While all entrants showed tremendous imagination and enthusiasm for championing Britain’s high quality, great tasting food, the Ginger & Spice Festival showed real ingenuity by getting the whole community involved in celebrating the area’s culinary heritage. They are a worthy winner.”

The other judges were Cathryn Higgs, Head of Food Policy, Co-op Food; Breige Donaghy, Director of Delicious Food, Co-op; Chef Raymond Blanc, OBE; Liz Earle, MBE wellbeing writer and farmer; Ian MacGregor, Editor Emeritus, The Telegraph; and Alexia Robinson, Founder of Love British Food.

Together they were looking for events that strengthened the local community, supported the economy and educated the public about British food and eating locally.

The competition, now in its fifth year, acknowledges the people behind the most imaginative and inclusive celebrations of local food and the harvest. Entries were received from across the country and included restaurant events, community festivals, activities in care homes and initiatives in schools.

The inspired programme of celebrations over four days included an eclectic mix of activities including ‘The Pickles Spice Trail’– an educational heritage trail and competition related to food tastings and questions found in tearooms, cafes, pubs, restaurants, shops and the museum. As well as a pop up restaurant showcasing British alternatives to spices, there was a foraging walk around the town, a spicy street market, cookery demonstrations, educational outreach activities about spices for children and adults, live music, a comedy food show with George Egg, beer tasting, a gingerbread baking contest and more.

Jubilant festival director, Julia Roberts, said: "We are absolutely delighted that our efforts in bringing the community of Market Drayton together to explore and celebrate their culinary heritage, as well as championing local producers, has been recognised on a national level.

"The town not only boasts a weekly market dating back over 750 years, but is also known at the ‘home of gingerbread’, with links to the historic spice trade routes via Clive of India, who hails from the town.

"We hope that this accolade motivates the community further in joining together to promote the rich and diverse culinary heritage, as well as celebrating and supporting local and artisan food/drink producers, plus what’s in season. We would like to thank everyone who took part and supported the festival and also the judges of Love British Food for crowning us winners."

Matthew Erwin, Mayor of Market Drayton Town Council added: "On behalf of the Market Drayton Town Council we would like to congratulate Julia and the Ginger and Spice Festival team for their recent hard work and achievement in winning the British Food Fortnight Competition 2017.

"Not only is this a great achievement for the team but also for the town itself. Market Drayton Town Council were extremely pleased to be one of many local sponsors of the inaugural Ginger and Spice Festival, a fantastic four day event celebrating our town’s historic links with the spice trade and our most famous son, Clive of India. A potpourri of food, comedy and music was enthusiastically received and we look forward to next year’s event with mouth-watering anticipation."

The next Ginger and Spice Festival will take place from September 26 to 29 2018 in and around Market Drayton.

For further information about the Ginger and Spice Festival, go to the website at www.gingerandspicefest.co.uk