When your food is this good: French epicureans come to you.
WHEN your food is this good: French epicureans come to you.
Following on from Willie and Avril Allshire’s success in being the only Irish producer to win a gold award at Europe’s biggest black pudding competition, the organisers of the French competition came to West Cork last weekend to pay them a visit.
In addition to the gold that Rosscarbery Recipes Black Pudding won, the company was also presented with a silver award in the same competition by Le Confrerie des Chevaliers du Goute-Boudin for their gluten-free black pudding, bringing their overall national and international medal haul to more than 40 medals.
A group of 14 members from the famous French pudding association visited the Caherbeg Free Range Pork producers and the brains behind Rosscarbery Recipes during their visit at the weekend.
The guests also attended a special reception at The Celtic Ross Hotel to encourage local butchers to enter their annual competition for the best white pudding, the best grilled sausage, the best sreative sausage and the best festive products.
At the reception Willie and Avril’s sons, William and Maurice, were sworn in as members of the French fraternity at this event, as well as Artie Clifford, founder of Blas na hÉireann, the Irish Food Awards; Helen Collins, chair of A Taste of West Cork Food Festival and Declan Hurley, Mayor of Cork County.
The Allshire’s have the distinction of being the first Irish family to be Chevaliers (Knights) of this respected and renowned fraternity which Avril described as a ‘huge honour.’
During the trip the fraternity also visited Colette Twomey in the new Clonakilty Food Co. factory which has been completed in Clonakilty recently, and West Cork Distillers.
