Last night, the winners of the prestigious FreeFromFood Awards were announced in London. As I wrote before, I was honoured to be a judge on the Overall Winners and Innovations categories on the final day of judging.

You can see the full Winners list here across all the categories, complete with comments from the tasters, but for now, the Overall Winners were:

Bessant & Drury
Lemon Dairy Free
Frozen Dessert

Winner of the
FAIR Trophy
for the best
free-from food
2013

 

Bessant & Drury – Lemon, Dairy Free Frozen Dessert

‘Lovely dairy-free ice creamy substitute – you would never know it was dairy-free and, to be honest, you would never know that it was coconut either as the coconut flavour is cleverly held in check by the lemon.

Very innovative to use coconut as the base, and very clever indeed to get it so creamy. A beautifully clean ingredients list and a lovely zingy fresh taste.

How great to have a product which excludes all of the major allergens yet both looks and tastes like a fully fledged, upmarket, luxury food. Definitely the way to go for ‘freefrom’.’

Runners up…

Christine’s Puddings Frangipane Tart

‘Lovely crunchy pastry base, especially as it is gluten and dairy free. Delicious frangipane topping – great almond aroma and flavour, soft and not too sweet – and good jam. Excellent product all round – what a treat.’

 

The Indian Coeliac Paratha

     ‘What an exciting product! Lovely flavour and nice soft      paratha texture – lovely spicing. Delicious.’

 

Lifestyle Catering Catalan Pork

‘Lovely dish – a dinner in itself; a well thought out mix with all the flavours and none of the allergens; really quite exciting. Excellent ingredients, excellent appearance, excellent aroma, excellent flavour.’   

 

I can attest that the smell of lemon dessert, frangipane tart, paratha and Catalan pork was mouth-watering on the day! Really yummy, all of them.

And the winners in the innovation categories were:

The Innovation Award – sponsored by Warburtons

Winner

Dell’Ugo Chickpea Fusilli 

‘First grain-free pasta! It looks great and keepsits shape really well. You can taste the chickpeas – a bit of a culture shock for the taste buds but a very pleasant one. Slightly dry so needs plenty of oil or could handle quite a powerful sauce. Genuinely innovative product.’

 

Highly Commended

Lactofree Spreadable   

‘Fills a gaping gap in the market. Tastes just like regular butter – lightly salted – very pleasant. Nicely spreadable. Very useful product for lactose intolerant community.’

La Zaragozana Ambar Green (apta para celiàcos) 0.0% (non-alcoholic)

‘Wow! A gluten-free alcohol-free beer – that is definitely a first! Slightly thin but very good given it’s 0% alcohol, not too sweet, excellent lunchtime drink – very impressive.’

Commended

Good Wine Online So Lo SO2 2009 Navitas 

‘Not only sulphite free but fermented in concrete so no chance of gluten contamination as there always is with wooden barrels – so excellent allergy credentials. Not the greatest vintage but very drinkable. Very exciting for those who are sulphite intolerant.’

Tesco Free From Soya Crème Caramel

‘Surprisingly like a bought dairy crème caramel. Looks very authentic, smooth, good flavour – really would not know it was soya – impressive.’

I thought the chickpea pasta was wonderful; a real first. And I was chuffed that my favourite SoLo sulphite-free red wine was so close to the winning post too.

Get a cuppa and read through the winners; the judges work really hard to find the best freefrom products around for us all. Keep a pen and paper handy to jot down all the new yummy things you can get and try.

Well done organisers, judges and tasters; you make our restricted diet lives much easier and more enjoyable, thank you 🙂