[D]ales Traditional Butchers of Kirkby Lonsdale proved it was king of the grill as it won the Speciality BBQ Product category at the Q Guild of Butchers National BBQ Awards, with its Lamb Rump and then went on to take the crown of Supreme Champion.
The competition, which took place on Sunday 13th May at Aubrey Park Hotel in Hertfordshire, saw butcher Mark Duckworth beat off a host of other butchers from across the country to take the top prize at the awards dinner at the hotel on Sunday night.
The products were cooked by one of the UK’s most exciting, up and coming BBQ chefs, Sam Wanstall from Torque Pitt BBQ and judged on a host of criteria including visual appeal, commerciality, presentation and, of course, taste, by the panel of experts which included Karl Pendlebury AHDB Beef and Lamb and Tom Lavelle from The Alfresco Chef.
Mark won the Speciality BBQ category with his Lamb rump, a beautifully tender piece of Cumbrian lamb marinated with rosemary. Each of the category winners were then judged for the Supreme Champion with Mark taking the accolade.
The judges said: “This really was the very best product of the day. The flavour was just gorgeous. The closest thing to heaven on a BBQ!”
Winning butcher, Mark Duckworth, was delighted with the award: “I was completely gobsmacked! It’s a great achievement for all our staff. We only joined the Q Guild this year, so to represent the North West and win not one, but two national awards for the Lamb Rump in the first year is fantastic. We are thrilled to bits.”
The BBQ Awards are held annually and are open to any of the 100 plus members of the Q Guild of Butchers throughout the UK. The seven regional heats, which took place in March, April and early May covering Scotland, Wales, South, South West, North East, North West, East and Midlands, each delivered one winner for the national finals. The six BBQ product categories were steak (prepared using only salt and pepper), traditional sausage, burger, speciality sausage, speciality burger and speciality BBQ product.
The winning lamb rump, as well as a variety of other products for the BBQ are available from the shop at 2 Market Street, Kirkby Lonsdale, LA6 2AU
