Food Festival 2009
As part of Huntingdonshire’s Food Festival 2009, organised to coincide with the National Food Fortnight from 19 September to 4 October, Huntingdonshire District Council sponsored the Hunts Post Food and Drinks Awards with the aim of celebrating the best of Huntingdonshire’s eating and drinking establishments, food and drink producers and food and drink retailers. The Food and Drinks Awards ceremony was hosted by the Old Bridge at Huntingdon and compered by Carol Carman of BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, who also interviewed the winners at the end of the evening and played a snapshot of her interviews on her radio programme the next morning. The Food and Drinks Awards categories, including a new one of Best Home Grown menu, were:
Young Chef, won by Miss Rebecca Anderson
Best Breakfast, won by Pop Bellies, Huntingdon
Best Food Producer, won by Little Common Preserves, Sawtry
Restaurant of the Year, won by The Barn, Pidley
Pub of the Year, won by Cross Keys, Upwood
Best Independent Retailer, won by Ron’s Farm Shop, Huntingdon
Best Home Grown Menu, won by The Barn, Pidley
All of the winners received a specially engraved award at the ceremony.
In addition, sustainable economic development at the district council organised a series of five cookery demonstrations, which took place in the four market towns and at Hinchingbrooke Country Park as part of Huntingdonshire Food Festival. These events were organised to promote local businesses, particularly the farmers’ market traders, many of whom provided the food which was cooked at the demos. The objective was also to promote healthy eating in the community by ensuring that the recipes demonstrated used local, healthy ingredients from the farmers’ markets. Chefs from The Bridge Hotel in St Neots, The Three Horseshoes in Abbots Ripton, The Barn in Pidley, the Queens Head in Needingworth and Abbey College in Ramsey, were superb in demonstrating how quick and easy it can be to cook healthy and tasty food, and people who attended the demos were even able to sample their delights. Recipes included, ostrich with cranberries, hot ‘n’ sticky beef stir fry and easy venison burgers. All of these recipes will soon be available to download from the right hand side of the page.