The best food and drink stallholders at Tasmania’s Taste of Summer festival have been crowned, with six local businesses taking top honours at the second annual Taste Awards.
The awards recognise outstanding contributions to Tasmania’s thriving food and beverage scene across multiple categories.
Elles Pantry claimed the Best Tasmanian Produce Showcase award for their falafel pita featuring locally sourced ingredients.
Ming Court won the Cultural Heritage Award for their satay chicken skewers prepared with a traditional family recipe.
Taste of Summer Food and Drink Curators Jo Cook and Khayla Massie said the awards are a great way to celebrate local talent.
“The Taste Awards are about recognising the creativity, passion and skill of the people behind the food and drink that make this festival so special,” they said.
“The standard across all categories this year was incredibly high, and while it was a tough decision for the judges they certainly did enjoy putting their tastebuds to the test.”
In the beverage categories, Beautiful Isle’s Fiano Blanc took home Best Local Drink, while Tas Juice Press won Best Low or Non-Alcoholic Drink for their red currant, apple and passionfruit creation.
Punch and Ladle’s Strawberry Sour cocktail, crafted with strawberry vermouth, vodka, marigold and lemon, secured the Best Tasmanian Spirit award.
Sweet-toothed festival-goers were catered for with Madame Clarke winning Best Sweet Treat for their Cherry Ripe tart featuring Kentish cherries.
The judging panels comprised of respected culinary figures including chefs Massimo Mele and Matt Breen for food categories, while drinks were assessed by industry experts including Mia McIntyre and Tim Jones.
Festival attendees will have the final say in the People’s Choice Award, with voting continuing via QR codes at each stall until the festival concludes.
