Perfect pairing of bread and butter take home top Irish food awards

William Despard of Bretzel Bakery who won Supreme Champion at this year’s Blas na hÉireann. Bretzel Bakery also won two gold awards for their Seeded Sourdough and Pain de Maison Boule, along with the awards for Best in Dublin and Best in Leinster. Picture: Robbie Reynolds

Blas na hÉireann have announced a perfectly matching pair of Bretzel Bakery and Irish Gourmet Butter as winners of the 2020 awards.

Often dubbed the Oscars of Irish food, Blas na hÉireann, the Irish Food Awards, are the largest food awards on the island, open to all 32 counties.

Bretzel Bakery a local Dublin business for over 150 years was crowned Supreme Champion for the Pain de Maison Boule, a naturally fermented large round sourdough loaf using both wheat and wholemeal rye flour.

The boule is the culmination of 15 years’ hard work by the Bretzel team of bakers.

“At the Bretzel Bakery we are delighted to be crowned Supreme Champion for our Pain de Maison Boule,” says bakery owner William Despard.

"It has been a hugely upsetting time for producers up and down the country, and our own experience echoes that of many others."

He added: "By refocusing our hospitality business towards retail, we have been able to ensure that the Bretzel doesn’t just survive this crisis, but is thriving.

"A Blas Supreme Champion award is a great acknowledgement of the incredible hard work and laser focus of all the wonderful staff at the Bretzel Bakery."

Irish Gourmet Butter, established in 2017, is taking home the Best Artisan Product award for their Lightly Salted Butter product.

Pictured are Billy, Mary and Bronagh Sharpe of Irish Gourmet Butter, from Waterford who won Best Artisan Product at this year’s Blas na hÉireann/The Irish Food Awards. Irish Gourmet Butter also won gold for their Irish Gourmet Lightly Salted Butter, gold for their Wild Garlic Butter and bronze for their Taste of the Forest Butter, along with the awards for Best in Waterford and Best in Munster. Picture: Don MacMonagle

Lightly salted, churned in the traditional manner, this year’s winner is made in Dunhill Co Waterford, using milk from grass-fed cows with ground sea salt added.

"Our first award with Blas na hÉireann in 2017, soon after we began the business, was a massive boost at the time,” says Mary Sharpe, who runs Irish Gourmet Butter with her husband Billy.

“It was a vote of confidence and made a real difference to our business for customers to see the Blas medal logo on our butter," she said. "We couldn’t be prouder or happier.” 

The judging took place in Dingle during July this year and finalists were notified in August.

The team behind Blas na hÉireann are delighted with how the awards came together this year given the increased restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Blas na hÉireann Chairperson Artie Clifford said: “Faced with restrictions around college campuses and meetings in place, our Blas judging this year was very different to our usual format.

"We are delighted with how it worked so well this year under challenging circumstances, and are so very pleased to announce our perfect pair of winners."

He added: “The founding mission of Blas – establishing quality benchmarks for Irish produce on a level playing field – has been strictly adhered to and measurably applied again this year, despite the challenges we have all faced."

The full list of winners, including 34 from Cork can be found on [url=https://www.irishfoodawards.com/]IrishFoodAwards.com[/url].