Just over a week left to vote for Eat Game Awards finalists

There’s just eight days left to vote in the second edition of the national Eat Game Awards.

The team behind the Eat Game Awards has been working flat out not only to bring this tasty, nutritious, free range meat to the attention of a wider national audience, they have also been encouraging people up and down the nation to nominate their favourite local game heroes – the cooks, the creators and the purveyors.

Now, the list has been streamlined, leaving a healthy collection of the finest game heroes in the land from which to choose the best chef, restaurant, pub, farmer’s market or street food stall, game meat product, retailer, butcher and hero. Voting will close on 29 February.

Service is also important to the nominators, as is innovation – some of the game products that made the cut include biltong, Scotch eggs, burgers and sliders, sausages and kievs.

It’s obvious from the number of submitted nominations to find the best in the 10 votable categories – from Cornwall to Orkney – that there aren’t many food miles from valley, wood, field or moor to mouth – showing that people really do support their local producers and cooks.

Game will play an increasingly important role in our nation’s food chain, as more of us lose our inhibitions and add this delicious meat from our own shores to our regular shopping baskets. It certainly ticks the provenance and traceability boxes and is as sustainable and nutritious as meat gets, so let’s get the nation voting for their favourite game hero.

Categories are:

• Best chef regularly cooking game
• Best restaurant regularly serving game
• Best pub regularly serving game
• Game hero
• Best game butcher
• Best game farmer’s market stall including street food
• Best added value game meat product
• Best small retailer selling game
• Best multiple retailer selling game
• Winner of 2018 winners
• Champion of Champions (elected by the panel of judges)
• Scottish Champion (elected by the panel of judges)
• Best Teacher – Game Changer Project (elected by the panel of judges)

A venison sausage roll by Gosia Baker (Photo: Farmison & Co)

Scottish finalists are:

• Andersen & Sandergaard, Eyemouth, Berwickshire, best small retailer selling game.
• Castle Game, Linlithgow, best added value game meat product, best game butcher and best small retailer selling game.
• Craigie Butchers Ltd, Orkney, best added value game meat product.
• Gareth Gilder, Buccleuch Arms, best chef.
• Gleneagles, Auchterarder, best restaurant.
• Lianne MacLennan, Angus Glens Moorland Group, game hero.
• Meikleour Arms, Meikleour, Blairgowrie, best pub.
• Sinclair’s Kitchen, Forfar, 2019 winner of 2018 winners (Scottish Champion).
• Southern Uplands Moorland Group, Scottish Borders, game hero.
• The Caddy Mann, Jedburgh, best restaurant.
• Tom Kitchin, The Kitchin, Leith, Edinburgh, best chef.

To vote in the Eat Game Awards final for your favourite chef, restaurant, pub, farmer’s market or street food stall, game meat product, retailer (big or small), butcher and hero – all specialising in game – go to https://www.eatgameawards.co.uk/voting/.

The Eat Game Awards were established in 2018 by three dedicated game advocates – James Horne, ex-chairman of Purdey and founder of GunsOnPegs, Annette Woolcock, head of Taste of Game and Ranald Macdonald, founder of award-winning Scottish restaurant group, Boisdale.

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