Scottish successes at the first-ever Eat Game Awards

Four Scottish firms have performed well at the very first Eat Game Awards.

The Eat Game Awards is a brand-new initiative created by James Purdey & Sons Ltd, Boisdale Restaurants and Taste of Game, bringing together the shooting, game meat and hospitality sectors to celebrate the wild game meat produced in Britain.

Boisdale of Canary Wharf welcomed finalists from across the country for the Eat Game Awards 2018 dinner and ceremony earlier this week.

Hosted by Adam Henson, farmer and rural presenter, alongside JB Gill, William Sitwell, Rose Prince and Mark Hix, the awards were presented to the overall winners across nine categories, voted for by the public, with the addition of Champion of Champions, decided by the panel of judges and Scottish Champion, awarded to the Scottish finalist with the most overall votes.

Sinclair’s Kitchen in Forfar took second place in Best Game Pub and Winner of the Scottish Champion’s title.

Tom Kitchin from The Kitchin Restaurant, Edinburgh, took second place in the Best Game Chef category.

Rachel Richards from Kingussie High School in Inverness-shire took third place in the Game Hero category.

And Fonab Farm Foods from Pitlochry were third in Best Small Retailer.

The overall award for Champion of Champions, voted for by the Eat Game Awards panel, was presented to shoot-chef, Tristan Prudden of Constable Burton Estate, for going above and beyond in every area of the promoting of and serving of game.

Finalists were treated to a tasty treat in Canary Wharf at the Eat Game Awards

The awards reflect and encourage the ever-growing use of wild game, highlighting the champions of British game and rewarding their success, innovation and passion in working with this natural countryside product. The nominated charity that the awards will be supporting is the Country Food Trust, whose aim is to feed those in need with game meat casseroles packaged in ready-to-eat long-life pouches.

James Horne of Purdey said: ‘We were particularly keen to raise the profile of the thousands of small to medium sized businesses that use game in their products. This publicity is the oxygen that so many small businesses need in order to grow.’
Ranald Macdonald of Boisdale agreed: ‘We are enthusiastic about celebrating the fantastic wild game that forms a centrepiece for our national cuisine and which is integral to the survival of the Great British countryside.’

Annette Woolcock of Taste of Game added: ‘The awards have been a huge success and achieved more than we hoped for in the first year, raising the profile of game and the small businesses who use game all over the country.

‘Next year I would like to see even more nominations coming in which will be quite an achievement as we had nearly 4000 this year.”

For the full results from the evening, including second and third places, visit the Eat Game Awards website.