Three from Northern Ireland in Top 50 Foods

Three products from Northern Ireland, including two from Hannan Meats, have been listed among the Top 50 Foods as part of the UK Great Taste Awards.

The two products from Hannan Meats, which is based at Moira in county Down, are sweet cured bacon rack and Glenarm Himalayan salt-aged lamb rump.

The third Northern Ireland product is an elderflower cider from Tempted Cider of Lisburn in county Antrim, a family cidery owned by Davy and Janet Uprichard which has also won other major awards in Britain and Ireland for its elderflower cider.

Listing it among the Top 50 Foods, the Great Taste judges described this light, fruity, medium-sweet 4% ABV tipple as "proper cider", with "a good balance of distinct elderflower tones and delicate floral notes'.

Hannan Meats has won more Great Taste Awards than any other producer in the UK and Ireland including two Supreme Champion titles - 2012 for guanciale and 2016 for Glenarm shorthorn roast.

The company, formed by Peter Hannan, is one of Northern Ireland's most respected processing businesses using grass-fed cattle mostly reared on the Glenarm organic estate in county Antrim. He has pioneered the dry-ageing technique for beef and lamb in the world's biggest Himalayan chambers.

The Great Taste judging panel said the sweet cured bacon rack had "sweet fat and skin that melts in the mouth"' and "together with a perfect cure, make this an outstanding product - "salty, wonderful and magnificent" .

They said the lamb rump was sourced from lambs "organically reared and finished for six weeks on clover field". "Hannan Meats' outstanding salt-aged lamb rump is dry-aged for a minimum of 14 days, giving it a brilliant flavour and texture", they said.