Three stunning spices from London feature on this year’s list of Great Taste award-winners, which was announced on Tuesday 21 September 2021. Out of the 5,383 products worldwide to receive a Great Taste 1-, 2- or 3-star accolade from the largest and most trusted food and drink awards on the planet, 833 are based in London and these include; Hur Saffron’s Great Taste 3-star award-winning Super Negin Saffron, an aromatic saffron with an astonishing level of dryness, vibrant colour concentration and rich depth of flavour; the crunchy and fiery Great Taste 3-star award-winning Fermented Fresh Red Kampot Peppercorns by Kadode Kampot Pepper UK; and a warming and complex Great Taste 3-star Fish Rub by Mile High Rub, which brings together a delicate blend of nori, lemon zest and herbs. Following 86 socially-distanced judging days in London and Dorset, Great Taste, which values taste above all else, has unearthed the very finest food and drink from every nook and corner of the UK and beyond. Regardless of branding or packaging, each product is judged on a level playing field, according to its texture, appearance, composition and of course taste. Food critics, chefs, restaurateurs, retail buyers, cooks, producers and a host of food writers, journalists and social media influencers are among the 355 esteemed palates to have rigorously blind tasted and judged the 14,113 entries from 108 countries, while providing detailed written feedback for the producer. Every Great Taste award-winning product will now be able to display the unmistakable black and gold logo, a stamp of excellence that is recognised by retailers and consumers alike. A wide range of these winning products are already available to buy in delis, farm shops and independent retail outlets across the country. All Great Taste 3-star award-winning products will be re-judged to find this year’s regional Golden Fork Trophy winners and the Great Taste Supreme Champion 2021. These final results will be announced at the Great Taste Golden Fork Reception on Sunday 17 October, set to be held at the Yorkshire Event Centre in Harrogate following the first day of Fine Food Show North, a trade-only exhibition organised by the Guild of Fine Food. https://gff.co.uk/press-releases/spectacular-spices-score-top-marks-at-great-taste-as-london-delivers-a-world-of-flavour/

affron is the harvested stigma of the autumn crocus flower, also known as the saffron crocus. Each flower produces only three stigma at a time, meaning it takes between 50,000 and 75,000 flowers to produce just 1 pound of saffron spice. To put it another way, that pinch of saffron you’re throwing in your paella? Those twenty-ish stigma have come from seven different flowers.

The difference between real and fake saffron could be sometimes less obvious. Fake saffron which is often coloured with red food colouring or other foreign substances will either lack flavour entirely or have a bitter metallic taste. On the other hand, real saffron will have a strong floral scent and the will have a floral and earthy taste, the kind of flavour you’re looking for saffron to impart.