Black Mountains Smokery has won big for Wales at the Great Taste Golden Forks 2024.

At a glittering awards ceremony at London’s Battersea Arts Centre on Tuesday, September 10, the very best of the food and drink world celebrated in the grand finale of the Guild of Fine Food’s Great Taste awards scheme. 

The Golden Fork from Wales was hotly contested with Smoked Duck Breast from Black Mountains Smokery, Dà Mhìle Absinthe from Dà Mhìle Distillery and Chorizo from Moch Coch all making it through to the final round.

The trophy was awarded to Black Mountains Smokery for their lightly cured, smoked Gressingham duck breast.

The judges thought that this duck breast was “Absolutely incredible, such a good example of smoking, neither too acidic nor overpowering which meant you could really taste the meat. The cure was exceptional and created a really lovely, velvet melt-in-the-mouth texture. All in all it was incredibly well judged and an incredibly well made product.”

Black Mountains Smokery is a family-run gourmet food business based in Bannau Brycheiniog.

Their award-winning smoked foods are carefully sourced from British suppliers and traditionally cured and smoked at their smokehouse in Crickhowell.

The 16 Golden Fork winners were the standout products from nearly 14,000 to enter this year’s Great Taste awards. 

John Farrand, managing director of the Guild of Fine Food, said: “It is important to understand that Great Taste is merely the process that identifies 1-, 2- and 3-star winners and, in doing so, encourages makers to improve. Now at its climax, in announcing the Golden Forks we are celebrating the very best producers; those who take care to ensure their products hit the markers of trusted raw ingredients, simple production methods, and food and drink that has personality, but ultimately, that tastes great.

“We’re particularly chuffed to be doing our thing for international trade and relations by welcoming entries from 115 countries this year and, in addition, bestowing two new awards, one to a company that demonstrates inspiring business acumen, and the other to an organisation showing genuine commitment to sustainability.  These winners must at the same time, be making outstanding food and drink.”