By The Artisan Kitchen, Aug 30 2014 02:33PM

We have had some fantastic news today that our delicious Blaisdon Red Plum Jam has been awarded Top 50 Foods by the Great Taste Awards – there have been tears of joy today at team Jam HQ, and we will be cracking open the bubbly later.

It has been a whirlwind year for this new to the range fruit packed preserve, which has won multiple awards since its development.

The Blaisdon Red Plum Jam is a very special jam that is made with hand picked heritage fruit indigenous to the area from 3 private orchards in Gloucestershire.

 

A Preserve History rooted in Gloucestershire

Years Ago Blaisdon orchards were plentiful, with growers supplying Sullivans jam factory in Guiting Power. The Blaisdon was loved for its rich red colour & high natural pectin content and the factory van drove around the orchards in fruit season collecting tons of this wonderful fruit. The factory eventually closed its doors and the Blaisdons were no longer in fashion and surplus to requirement, and over the years the orchards have declined with Blaisdon trees not being replanted.

This year I have been working with The Gloucestershire Orchard Trust to locate these rare plums and produce this local heritage jam one again. I will be donating 10p per jar as a thankyou to the trust.

Here are some of the comments from The Judging Rounds

“Lovely deep ruby colour and sheen, a good set, and fruity aroma. A delicious jam with deep dark flavours and a hint of tartness. ‘Nice to find a jam that tastes of fruit not sugar’ said one judge. It was very well cooked, the aroma was fresh. A jam with a variety of uses

This is an old fashioned fruit jam, the plum comes through uncluttered with additives or over powering sugar. ‘Like my mum makes’!

Flies the flag for doing the simple things very, very well.

There’s a lovely set to this jam and the plum flavours carry great balancing acidity and tartness. A well made jam with a distinct, pronounced plum flavour.

 

Great Taste Awards Top 50

From over 10,000 entries just 153 have been chosen for a 3-star award this year, Then the top 50 awards are decided from the 3 star awards. For 3-star Gold, every single judge attending the judging session, which can be as many as 30 experts, must unanimously agree the food delivers that indescribable ‘wow’ factor. So this is a real indication of the standard achieved by this little pot of jammy goodness.