McCarthy’s win two gold medals and a bronze medal from La Confrérie des Chevaliers du Goûte Boudin, or the Brotherhood of the Knights of the Blackpudding.
This gave them the highest achievement of any participant in Europe at the event.
They received Gold awards for le boudin traditionelle and le boudin a grilliere and the Bronze was for le boudin creatif.
Award for butchers behind the queen’s black pudding
Irish Independent
THE artisan butchers who created the bespoke black pudding that was served to Queen Elizabeth during her state visit to last May were among the winners at yesterday’s Irish Food Writer’s Guild awards.
McCarthy’s of Kanturk, in Cork, were one of five food producers awarded for their exceptional contribution to Ireland’s reputation as a top food-producing country.
Jack McCarthy and his son Tim come from a long line of butchers who have been producing meat products for five generations.
Also among the winners were David Tiernan for Glebe Brethan Cheese, which is based in Co Louth.
Their product had its beginnings 20 years ago, when they imported two French Montbeliarde cows; now they have more than 70.
Other winners included Brendan and Derek Allen of Castlemine Farm for Castlemine Farm Free Range Pork in Co Roscommon; Patrick and Carol Rooney for Derrycamma Farm Rapeseed Oil in Co Louth; and chairman of the Irish Apple Growers Association, Con Traas of The Apple Farm in Tipperary, honoured with the Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The awards took place at Michelin-starred restaurant, L’Ecrivain.
Irish Independent
Jack’s twittering reached a climax when he was awarded the “Twitter Award” by Lucinda O’Sullivan. If you want to follow Jack on Twitter and enjoy his insights into Irish food and rugby you will find him @mccarthykanturk or click here
Old faithfuls, and some newcomers
Sunday Independent January 1st 2012
Lucinda O’Sullivan serves up her choices for the best, and ‘could do betters’, of the nation’s dining experiences
IT’S been a year of value menus and early birds, pop ups and pop offs, bloggers and blaggers. My annual awards are a reflection of a colourful dining year for all of us. So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Lucindas 2011!
Click here to see the original article
The Lofty Sardine Award
The Butcher’s Grill in Ranelagh, Dublin, where my feet didn’t touch the ground and my ass was
perched on a high stool, squashed in like a lofty sardine.
The Old Faithful Award
Tom O’Connell, who at a time of deep recession held his nerve and created the excellent
O’Connell’s of Donnybrook, Dublin, where his faithful followers flock.
Small is Beautiful Award
Kosi Moodley’s Indian gem Bistro Spice right in the heart of Monkstown Village, Co Dublin, where
you can also bring your own wine.
The Disappointing Harvest Award
Matt the Thresher in Dublin’s Lower Pembroke Street. Crab claws were small and smaller, and
everything else lived down to the same mantra.
The Strictly Come Dancing Award
Tadgh Foley, who manages the Green Barn Cafe Bistro at Killeagh, Co Cork, will sweep you to your
table in a move that even SCD judges could not whinge about.
The Sour Note Award
Coda at the Gibson Hotel, Dublin, didn’t rock on any score. Ghastly food, and already setting up for
breakfast shortly after we sat down to an early dinner.
The Braveheart Award
Mel Gibson acted the part but John Healy, maitre d’ on TV show The Restaurant — whose grace and
charm astounds all as he awaits a heart transplant — lives it and life to the full.
The Western Stars
JP McManus & Drigin Gaffey, whose Cava and Aniar in Galway are two of the hottest restaurants
west of the Shannon.
Downton Abbey Award
Carton House in Maynooth, Co Kildare, rivals the TV show for grace and beauty.
The Top Roost Award
Joe Macken’s pop-ups Crackbird and Skinflint in Dublin are hitting the highest perches.
The Apprentice Award
Sandra Murphy is more master than apprentice when it comes to running Rising Tide in Cork.
Revolving Door Award
La Stampa, where Louis Murray is now tangoing with Ronan Ryan. Let’s hope they stay in step.
The ‘X Factor’ Award
Finin’s in Midleton, Cork, where Finin O’Sullivan’s vibrant personality is matched only by the quality of his gastropub grub.
The Odd Bird Award
Rachel Clancy’s Magpie Inn in Dalkey, Co Dublin, has been attracting the locals looking for all that glisters.
The Shining Light Award
Electric in Cork city, which turned a bank building into something useful!
The Brangelina Award
Paul Byrne and Fiona McHugh, whose Fallon & Byrne in the capital’s Exchequer Street spawned a whole new dining quarter.
The Top Cat Award
Garret Byrne of Campagne in Kilkenny, whose superb food must be another All Ireland contender.
The Twitter Award
To master butcher Jack McCarthy, who would make Kanturk the Irish capital.
And finally…
Every year I have the Rear of the Year Award — though this year it’s the Fairy Tail End of 2011 as
the beautiful Sally O’Brien of Farmgate in Midleton walked up the aisle yesterday.
McCarthys won a beautiful cup and the Grand Prix d’honneur for their white pudding from the Commanderie des Fins Goustiers du Duché d’Alençon in 2011
The Irish Restaurant Awards are an important event in the Irish food calendar. This year the Sunday Independent sponsored the award for the Local Food Hero. With tough competition in the category, Jack McCarthy was thrilled to be honoured with the award in recognition of his innovation and creativity, as well as his popularity with his customers.
Still reeling from being the creator of the Blackpudding served to Queen Elizabeth at the state banquet, Jack was blown away to receive another honor, this time voted by the Irish public.
FEATURE: Madeleine Keane on the Irish Restaurant Awards
Sunday Independent 29th May 2011
“The Local Food Hero for 2011, sponsored by Life Magazine and presented by Independent News and Media deputy MD Declan Carlyle, was Jack McCarthy, from McCarthy’s of Kanturk, who, judging by the rapturous reception, was an extremely popular winner.”
Read more: http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/independent-woman/celebrity-news-gossip/feature-madeleine-keane-on-the-irish-restaurant-awards-2660747.html#ixzz1Oj2GckaL
At the end of December, Bridgestone’s John and Sally McKenna announced the results of the Megabytes awards for 2010. Jack McCarthy was honoured to be awarded the title of Man of the Year.
Other categories included Artisan of the Year awarded to Anna Leveque, Triskel Farmhouse Cheeses, Portlaw, County Waterford and Restaurant of the Year: Harry’s Bar & Restaurant, Bridgend, Inishowen, County Donegal.
The Brotherhood of the Knights of the Blackpudding, a colourful French food fraternity visited Kanturk in celebration of the Gold Medal Winning Black Pudding by McCarthy’s of Kanturk.
The brotherhood paraded up Strand Street, with their banners and ceremonial dress, accompanied by local ilen pipe players to arrive at the Gourmet food festival outside McCarthy’s premises on Main Street.
Representing Good Food Ireland, Peter Ward of Country Choice is no stranger to the finest Irish food. Indeed, he was declared Good Food Ireland Person of the Year in 2009. He said, “I say to people, don’t make anything exotic at all, just make something really really good that will bring people to your door. Here Jack McCarthy has, with a bucket of blood in either hand, made something really really really good.” He went on to say that, “It is great that our authorities are coming round to realise that the expertise of the producer is the greatest safe guard we can have in the production of food in Ireland.”
Jean Claude, chair of the fraternity spoke, “The Black pudding fraternity has been in existence for nearly fifty years and in that time we have seen over 30,000 different sorts of black pudding. We very happy to know, and to see, how much the Irish people enjoy black pudding and how the Irish pork butcher made a really good black pudding.”
The food festival included stalls from local businesses such as IRD Duhallow Community Food Services, Cork City’s On the Pigs Back” and new local enterprise www.easyentertaining.ie, and also drew gourmet emporiums from further afield, Sheridan’s Cheese Mongers, Mannings Emporium, Soul Bakery and Gubbeen Farmhouse to name just some of the stall holders.
Jack is a proud man at the best of times, but winning this beautiful medal for his blackpudding has really made his week. La Confrérie des Chevaliers du Goûte Boudin, or the Brotherhood of the Knights of the Blackpudding awarded a medal and certificate in celebration of his achieving third place in this major international competition.
