Cuinneog wins Great Taste Gold Award for their Farmhouse Irish Country Butter for the second year
Celebrity chef Phelim Byrne, as seen on The Afternoon Show, recently visited Cuinneog in Mayo to sample their Gold Award winning Irish County Butter and to see the companies new branding – a distinctive orange wrapper with 9 purple cows, one of them curiously peeking out at you.
This is the second year Cuinneog Irish Country Butter has won the esteemed Gold Award the ultimate recognition for food producers in the UK and Ireland and the most prestigious award in speciality food and drink. The Great Taste Awards is organised annually by the Guild of Fine Food with more than 100 leading chefs, cookery writers, retail buyers and other food & drink specialists judging thousands of foods in a process lasting several months.
The best products are awarded one, two or three gold stars in a scheme that echoed the Michelin star scheme for restaurants, with regional and national awards also being presented. Produced in County Mayo with traditional churning techniques, Cuinneog Farmhouse (Irish for churn) Irish County Butter is low in salt and is a uniquely fuller flavoured butter.
Tom Butler, founder of Cuinneog explains “the key to its distinctive flavour is the fermentation of the fresh pasteurised cream before being traditionally churned. The butter is then hand wrapped and shipped to your local store.”
Phelim says, “As a country butter it has just a hint of that unique traditional taste which blends beautifully with the rounded flavour of the butter itself. Consumers looking for authentic traditional-style butter don’t have many options in today’s mass production food market.” He continued, “It is extremely important for us, as consumers, to try products where the wisdom of generations has been combined with innovation to create flavoursome foods of extremely high quality. Whether it is for Christmas baking or just for sandwiches I would recommend you add a little Cuinneog for the flavour because once you try Cuinneog, there is no turning back.”
The manufacturing process used to produce the Cuinneog range sets it aside over and above standard dairy products. “Normally, once the cream has been separated from the milk, it is immediately churned into butter. However, Cuinneog butter is made using pasteurised farm-fresh cream, which is ripened before churning, giving the range a very distinctive and creamy taste,” says Tom.
Cuinneog, a family business run by Tom and Sheila Butler, was established in 1990 to produce a country-style butter to satisfy the demands of consumers looking for authentic flavour and exceptional quality.
The company, which is a member of Good Food Ireland, also produces Cuinneog natural buttermilk, which is the by-product of the fermented cream. It is a naturally low-fat product (with less than half percent of fat). Distributed by PRM Ltd, Cuinneog Farmhouse Irish Country Butter and Cuinneog Buttermilk are found in all major supermarkets as well as independent retailers across Ireland.
Located just outside Castlebar, the company has been established in Shraheens near Bohola for over 19 years and employs ten people.
*WATCH Phelim Byrne on The Afternoon Show, using 100% Irish Produce, including Cuinneog butter. (Recipes start at minute 14.50 and minute 51.27)
*Check out Phelim Byrne’s recipes and products used.