I’ve never been one to thrust myself into the spotlight but when I heard about the Wales the True Taste Awards I saw it as my chance to find out if what I’m doing is going in the right direction.
For those of you who haven’t yet stumbled upon me selling my wares around Cardiff, a brief history: I have always made jams and chutneys but have only been doing it on this scale for just over a year. I try to use seasonal, local produce and wherever possible I use local recycled jars. I love what I do and get very excited by the raw ingredients that I find and am lucky enough to be given.
I decided to enter one of the products that I am able to make all year round as it uses dried fruits – Mostarda di Frutta (dried fruits in mustard). I found out in June that I was a finalist for the competition in the condiment section. That in itself was a huge achievement for me.
It wasn’t until 25th October that I discovered how I had done, when my partner and I went to the Royal Welsh Show Ground for the awards ceremony. I was sure I had won bronze, being a newbie to the competition and not having a very Welsh sounding product. Well I can’t tell you how shocked I was when they announced bronze and it wasn’t me, and then silver … at which point the penny dropped and I realised that I had won gold!
I received a rather lovely award which has been out and about on my stall at some of the markets I attend in the Cardiff area.
The response that I have had from people has been fantastic with lots of good wishes and kind words. I think I found the answer to my question.
Eira Ellis-Evans
Inner City Pickle will be at the Roath Farmers’ Market on Saturday 1st and Saturday 15th December.
For full details of Inner City Pickle’s festive products and the pre-Christmas markets where you can find them, click here.
Read more about Inner City Pickle on RoathCardiff here.
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