A British butter which costs nearly £100 a pop has been voted one of the finest foods in the world.
‘Ridiculous No55 Lobster & Crab Butter’, flavoured with British Isles lobster, Devon crab, caviar, lemon and fennel, was one of the products to win three stars at this year’s Great Taste awards.
The premium butter is produced by Sublime Butter, a family-run business based in Richmond, West London.
Rather than come in a regular tub, the spread is sold for £95 with its very own limited-edition butter dish, handmade in Italy.
‘Ridiculous No55 Lobster & Crab Butter’ (pictured), flavoured with British Isles lobster, Devon crab, caviar, lemon and fennel, was one of the products to win three stars at this year’s Great Taste awards
Rather than come in a regular tub, the spread is sold for £95 with its very own limited-edition butter dish, handmade in Italy (pictured)
The Guild of Fine Foods (GFF), which hosts the awards, said it received 14,113 entries from 108 countries this year.
The event brings together 350 experts, including chefs, retailers and culinary critics, who must blind taste each product.
Company founder, Chris Mair, said: ‘The Great Taste awards are like the Oscars of food.
‘Because we won three stars we will be on for the gold fork awards that’s going to take place in a couple of weeks, so fingers crossed.
The premium butter is produced by Sublime Butter, a family-run business based in Richmond, West London. Pictured, the limited-edition dish
‘It’s ridiculous by name and by nature, because we didn’t spare any expense on the ingredients. It’s like our very own Willy Wonka range.’
Ridiculous No55 joins a select group of mouth-watering spread, including a Chian Tangerine Spread made in Tavros Attica, Greece, and a raw stingless bee honey harvested in Singapore.
One judge said: ‘You can tell a butter is good when you want to sit there and just eat spoonfuls of it without any bread or biscuits to go alongside.
‘This is such an exciting, innovative product. The butter has been whipped perfectly to give a wonderful mouth feel.
‘The fennel comes through with sophistication as does the citrus and generous pieces of shellfish just add to the overall luxury.’
It took until the end of August for the judges to blind taste each one before casting their vote.
Another judge said: ‘The taste is delicious, the butter melts and fills the mouth with the flavour of lobster and crab. The sweetness is offset by a touch of lemon.
‘This butter is a harmony of flavours of the seafood with good quality butter, and the seasoning is balanced.
‘The fennel could very easily overbalance with its distinctive flavour, but is carefully monitored, Overall the butter is just irresistible.’
The accolade is expected to boost sales for the small company, which supplies high-end butters through farm shops and over 50 butchers around the capital and beyond.
Mr Mair commented: ‘I created Sublime in 2019 but it has been a few years in the making.
‘I had run a steak club for the last 12 years and I picked up that despite all the great steak restaurants and the great meat, there hasn’t been much condiment development.
‘The popular sauces like peppercorn drown out the flavour, so I wanted to create something a bit different.
‘I hired a chef and we created some flavours and then we made flavoured butter and had a eureka moment. We couldn’t believe no one had really done it before.’
The company hopes their success will have a halo effect for all of the company’s products.
Some of these are more wallet friendly, like the 90g pack of Sublime truffle & parmesan butter which costs £4.25.
Every Great Taste award-winning product is able to display a distinctive black and gold logo, a stamp of excellence that is recognised by retailers and consumers alike.