Local Hero Lesley Black returns another medal-winning performance
As Australia’s medal swag in Paris grows, we’re keeping our own medal tally here with our local Tassie food hero Lesley Black’s recently winning Gold in the Royal Tasmanian Fine Food Awards for a very hot product. Read on to find out more.
With the Olympics now in full swing we are celebrating our local food heroes here in Tasmania by profiling medal winners in the 29th annual Royal Tasmanian Fine Food Awards.
Each year the Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania hosts these awards, which bring together judges from all over Australia to find the country’s best produce.
Judging is across many different categories over several judging sessions throughout the year, with winners celebrated at a gala dinner in November.
In April the Savoury Preserve category was judged, with one of our longest standing suppliers, chutney and relish maker Lesley Black’s, winning Reserve Champion for their Hot Horseradish Relish, as well as Silver Medals for their Spicy Eggplant Chutney, Tomato and Chilli Relish, Sweet Fruit Chutney, Country Relish, and Wholegrain Mustard, and Bronze for their Bush Pepper Relish, Tomato and Red Capsicum Chutney, Lemon Chutney, and Chilli Hot Sauce. That’s quite a haul!
No stranger to winning awards, Lesley Black’s has won Champion, Reserve Champion and multiple medals at the Royal Tasmanian Fine Food Awards for almost as long as the Awards have existed and have supplied Hill Street since 1999 – that’s actually before Hill Street was Hill Street and was known as Rite-Way West Hobart!
Local Hero Lesley Black
Owner David Schnitzer is proud that all his products have attained Gold Medal status at the Awards over the years and is still passionate about being a maker of successful, quality products that people love.
He has a small team assisting him, which includes his right-hand man David and his daughter and her school friends who help with the labelling.
Lesley Black’s products are all gluten-free and vegan, using only fresh, quality ingredients, no artificial preservatives or additives, and wherever possible, locally sourced products.
David developed his medal-winning Hot Horseradish Relish almost 15 years ago when Bothwell farmer John Bignell’s came to him with his horseradish roots and seconds. David has put them to good use, shredding the horseradish and mixing it with mustard flour to give it some body and then sealing it into jars with a carbon dioxide sealing system to prevent oxidisation, which, for horseradish, will destroy its fire.
The Hot Horseradish Relish’s label bears the warning ‘Not for the faint of heart!’ and it’s there for a reason. If you enjoy that sinus-clearing feeling, David says you should have his horseradish relish neat with a steak, or it can be mixed 50-50 with sour cream for a more subtle heat to accompany something like hot smoked salmon.
We’re delighted to still be stocking Lesley Black’s medal winning products after all these years. Congratulations to David and his team!
Lesley Black’s medal winning chutneys and relishes are available at Hill Street stores across Tasmania. Check with your local Hill Street for availability of individual products.
