Have you seen the size of this years sloes? Its good news for The Real Boar Company who need a rich fruity harvest to fulfill this years demand for their stunning, so very English Wild Boar Salami with Sloe Gin.

“Damn tasty these beasts, you can see why our forefathers enjoyed them so much” says Simon Gaskell who farms them, “and turned into salami it is low in saturated fat and cholesterol and high in protein and so a healthier salami than many.”

Not the easiest animal to keep, judging from the stories he regales but the proof is in the eating and his latest offering has scooped another prestigious Great Taste Gold 2 Star award.

“Very attractive in cross-section with good chunks of lean meat. Lovely aroma. Powerful flavours on the palate with attractive pepper and acidity. Hint of fruit from the sloe gin. Nice lingering finish.”
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Gold 2011 for Wild Boar Salami with Sloe Gin

Two more awards received from Taste of the West 2010 meaning we now have a full house, every one of our charcuterie range has won silver or above. We are justly proud that we have achieved such goals; it all helps to off set the broken hand and mauled finger sustained in the line of duty looking after these unpredictable creatures!
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Gold 2010 for Wild Boar Chorizo with Red Wine
Silver 2010 for Cotswold Game Salami with Port

Our Wild Boar with Red Wine Salami and Free Range Pork Salami with Red Wine have been winning more awards, each won a gold in the prestigious BPEX Awards.

The Foodservice Pork Product of the Year competition recognises and rewards product excellence and innovation with the 2010 competition drawing in almost 100 products from butchers and manufacturers supplying the foodservice industry, as well as a number of chefs.

We are particularly pleased with this as our salami is judged alongside leading bacon and ham producers so to be recognised by the industry with a couple of gold awards is very satisfying.

“It really makes for very impressive reading when you look at the awards the range now has,” Simon Gaskell said, “although the few without any awards are no worse but just have not been entered into any competitions!”‍

Simon Gaskell from The Real Boar Company was delighted to accept this award at a gala lunch in December at Haselbury Mill’s glorious Tithe Barn. He commented:
“To have our Free Range Pork Salami acknowledged as the best cured meat over some well known names producing hams, bresaolas, gammons and other salamis and chorizo is hugely exciting and rewarding. We are particularly proud now that our pork as well as our wild boar has been recognised by discerning judges and we can hold our head up high alongside the continental producers!”

This is no mean feat when you consider that 150 judges from 24 countries, including Mexico, South Africa, Japan and Australia, sampled 2,440 entries before drawing up the shortlist by an international jury of 13 experts from 10 countries.

Judge’s comment: “An original, classy-looking product. Good rich meat with plenty of spice. Succulent with lovely colours and every flavour apparent. An outstanding product.”

The Free Range Pork is Gloucester Old Spot, a dark skinned pig or Oxford and Sandy Black from their own pigs, all old fashioned breeds renowned for their flavour. The salamis are made in a traditional way and available whole for catering, boxed or sliced and packed for gifts. They also produce a Wild Boar, Wild Boar and Venison salami, Cotswold Game and a Wild Boar chorizo from their own sounder of boar.

Simon Gaskell, from The Real Boar Company, set himself a quest to produce an award winning, sumptuous salami that every man could afford, this is now over with their Free Range Pork Salami winning gold and their Free Range Pork Chorizo winning silver at the Taste of the West 2009 awards.

These winners join the already star studded Real Boar Company line up, each salami entered into The Guild of Fine Foods or Taste of the West competitions has won an accolade, quite an endorsement in itself. The two latest trophies prove that the whole range exudes quality making for a delicious and varied antipasto platter at a choice of prices.

Gold – Great original packaging. Rich red wine aroma, with plenty of spices. Succulent, lovely colours. Dry and meaty in texture - very good. Evenly flavoured, an overall outstanding product.

The Free Range Pork is Gloucester Old Spot, a dark skinned pig or Oxford and Sandy Black from their own pigs, all old fashioned breeds renowned for their flavour. The salamis are made in a traditional way and available whole for catering, boxed or sliced and packed for gifts. They also produce a Wild Boar, Wild Boar and Venison salami, Wild Boar chorizo from their own sounder of boar.

The Real Boar Company are delighted to have won a Gold 2 Star Award in the 2009 Great Taste Awards for their Wild Boar and Venison Salami with red wine. This follows the gold 3 star award last year and is only the second product and the second year they have entered this competition.

"To win gold at the Great Taste Awards is a terrific achievement but to win a two star, or three star award means joining Britain’s elite.” Charles Campion, Food Critic

The Real Boar Company sell their wild boar haunches and loins privately and to a multitude of restaurants throughout the country such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage and Raymond Blanc’s Brasserie Blanc in Bristol. It has graced establishments totalling fifteen Michelin stars in addition to being stocked in some fine venues such as Harvey Nichols, Daylesford and The House of Bruar.

The salami is made locally by Andrew and Charlie in the traditional style and has a 6 month shelf life at ambient temperature. It is packaged in stylish, contemporary and recyclable tubes.

As well as the wild boar and venison salami which has an amazing full flavour for the most discerning tastebuds they also produce a wild boar chorizo, a free range pork salami and chorizo and an Oxford and Sandy Black pork salami from their own pigs. This autumn the Real Boar Company will be launching the Cotswold Game salami, a blend of boar, venison, and pheasant with port, inspired and sumptuous - though they say so themselves!

The Real Boar Co. winner of the Cut Above Meat Quality Award, sponsored by Morrisons Supermarkets, on 14th May 2009.

Morrisons highly trained food specialists were impressed by Simon Gaskell’s Wild Boar Salami.
The packaging was simple and effective and presented the product well. On opening, the salami had a great appearance and rich aroma. Its flavour profile was excellent and the red wine and spices added a real depth and richness to the flavour. The uniqueness of the product was especially interesting. Although the use of wild boar in salami is not uncommon, the fact that these animals are farmed in Britain shows great innovation.

Simon Gaskell said “This is the second award that our Wild boar salami has won and we are absolutely thrilled. This is an exciting time for us as we have just launched our new “Cotswold Game” salami at The Real Food Festival to tremendous acclaim. It was tasted on both the trade day, by some leading food buyers and public days and was a resounding success with many wanting to buy it then and there! A subtle mix of our wild boar with local venison and pheasant with a hint of port, we hope that this too will go on to reach dizzying heights!”

This fabulous new product will be available late autumn, after the opening of the shooting season and in time for Christmas.

The Real Boar Company's wild boar salami with red wine has won this highly coveted Gold Three Star Award from the Great Taste Awards 2008. Simon Gaskell, the boar farmer says "I am absolutely delighted, the boar are the stars and Andrew and Charlie our butchers make a mean salami! It is very exciting to have the product recognised, our range of salamis have been so well received by delis and chefs alike."

Now in its 15th year the Great Taste Awards are the acknowledged benchmark for speciality food and drink. A three-star gold is the highest level of award any producer can aspire to and is recognised as the definitive independent accreditation of quality.

The Great Taste awards judging standards, devised by the Guild of Fine Food, are the most rigorous in the UK. Food producers entered just under 4,800 foods for judging. 72 received the coveted 3 stars. Every entry is blind tasted by teams of experts and by the time it earns gold, it will have been assessed by at least three different teams.

Richard Bertinet clearly agrees with the Great Taste Award Judges. Originally from Brittany in North West France, he trained both in Brittany and at the Grand Moulin de Paris.

His catering background includes stints at the Georges V, Paris and the Chewton Glen Hotel as well as head chef position at the Silver Plough at Pitton in Salisbury where in 1990 he was awarded Egon Ronay, Pub of the Year and American Express Magazine, UK Pub of the Year.

Richard opened The Bertinet Kitchen in 2004, and is an advocate for local, delicious provisions from small producers. When he tried the wild boar and red wine salami, he realised it was something special and created this simple tasty dish which was showcased recently at the Taste Festival in Bath.