Having had a varied career in TV and radio broadcasting, Bill Buckley spends a lot of his time working as a judge and food writer, which enables him to taste some of the finest artisan food and drink products around. When he is not judging food, drink and chocolate, he enjoys cooking together with his husband Rommel Catalan who grew up in the Philippines, in their own kitchen.
This year, Bill will be returning to the Didcot Food Festival, one of his favourite food festivals where he will be the compere in the Chef’s Theatre, a job he loves doing. “Talking to chefs is a natural environment in which to find myself as I do have a genuine and long-standing love of cooking and learning about new culinary styles. Sometimes by making the odd comment to the chef as they are preparing their dish in front of the audience, I can get them to answer questions that the audience may want to know but have not asked or throw a different perspective into how the dish may be prepared. I also enjoy how quickly the audience start interacting, asking questions rather than waiting until the end when we ask if they have any questions. Being a compere rather than a cook in front of the audience is perfect as I often get to taste fabulous food cooked by amazing chefs and bakers and also have the opportunity to go into the food hall and buy some really wonderful artisan products.”
During the year, Bill spends time working as a food judge. In the spring he is involved with sampling and judging for the Great Taste Awards. Organised by the Guild of Fine Food, the Great Taste Awards were initiated back in 1994 and are now the world’s largest, longest-standing and most respected food accreditation scheme for artisan and speciality food and drink producers. This year, the panel of judges judged 13,672 entries, over 92 days from 108 countries. When products receive the accolade of receiving 1, 2 or 3 stars for their product, this can often be a great boost to their trading results, especially if they are a smaller producer looking to expand their business beyond their immediate trading area.
A panel of over 500 experts, who receive training on how to judge, get to rigorously blind taste a wide range of food and drink. Judges are people who are associated with the food and drink industry from writers such as Bill to food manufacturers, shop owners and chefs. Each will put forward a viewpoint based on their own personal expertise in an area of food or drink. The judges work in groups, with each group having a lead judge co-ordinator like Bill. Following the tasting, Bill sets to work providing detailed written feedback blending the verbal critiques of the judges together with their own opinions from their given group. This feedback can often encourage the food producers to further enhance their products, leading to resubmission for judging by a different group of judges the following year; this can sometimes lead to them receiving an improved star rating. The products which are given 3 stars will then be judged by a ‘super panel’ which culminates in an award being given to the ‘supreme’ producer.
This year, Bill and a group of fellow judges were asked to travel to Eire as since Brexit, many of the items which were easily and quickly imported into the UK, particularly dairy and meat products, can deteriorate when delayed due to import restrictions. The judges therefore went off to Clonmel in County Tipperary for three days of tasting and judging. Items included a range of drinks and food items including meat products, sausages and bacon, dairy products ranging from cheese, butter and ice-creams to more unusual items such as biltong and kimchi.
Although the judges are not informed where the produce is actually from, when submitting an item to be judged, the members must provide a clear and accurate description of what the item is meant to taste like. For example, if it is meant to be a ‘hot and spicy chilli sauce’ and the product although tasting pleasant does not have more than a mild, hint of heat, it will be judged accordingly.
Following the judging, Bill and his co-judges attended a reception hosted by the Town Council, where they were able to meet producers not only from the immediate local area but around the Republic.
Another of Bill’s tasting roles is to be a judge for entries into the Academy of Chocolate Awards. These prestigious awards were launched in 2005 by five of Britain’s leading chocolate professionals, united in the belief that eating fine chocolate is one of life’s great pleasures. Nowadays, the awards are judged by leading chocolatiers, producers, journalists, bloggers, food writers, and other chocolate experts from across the industry.
Pre-covid, judging would take place at the Westminster Catering College but in order to continue the awards during the pandemic, each judge was sent samples for the Bean to Bar, Tree to Bar, Flavoured, Milk and White Bars categories to taste test at home. Now only certain categories including, Filled chocolates, Spreads and Packaging are judged in London, bringing the judges together to deliberate. Further judging by a Supreme Jury considers Gold winners and determines Special Award winners. Products are marked on appearance, depth of aroma and flavour, length and complexity to determine the gold, silver, and bronze winners in each category. Promising products that are not yet at award-winning level receive commendations.
“People often think I get involved in food and drink judging just because I like to eat! Well, I do,” says Bill, “but I also love to write and have always done so since I was at school. I also became a member of the prestigious Guild of Food Writers over 20 years ago, which now has 550 authors, broadcasters, columnists and journalists amongst its members. This way I can spend more time writing and talking more about food!”
Book your advance tickets for the Didcot Food Festival which cost just £4 for adults and children under 16 free (accompanied by an adult), £5 on the day. Tickets for the Gift & Craft Festival are £1.50 for adults, children under 16 are free when accompanied by an adult. You can buy your tickets at didcotevents.co.uk.
