Recently, the world’s largest culinary competition, the Great Taste Award, took place.

– 2024 has been a journey with 120% growth, the launch of frozen pizzas that beat everyone in the Dagbladet pizza test and now international recognition, says general manager Kristoffer Evang at Ask Spekehus in Jevnaker for Ringerike Newspaper.

The judges went absolutely crazy with enthusiasm for the “Coppa” bacon sausage.

– A very good product. Well-seasoned pork slices give a slight sweetness on the nose. On the palate, it gives a pleasant feast of salt and spices. The fat from the marble retains the flavor perfectly. We found no fault, says a statement freely translated from English.

Hang to dry for half a year

This year, just under 14,000 products from around the world competed for one, two or three stars.

– Coppa, or cured neck as you say in Norwegian, is a neck that is cured over a long period of time. It has been awarded three stars, the highest award. It is an outdoor pork neck, which is seasoned and aged, before being tied in the traditional way with hemp rope. After that, the product is hung and dried for 4-6 months. It is one of our most time-consuming products and has a strong stamp of craftsmanship, says Evang.

Additionally, local cured meat producer received two stars for its truffle salami Jåla.

– We loved the aroma of the white mold surface even before we were struck by the disc cut. We loved the subtle nuances here – the light pork if cured slowly and evenly, tasted clean, with the perfect proportion of rub, balanced by a light saltiness, a hint of white wine acidity, and a clean, earthy yet lifted truffle aroma – not a hint of extract or really, as you say, anything synthetic. A little bit of a revelation, we feel you may have beaten the Italians at their own game, said the judges – again loosely translated from English.

News from Ask wins the test: – A completely raw pizza