Tasmania’s Taste Awards expand with bold plan to lure world-famous judges

Tasmania’s food festival organisers dream big with hopes of landing world-famous cooking celebrities, while local producers showcase drops “you can't get any other time of the year”.

Taste of Summer awards aiming big, including potentially landing Nigella Lawson as a judge for Taste Awards in the future.

The Taste Awards might only be entering its second year, but it already hopes to one day land global cooking superstars like Nigella Lawson or Yotam Ottolenghi as a judge in the future.

For now, the awards will be motoring along with a larger offering than last year’s including the addition of a category for no alcohol or low alcohol drinks.

Taste food and drinks curator Jo Cook said the awards had buy in from Tasmanian producers.

“Things are really, really pumping now and this is definitely an exciting Taste of Summer,” Ms Cook said.

Food and drink curator Jo Cook. Taste of Summer announces bigger and better Taste Awards for 2025.

“We’ve worked with stallholders to offer something different.

“There’s lots of food and drinks that you can’t get any other time of the year.”

She hoped the awards would spike the interest of the foodie world internationally down the track.

“They [judges] really have a national identity, but also what we’re looking forward to is attracting people like Nigella Lawson and Ottolenghi in the future,” she said.

One of the drink category judges is Institut Polaire’s Louise Radman, who praised the drops locked in for the upcoming festival.

“We’ve got amazing local, small batch wines, we’ve got really new liqueurs … so that’s always a strong signature for someone.”

Taste Awards judge Louise Radman. Taste of Summer announces bigger and better Taste Awards for 2025.

As a judge, she said they would be looking for wines and spirits showing the sense of essence of being uniquely Tasmanian.

“We want the spirit of Tasmania to shine through, and then we’re looking for your classic things like elegance, balance, length and complexity.”

Ogee’s Matt Breen is one of the food judges and he says Tasmanian producers were growing what the world wants.

Taste's Louise Radman, Jo Cook, Khayla Massie, Matt Breen and Rabin Sapkota. Taste of Summer announces bigger and better Taste Awards for 2025.

He encouraged Taste goers to be bold and try as many things as possible.

The Taste Award winners will be announced during the opening day of the festival, and the people’s choice, voted on by punters via QR code, on the final day.

Tasmania’s Taste of Summer, which is supported by the state government through Events Tasmania, takes over Hobart’s Princes Wharf from December 27 through to January 3.