A Dover man who makes and sells fudge at the weekly Bluebird Market in the town is celebrating this week after being awarded two gold stars in a national competition.

Steve Timms, known as The Fudge Man, achieved success with his traditional plain fudge in the 2013 Great Taste competition which involves more than 400 judges and thousands of hours of blind tasting.

Great Taste, as it’s name implies, is simply about taste, not clever branding or smart packaging. Judges are presented with, for example, a piece of cheese, a pie or a little dish of chutney, with no wrappings, jars or marks – and they taste, confer and re-taste before making the decision on whether a product should be a one, two or three-star winner.

In total more than 12 judges will have tasted and commented on each product.

After tasting Steve’s product, the judges said: “Delightful classic fudge with a fantastic golden caramel flavour note”, “good, smooth, crumbly, soft texture with a melt away mouth feel”, “clean tasting caramel notes which are not overwhelming on the palate” and “this is a really good example of proper fudge with simple, clean ingredients and a great texture and crumb, which is not over sweet on the tongue.”

Another summed it up: “A lovely deep caramel flavoured fudge, lovely and buttery.”

Steve’s said: “I am delighted to have been awarded two Great Taste Award gold stars for my traditional fudge. It is a nationally-acclaimed award given to the best artisan food in Britain, I am so happy to have the ultimate recognition for my product.”

Steve has a website at www.thefudgeman.co.uk