The unique Fermanagh Black Bacon has been crowned "Taste of Ulster' in the first-ever competition to find Northern Ireland's tastiest and most original food.

The multi-award winning bacon, produced by O'Doherty's Fine Meats in Enniskillen and featuring a secret dry-curing process, won the taste award as part of the prestigious Northern Ireland Tourism Awards.

Pat O'Doherty, creator of Fermanagh Black Bacon and managing director of the family-run and owned O'Doherty's Fine Meats butchery business, says: "Winning the first Taste of Ulster Award is a superb endorsement of the bacon and the hard work over many years to revive traditional Irish curing techniques and recipes for a time when there was great attention on developing foods with outstanding flavours, heritage and provenance.

"The bacon has become a tremendous success and is now shipped worldwide to devotees including many international chefs and caterers. It's also been showcased by high-end retailers such as Harrods in London."

The award for Fermanagh Black Bacon coincided with the start of Slow Food Week, a movement championed in Ireland by Pat O'Doherty over the past decade.

Another innovative food developed by O'Doherty, Fermanagh Corned Beef, again using ancient recipes, was last month named among the Seven New Forgotten Foods by celebrity chef Richard Corrigan on behalf of the UK Slow Food Movement.

The Northern Irish awards, organised by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) with sponsorship from Diageo, also saw recognition for other food businesses. Broughgammon, based at Ballycastle in county Antrim, a specialist in goat meat, was highly commended in the Taste of Ulster category and Belle Isle Cookery School in Fermanagh, the region's oldest cookery school, as commended.

In the Northern Ireland Tourism Hero category, which acknowledges an individual's involvement and impact on local tourism, the award went to Belfast chef Niall McKenna, who runs three restaurants in the city as well as Belfast Cookery School.

NITB chairman Howard Hastings described the awards in food categories as a developing recognition of the role of quality food and drink and internationally celebrated chefs as an integral part of the tourism experience.

"Visitors now tend to judge a destination by the quality of meals they experience in hotels, restaurants and other accommodation. The awards showcase the excellence of food being created here by quality and safety conscious producers and by wonderful chefs," he adds.