A HOMEMADE Scotch egg has won a top food award for a West Somerset delicatessen business.

The Deli, in Watchet, won a silver award in this year’s Taste of the West Awards.

The Swain Street business has been building its reputation over the past year for fresh food and ‘generous portions’.

Run by Justin Harris, Myndie Sheach, and Elizabeth Fitzgerald, it entered the ‘snacks and light bites’ category of the awards for the first time.

Mr Harris said: “We did not know what to expect as many products do not even get placed.

“We have been open for just over a year, and we feel so much has changed in that time, but now we are hitting our stride.

“It has been a lot of hard work and at times very tough.

“Hats off to all the cafes in the town who work their socks off.”

For the uninitiated, a Scotch egg is a hard or soft boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat, coated in breadcrumbs, and baked or deep-fried.

It is claimed to have been invented by London department store Fortnum and Mason in 1738.

Mr Harris said: “It has taken a year of tweaking recipes and mastering the art of cooking a good Scotch egg, but I think we have cracked it.

“We cook the Scotch eggs fresh in the early hours of the morning and they often sell out.

“We were quite nervous about entering the competition, but we are delighted.

“It is recognition for all the hard work that has gone in by Myndie and Elizabeth with me in the background helping out when I can.

“I am a full-time estate agent on a day to day basis, but I am mad about pasties, pies, and anything that might come out of a deli, and I enjoy baking.”