The annual pumpkin seed oil championship is beaten – Andreas Lückl from Jagerberg can therefore call his “black gold” the best pumpkin seed oil in the country. A top-class jury headed by celebrity chef Johann Lafer evaluated 20 top Styrian pumpkin seed oils on Tuesday evening in Bad Gleichenberg. For the first time, the “Oil Mill of the Year” was also chosen.
The pumpkin doesn’t have a hard time. It is popular as a specialty. Most of them prefer their kernels, from which the black gold of Styria is extracted. You need 2.5 to 3 kilograms of pumpkin seeds for one liter of oil, which was given special attention on Tuesday evening. At this year’s pumpkin seed oil championship, a total of 80 jury members selected the best oils from 20 pumpkin seed oil producers.
Celebrity crowd among the jurors
Color, smell and taste were decisive evaluation criteria in the strict freestyle. The state vocational school Bad Gleichenberg opened its doors for the prominent tasting, where star juror and star chef Johann Lafer also used his trained palate. Other top chefs, including Christof Widakovich and Dominik Fitz, were spoiled for choice together with ÖSV star Conny Hütter and talent manager Günther Neukirchner from SK Sturm.
First oil mill of the year
Given the excellent quality, it was difficult to crown the best seed oil, as the pre-selected participants are already the best in the country. In the end, Andreas Lückl from Jagerberg made it onto the podium. Gerald Malli from Schwanberg got silver. Andrea and Karl Koch from St. Martin im Sulmtal were happy about third place. For the first time, the oil mill of the year was also chosen with the Agrarunion Südost oil mill in Grabersdorf.