October Food Festivals
Monday 01 October 2012
October promises to be a month of gastro bliss for food and fun-lovers as Lucinda O'Sullivan serves up some highlights
THERE are now more food festivals in Ireland than ever before -- from Westport to Donegal, Macroom (which is happening today), to Dungarvan.
It seems everyone is a foodie, some a bit over the top and pretentious, but it is our genuine food people, and tourism industry, that will turn this country around. Everywhere I go, I meet people, who were perhaps made redundant in the downturn, starting up small businesses, who say they are so much happier making their fancy cakes or stirring the pots of chilli jam.
We are now into what I call the heavyweight food festival time because in the month of October, the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, we have three major festivals, including the Kinsale Gourmet Festival, which is celebrating its 36th birthday.
The month kicks off with the 6th Annual Dingle Peninsula Food Festival from October 5 to 7. Dingle itself is a stunning backdrop but the committee behind the food festival, particularly those who go back to the beginning including Martin Bealin of Global Village restaurant, and Helen Heaton of Castlewood House, have done an amazing job in making this a stand-out festival in a relatively short space of time. Castlewood House, by the way, won the Tripadvisor Travellers' Choice Best Hotel in Ireland 2012 award. But sure didn't I tell you all about it when it first opened its doors in 2005?
A heritage food theme will run throughout this year's festival, with events highlighting foods and cooking methods used on the peninsula from the late 19th century up to the time of the filming of David Lean's movie Ryan's Daughter.
The festival's food trail involves a gourmet safari of more than 60 establishments, ranging from pubs and restaurants to pottery studios and hat shops, showcasing local produce such as Dingle Bay shellfish, Blasket Island lamb, and Dingle peninsula cheeses. Tasters at each outlet can be purchased from €2.
So you can think of maybe kicking off with sesame crusted haddock sticks with whipped avocado and lime at Fish at the Marina, or maybe a fishcake with lime and chilli sauce at The Boatyard Restaurant and Bar -- or both. You can have seared king scallop with Jack McCarthy's black pudding on a bed of parsnip puree at the Marina Inn, and at Curran's Bar there is a seafood bar and Piog pies.
Move on then to Martin Bealin's great Global Village restaurant for macaroons and wine from Direct Wines. On Saturday and Sunday, there are cookery demonstrations in St James's Church, and the finals of the Blas Na hEireann Food Awards also take place in conjunction with the festival.
www.dinglefood.com
Kinsale's 36th Gourmet Festival, in association with the Kinsale Good Food Circle, promises a weekend of gastronomic bliss for food and fun lovers from October 12-14.
Kinsale was, of course, the first town to really raise the profile of good food when the restaurateurs got together to hold the first gourmet festival way back in 1976. They have it down to a fine art and the town is now on the visiting list of many of the tourists who come to Ireland and most of the restaurants there, old and new, do a great job.
Jim Edwards and Man Friday are two of the longest standing eateries. Max's Wine Bar plays a blinder under the auspices of French chef Olivier Queva and his wife Anne Marie, as does Toddies at The Bulman superbly run by Pearse and Mary O'Sullivan. The irrepressible Martin Shanahan's Fishy Fishy is now, as they say, 'world famous beyond Cork', and one of my favourite places is Jean Marc Tsai's Shanghai Express for great Asian food.
The festival kicks off this year on Friday at 6.30pm at the Trident Hotel with a west Cork eight-course dining experience and black-tie ball sponsored by Laurent Perrier champagne.
The festival continues on Saturday with the Mad Hatter's Taste of Kinsale.
This is always a hilarious event where participants join Alice and other Wonderland characters on a tour of four venues, laden with great food showcasing the various restaurants' styles and offerings.
There is no drought on this mighty trip either with wines from Karwig's, Nash's, Searsons's and Barry Fitzwilliam -- or Tipperary Water. It is one of the best fun events I know of in the country with a serious effort being put into the mad hats being worn by all.
The festival doesn't go out with a whimper either for, on the Sunday, members of the Good Food Circle host a fruits de mer luncheon fit for a king with lobster, oysters, crab, prawns, mussels, clams, in abundance. Again the wines, sponsored by Findlater's, flow freely. Derek Davis hosts the afternoon's entertainment of fun, games and spot prizes, including the annual charity auction in aid of Kinsale's Pink Ribbon Walk, to raise funds for Breast Cancer awareness.
www.kinsalerestaurants.com
The following weekend, on October 19 and 20, the Muckross Park Hotel in Killarney is holding its own gourmet weekend. Jackie Lavin will be putting on the waders to catch fish with the aforementioned irrepressible Martin Shanahan, who will be giving a cookery demonstration to hotel guests before a surf and turf dinner at the hotel on Friday October 19. This time it will be Muckross Park head chef, Mike Hayes, who will be providing the turf, whilst Mr Shanahan provides the surf.
On Saturday, October 20, the gourmet theme continues with a trip to Lorge Choclatier in Kenmare, followed by afternoon tea, or guests can sample a decadent chocolate ritual treatment in the fabulous Cloisters Spa. The two- night gourmet weekend costs €275 per person sharing and includes bed and breakfast, the Martin Shanahan seafood demonstration, the surf 'n' turf gourmet dinner, the day trip to Kenmare with Lorge Chocolatier visit and afternoon tea. www.muckrosspark.com
That leads us very nicely into 50 Shades of Flavour at Savour -- the sixth annual Savour Kilkenny Food Festival which takes place in the medieval city from October 25 to 29. Kilkenny is always abuzz; it's a great place for shopping, partying, and eating. What a combination. There will be a fab food market with more than 100 artisan producers and cooking demos on the Parade Plaza between Kilkenny Castle and Rinuccini's -- a great Italian restaurant. This year's festival has the theme of 'homegrown and wholesome'.
It will honour Kilkenny's renowned food producers and celebrate their innovation by showcasing local food heroes and declaring the first ever Savour Kilkenny food producer of the year.
You will get the chance to meet local food producers and sample some of their delicious fare with RTE Radio One's John Murray as host. Producers include Julie Calder-Potts of Highbank Organic Farm; Kitty Colchester of Happy Heart Oil; Mag Kirwin of Goatsbridge Trout Farm; Helen Finnegan of Knockdrinna Cheese and Mary Walsh of Kilkenny Free-Range Poultry.
There will also be cookery demos by chefs including Kevin Dundon, Catherine Fulvio, Rory O'Connell, and Edward Hayden, as well as a chefs' table featuring local chefs Gareth Byrne of the much celebrated Campagne, Maria Raferty of Zuni's and Mark Gaffney of the Ormonde Hotel, who will cook up their signature dishes on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and pass on some tips.
Another fun idea is the Domestic Goddesses' Bootcamp pitching the mummies of 2012 against the mammies of 1972.
There are some fantastic dining events from a Taste of Thursday at Mount Juliet Estate on October 25 where you can sample the exquisite delights of the Lady Helen's' tasting menu at €65. An overnight package with tasting menu is from €129 pps. Next evening, Friday, October 26, there is a long table supper at the Pembroke Hotel utilising local produce in a rustic feast at €40 per person, whilst on Sunday October 28 there is a sensory dining experience served to blindfolded guests.
The seven-course meal costs €50 per person, or €38 for "non-alcoholic" diners!
Look out, too, for a taste of India at the Royal Spice Indian Restaurant where head chef Nuran and his team dig deep into their cultural heritage to bring you a five-course menu with a local twist -- from cardamom to ginger to Goatsbridge Trout and Highbank Apple Syrup.
www.savourkilkenny.com
That's your social and foodie life sorted for October -- you can be good in November. Hope to run into you at the various events.
Originally published in the Sunday Independent