Hands-on approach
Last weekend’s Kerrygold Ballymaloe Litfest was a gold-standard example of how a food festival should be run – it was fun, thought-provoking, entertaining and efficient – and there were plenty of organisers of other food festivals taking notes. Paul Flynn (above) tried to entice some of the big names in attendance to sign up for the West Waterford Food Festival.
“I bumped into David Tanis, Rowley Leigh and Simon Hopkinson having drinks and chatting about the old days in London, and then Yotam Ottolenghi strolls by to say hello – it was heady stuff for a food nerd like me. I couldn’t resist asking Simon Hopkinson to come over next April.”
You can join Flynn and fellow chef and lecturer Michael Quinn for a three-day intensive cookery course at the Tannery Cookery School (June 16-18th), with demos and hands-on classes running from 10am to 4pm each day. For a 10 per cent discount on the €550 fee, book by next Friday and quote “The Irish Times”.
First catch your fish
Goatsbridge rainbow trout farm in Thomastown, Co Kilkenny is inviting fans of its fresh, smoked and barbecued fish to learn some of its secrets at a four-hour interactive workshop in its new visitors’ centre. You’ll get an insight into rearing the trout before smoking your catch in a biscuit tin smoker which you’ll make yourself, in a simplified version of the commercial smoking done at Goatsbridge (below). Smoking instruction will be given by The Workshop People – Jette Virdi and Alex Carberry. The workshop takes place on Saturday, June 28th at 11am and will include lunch. The cost is €75 and you can book at goatsbridgetrout.ie/shop, tel: 056-7724140.
Feast on this
Entry to the Dublin Gastronomy Symposium at DIT, Cathal Brugha Street on June 3rd and 4th is great value at €175 (€50 students). For this, you have access to more than 30 talks given by academics from 10 countries on topics broadly addressing the notion of “Cravings and Desires”, as well as three meals: an Irish artisan producers’ feast in the college; lunch at Chapter One restaurant; and a Champagne reception and dinner at Kings Inns.
There are also fascinating talks including “Craving National Identity – Irish Diplomatic Dining since 1921; and “Craving/Desire for Food among Korean Buddhist Monks and Nuns”. Dr Máirtín Mac Can Iomaire, chair of the event, believes that “Sometimes one’s best work is done in the most convivial of atmospheres” – code for it’ll be great craic, we reckon. See http://arrow.dit.ie/dgs/
Expert advice in store
If you’ve ever dithered over how long to cook a roast for, wondered about removing the membrane from that expensive piece of monkfish, or needed a wine pairing suggestion, help is at hand. SuperValu has appointed “in-store experts” to the butcher and fish counters, bakeries and wine departments of its 223 stores in Ireland, and they’re primed and ready to answer your questions. They’ll be wearing name badges signifying their “expert” status, so feel free to put them to the test. mcdigby@irishtimes.com
