Stephen Jeffers, owner of the highly successful Forestside Cookery School is launching his very own cookery book on the 22nd of June 2018. It includes some of his favourite and most popular recipes that he has developed over his career in the industry and covers 10 different areas that he teaches.
Below is an extract of the book.
Northern Ireland’s Food Heartland Awards 2018, in association with Power NI, has officially opened for entries. The Food Heartland Awards 2018 are encouraging all local food and drink businesses and young people working and studying in the sector to enter and get the recognition they deserve. Please note that the deadline for entries is 5:00pm on Friday 6th July 2018.
The award categories for the Food Heartland Awards 2018 are:
The Food Heartland Awards give local businesses and individuals in the agri- food sector a platform to recognise their hard work, passion and commitment to business excellence. The agri-food sector is thriving and diverse. From specialist artisan producers to household brands and global names… from Great Taste and Irish Food Award winners to outstanding restaurants and eateries. The borough is also home to an abundance of high quality food & drink as well as world renowned products with protected status – Armagh Bramley Apples and Lough Neagh Eels.
The awards champion and celebrate passion, quality, innovation and success across the thriving food, drink and hospitality sector throughout the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon borough.
The awards provide businesses and individuals with a unique opportunity for increased sales, new trade connections and greater recognition of their brands, products and innovation.
Officially launching the Food Heartland Awards for 2018, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council Lord Mayor, Councillor Julie Flaherty, said:
“Our borough has a firmly-established reputation for excellence, passion and innovation across the food, drink and hospitality industry.
“These exciting awards not only recognise the hard-work and dedication of local food companies but shine a spotlight on the abundance of top quality produce and producers that exists.
“The economy is the number one priority for Council and these awards provide us with a fantastic opportunity to celebrate and showcase our success on a global scale as well as encouraging further innovation and growth which will only serve to have a positive impact locally.
“I would encourage anyone involved in this sector to consider entering the awards and make 2018 the year to shine a spotlight on their business.”
Entry is free and all details are available at www.foodheartland.com
Deadline for entries is 5pm Friday 6th July 2018.
The Awards gala evening will take place on Wednesday 12th September at The Palace Demesne, Armagh. Tickets priced at £55 plus VAT. For further details visit www.foodheartland.com or e-mail foodheartland@ndevents.co.uk. Follow Food Heartland Awards on Facebook
www.facebook.com/FoodHeartlandNI and Twitter @FoodHeartlandNI #FHLAwards18.
Jawbox Spirits Company Ltd has announced the launch of the premium Jawbox Pineapple & Ginger Gin Liqueur. In a first for the drinks industry, the unique combination of gin, pineapple and ginger is set to cause a stir this summer. In addition Jawbox has launched its Rhubarb & Ginger Gin Liqueur.
Distilled near Belfast, at the Jawbox Distillery located on a 300-acre 16th-century estate where the grain for the spirit is grown and harvested, these new liqueurs have been expertly balanced with the perfect combination of sweet and spice, married with a unique balance of the classic Jawbox Small Batch Gin.
Described as jaw-droppingly refreshing Jawbox Pineapple & Ginger cleverly combines fiery ginger with the gin and finishes with the intense flavour of pineapple. Jawbox Rhubarb & Ginger combines the finest ginger spice paired with the Victorian garden flavour of rhubarb and Jawbox Gin.
Gerry White, founder and creator of Jawbox Small Batch Gin and the Jawbox Gin Liqueurs says: “This is a very exciting time for the Jawbox Spirits Company as we release an industry first with the launch of our Pineapple & Ginger Gin Liqueur. Made using our award winning Jawbox Small Batch Gin which is already attracting rave reviews from around the globe. The Pineapple & Ginger Liqueur will evoke thoughts of warm Caribbean evenings. Jawbox Pineapple & Ginger along with the release of our new Rhubarb & Ginger Liqueur can be used to amazing effect in many cocktails. They are refreshingly stunning when simply mixed with a premium Ginger Ale and are equally as good on the rocks.”
Jawbox Small Batch Gin is named in honour of the deep, boxy Belfast sink which was the focal point in many a kitchen and where most conversations took place. Belfast is a city renowned for its innovation and history and the inspiration for Jawbox Pineapple & Ginger comes from the docks, which was home to exotic imports during the industrial era, when goods were produced and manufactured and traded all over the world. Hence pairing the fresh fruity flavour of Pineapple with the warming spice of Ginger – an inspirational combination. The recommended serve with ginger ale was inspired by Jawbox’s hometown of Belfast, where ginger ale was invented.
Suggested Jawbox Pineapple & Ginger serve: Pour 50ml Jawbox Pineapple & Ginger Liqueur into an ice-filled glass. Top up with 100ml of refreshing ginger ale, squeeze and drop a wedge of lime into the glass.
Jawbox Pineapple & Ginger and Rhubarb & Ginger Gin Liqueurs will be rolling out to the on and off trade in the UK this summer. Trade enquiries from When We Are Giants Sales@whenwearegiants.com T: 02890 339955
To discover more about Jawbox Small Batch Gin visit jawboxgin.com or @jawboxgin on social media https://www.instagram.com/p/BkN0zjinT44/
Picture: Northern Irish chef Clare Smyth in San Sebastian, Spain, before the announcement of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2018. Photograph: EPA/Gorka Estrada.
Congratulations to Northern Irish chef Clare Smyth who has been named “best female chef” in the world at the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards. At a ceremony in Bilbao on Monday night, the Antrim-born chef was given the award for her debut restaurant, Core by Clare Smyth, in Notting Hill in London.
Meanwhile, Italian chef Massimo Bottura’s Osteria Francescana was named the best restaurant in the world at Monday’s ceremony. His restaurant, which opened in 1995, was awarded the top spot for the second time – it also came first in 2016.
In second place, chef Joan Roca’s El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Spain, climbed one place from last year, as did Mauro Colagreco’s Mirazur restaurant in Menton, France, which moved from 4 in 2017 to third in 2018. Eleven Madison Park in New York, which won best restaurant in 2017, dropped to fourth place after it closed for renovations for four months last year, while Gaggan in Bangkok climbed from 7th in 2017 to 5th for 2018.
Smyth moved to the UK from her family’s farm in Northern Ireland when she was 16, to study catering at Highbury College in Portsmouth. She went on to work at Terence Conran’s Michelin House restaurant and completed stages at the French Laundry in California and Per Se in New York before going on to work as chef patron at Restaurant Gordon Ramsey in 2007 – where she became the first and only female chef to run a restaurant with three Michelin stars in the UK.
She opened her Notting Hill restaurant in July 2017, which has since been named Best Restaurant at the 2018 GQ Food and Drink Awards.
However, the “best female chef” award has been a controversial addition to the World’s 50 Best Restaurants accolades.
Why—at this point in history—do we need a “Best Female Chef” special designation?
Smyth – whose own restaurant was omitted from the top 50 – told the World’s 50 Best Restaurants: “We still have a real lack of women recognised at the top of the industry and we have to do something about that – we’re not going to change it by ignoring it… to separate [male from female chefs] for me is strange, but we don’t see enough women coming through at the top and we need to do something about it.
“I would love to see very soon that we don’t need gender specific awards because women will have recognition and there will be a balance in the industry. Hopefully we’ll see plenty of women on the 50 Best list and there won’t be a need for that award.”
Article by The Irish News
Artisan food, interactive cookery demonstrations with French cookery aficionado Jean-Christophe Novelli as well as lashings of family fun are just some of the activities on offer as part of the Comber Earlies Food Festival 2018 taking place at The Square and St Mary’s Church Car Park in Comber on Saturday 23 June.
Held in honour of the fabulous flavour of Comber Earlies which is loved across the whole of Northern Ireland and beyond, the Festival is firmly established on Northern Ireland’s culinary calendar as one of the finest free food and drink events of its kind in the Borough. It is organised by Ards and North Down Borough Council in partnership with Comber Earlies Growers, Food NI and DAERA.
There’s artisan food to sample and take home, cookery demonstrations as well as fun for all the family including a tractor display, haybale picnic area and children’s barn dance among a host of other activity throughout the day.
Mayor of Ards and North Down Borough Council, Cllr Richard Smart, said: “Whether you’re a regular foodie who has an appetite for local food and regional specialities, or just want to pick up some tips and soak up the atmosphere you’ll definitely enjoy both the gastronomic offerings and entertainment on offer as part of the Festival. This event showcases the quality, diversity and wholesomeness of locally and regionally produced fresh food and drink and celebrates its provenance and we are delighted that it continues to attract growing numbers each year.”
The uniqueness of Comber Earlies, the potato grown around the town of Comber in Co Down, has earned it Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status in Brussels. PGI is awarded by the European Commission to protect and promote named regional food products that have a reputation or noted characteristics specific to an area.
The one-day event is again being supported by a week-long Comber Earlies Fringe Festival taking place from Friday 15 to Sunday 24 June with back-to-back activity throughout the week including producers sharing food skills, live music, BBQ’s, tea dances, bake offs as well as entertainment for all the family with kids barn dances, storytelling and school olympics.
The Festival opening times are 10pm to 4pm on Saturday 23rd June with the Fringe Festival taking place from Friday 15 – Sunday 24 June.
A personalised video from Jean-Christophe can be found on our Facebook page via the following link https://goo.gl/j6oLUk.
For updates as the Festival draws near visit www.ardsandnorthdown.com/events/comber-earlies-food-festival
For media enquiries:
Ards and North Down Borough Council Corporate Communications, on 028 9127 8052 or email nicola.cully@ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk or pamela.beatty@ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk
Photo credits: Miles Willis Photography
Congratulations to Tim Hayward on winning the Restaurant Writing Award (sponsored by FoodNI (Taste of Ulster) and Hannan Meats) at the Guild of Food Writers Awards 2018.
Tim Hayward won his award for his work published in FT Weekend Magazine.
The annual Awards ceremony, held on Monday 18 June at Opera Holland Park, celebrated the best of British food writing and broadcasting.
The prestigious event is organised by the Guild of Food Writers, the UK’s professional association of food writers and broadcasters.
Guild President Xanthe Clay, who presented the Awards, said: ‘The world of food writing and broadcasting is dynamic and diverse, and our winners (from Joanna Blythman and Tim Hayward to Reem Kassis and Meera Sodha) represent the cream of the crop. It’s a perfect precis of what you need to read, watch and listen to this year.’
The Guild presented a Special Award to Anna Hicks the widow of the renowned and universally beloved fruit-and-vegetable expert Charlie Hicks; Charlie died earlier this year and was an inspiration to many in the food world.
The Award Winners are as follows:
Special Award
Charlie Hicks (1957–2018)
Lifetime Achievement Award
Anne Willan
Congratulations to all those that won at The Guild of Food Writers Awards.