Enjoy A Fresh Approach To Taste With Tesco

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The Tesco Taste Festival returns for its 9th year to Belfast’s Custom House Sq (22nd – 24th September). Fresh faces to this year’s event, Jawbox Gin joins Tesco, Food NI and Festival regular, Graham’s Bakery in some food art fun, created with local vegetables from Gilfresh and Roy Lyttle.

The event brings together more than 60 suppliers to showcase their quality fayre and expects more than 25,000 visitors over the weekend.

Pictured l-r: Tesco Northern Ireland Commercial Manager Stephen Magill, Food NI’s Operations Manager Lindsay Curran, Jawbox’s founder Gerry White, Food NI’s placement student Mollie Gault and Grahams Bakery Sales and Marketing Manager Timothy Graham.

Get Ready, Set, Go! Loaves and Fishes Returns To Ballywalter Park

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Foodies, families and friends alike can prepare to have their taste buds tantalised when the Loaves and Fishes Food Fair returns to Ballywalter Park on Sunday 8 October (2017).

The private estate of Lord and Lady Dunleath, which is not normally open to the public, will play host to over 20 local artisan food and drink producers – including the new addition of a pop-up bar showcasing local cask ales, craft beers and spirits from Copeland Gin and Harland Wines – with top chefs Stevie Toman of Michelin starred ‘OX’ in Belfast and Danny Millar, Executive Chef for The Parson’s Nose, Hillsborough, Balloo House, Killinchy, and The Poacher’s Pocket in Lisbane, will be amongst those providing cooking demonstrations.

Worshipful Master fishmonger, Hal Dawson will also provide a class in how to perfectly fillet a fish while Dearbhla Reynolds, one of Ireland’s foremost fermentistas and the healthy gut activist and published author behind The Cultured Club, will also give a demonstration and Lady Dunleath will teach visitors how to make Sourdough bread made using home-grown wheat crop.

Fun, food-themed activities will keep children entertained and guided tours of the estate’s Victorian walled garden will also be available.

Loaves and Fishes is organised by Ards and North Down Borough Council in partnership with Seafish and with support from Food NI.

It is part of Seafood Week – an annual campaign aimed at promoting the consumption of seafood.

Speaking about the upcoming event, Chief Executive of Ards and North Down Borough Council, Stephen Reid, commented:

“After the resounding success of last year’s premiere event, the Council is proud to bring it back for a second year.  Loaves and Fishes celebrates the fantastic range of foods and drinks produced in Ards and North Down – many of which have won prestigious awards – and supports these valuable local businesses.”

Dr Lynn Gilmore, Seafish Northern Ireland Manager, said:

“We are delighted to work with Ards and North Down Borough Council and FoodNI to celebrate local food and in particular seafood at the Loaves and Fishes. The Loaves and Fishes is one of a number of exciting things taking place across the UK during Seafood Week and we’d encourage everyone to get involved. The aim Seafood Week is to get more people, to eat more seafood, more often and is being promoted by Fish is the Dish, our Seafish consumer campaign.”

NI Chefs Visit Achill Island To Experience Gourmet Greenway

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A group of Taste of Ulster chefs and CEO Michele Shirlow recently travelled to Achill Island, County Mayo to experience the Gourmet Greenway. What grew out of a cycle path now includes a complementary tourism initiative encompassing producers, restaurants and hotels along the Mayo coast of the Wild Atlantic Way.

Chefs from Ballyrobin Country Lodge, Antrim, Ocho Tapas, Portrush, Brunel’s, Newcastle, Millbrook Lodge Hotel, Ballynahinch, La Mon House Hotel and the Belvedere, both in Belfast were accompanied by Michele Shirlow, food writer, Sam Butler and Great British Menu Chef, Eddie Attwell.

They had a tasting menu at Mulranny Park Hotel before travelling on to stay overnight on the island. The meal by Head Chef Chamila Mananwatta included Padraig Gannon’s oysters, salmon from Clare Island and Gerry Hasset and a tasting of Achill Mountain Lamb. They also tasted some local Oilean Eadaigh craft beers.

The next morning the group saw sheep shearing by Martin Calvey of Calvey’s Achill Mountain Lamb. The family business centres around the free-range rearing and onsite butchery of Mayo Blackface Ewes. The animals graze all over the island munching on heather and seashore grasses which give the meat a superb flavour.

There followed a trip to the headquarters of Achill Island Sea Salt. The O’Malley family revived the island tradition of harvesting Atlantic salt from local shores. They started out in their kitchen and now have a new facility on the island. The visitors went home with samples of the soft, pristine white flakes.

Lunch followed a trip to the seashore to see where the lambs are finished before slaughter. On the menu was traditional Lamb Belly – a pudding made with lamb’s blood and a slow-roasted lamb shank.

There was time for a visit to the Achill Mountain Lamb abattoir and butchers in Keel where they saw Grainne Calvey get carcasses ready for Ashford Castle, Cong, Co. Mayo.

“It was fantastic to see how this lamb is all reared, slaughtered and butchered on the island with the maximum freedom and the minimum of stress. I had heard how good it was, but seeing it in its natural environment and then tasting it confirmed to me that I had to get it on the menu at Ballyrobin” said Head Chef, Jim Mulholland.

“I think we should be doing more trips like this across the island to connect with the hardworking suppliers and families who make Irish food what it is”.

NI Celebrates Success At Golden Fork Dinner

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Column by Michele Shirlow for Farm Week (14 September)

Three Golden Forks for Northern Ireland is this year’s Great Taste Awards is a very good haul by any measure. While we didn’t secure the Supreme Champion title at the gala dinner in London hosted by the highly influential UK Guild of Fine, the championship was still retained on the island of Ireland, an achievement that speaks volume for the quality and providence of our meat in particular and the innovation of the butchers who are continually coming up with outstandingly tasty new products.

Our own Peter Hannan of Hannan Meats, a Food NI director and long-time supporter of our aims and especially of our engagement in the British marketplace, gained the Northern Ireland Regional Golden Fork from Invest NI for his stunning sweet cure bacon rack. He came close to the top award and also achieved three gold stars for his Glenarm salt-aged lamb rump, appropriately during Love Lamb Week.

Hannan, as most readers of this column, will be aware is now the most decorated company from the UK and Ireland in the Great Taste, winning the Supreme Champion title on two separate occasions, in 2012 and 2016 and collecting over 200 separate gold stars for his meats.

Another local meat producer, Ispini Charcuterie, from a family farm at Aughnacloy, won the Best Charcuterie in the UK award for its unique rosemary and thyme bresaola – just eight months after the formation of the business by pig farmer Jonny Cuddy and sister Janice. Charcuterie is a target growth area being promoted by the UK Guild of Fine Food, and for Ispini to win this Golden Fork is a truly remarkable achievement.

Our good friends and dedicated butter makers Will and Allison of Abernethy Butter in Dromara deservedly earned the VIP Golden Fork organised by Woman and Home magazine in a vote by its readership. To be selected by readers of the magazine, most of who are based in Britain, is another stunning achievement for a small local business.

So, well done all the Northern Ireland winners including Davy and Janet Uprichard of Tempted Cider in Lisburn whose elderflower cider was listed in the Top 50 Foods along with Peter Hannan’s sweet cure bacon and Glenarm lamb.

Also remarkable is the Irish dominance, especially meat producers, in the Great Taste Supreme Champion Award. Only once since 2011 has this coveted award gone outside Ireland. We’ve won it an impressive three times since 2011 – George McCartney of McCartney’s Meats, Moira in 2011, Peter Hannan in 2012 and 2016 and two producers from the Republic – Pat Whelan of James Whelan Butchers in Clonmel in 2015 for his beef dripping and Hugh Maguire of Maguire’s Meats of Ashbourne, Co. Meath for his smoked black pudding in 2017.

Last week was, in fact, the third consecutive year a meat product was named the Supreme Champion at the Great Taste Awards – all from the island of Ireland.

Some 12,366 products entered into the awards. The smoked black pudding was one of over 100 smoked products that picked up Great Taste Awards. So, there’s clearly a developing trend towards hand smoked foods. Smoked eel from Lough Neagh also did exceptionally well, picking up three gold stars.

What the Great Taste achievements demonstrate is the growing awareness in Britain of Northern Ireland’s premium quality food and drink. In particular, the success of Abernethy Butter in the public vote organised by Women and Home magazine, which includes an excellent food section edited by Jane Curran, shows how a strategic focus on Great Britain can pay off in terms of consumer recognition and business.

Peter Hannan already has significant business there, and the success of Ispini ought to encourage this smaller business to target this market. There will be many wishing to taste a product rated the Best Charcuterie in Britain.

Food NI has taken this message to Britain by our participation in last week’s Speciality and Fine Food Fair. We had hundreds of original products on show from almost 30 producers. Our aim will be to do as much as our resources allow to build on the market profile of our food in Britain.

 

Popular Potato Festival returns to The Giant’s Causeway

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Northern Ireland’s favourite potato themed festival is promising a packed programme of activities and attractions for all ages on Saturday 7th October 2017.  Fun will commence at 10.00am and run until 5pm in the grounds of the Causeway Hotel.

With the backdrop of the world famous Giant’s Causeway the Northern Ireland Potato Festival is a great mix of family fun, celebration of world-renowned potato breeder John Clarke, and a chance to learn more about the agri-food industry which thrives on the Causeway Coast.

Now in its 5th year the line-up boasts a debut display by ‘The Grass Lads’ on the grass roof of the Giant’s Causeway Visitor Centre, cookery demonstrations & talks, bouncy castles, artisan food and drink producers, crafters, potato inspired games and a petting farm.

Cutting Edge Helicopters will be back in the air again offering spectacular helicopter sightseeing flights, and the festival organisers have launched a raffle offering a free flight for three lucky spectators.

Visitors will have the opportunity to purchase a range of delicious local produce from gourmet burgers to speciality potato dishes, artisan confectionary and locally crafted beers & ciders or find inspiration at the Cookery Demonstrations & talks taking place throughout the day in the Food NI festival kitchen.

This year on the eve of the Potato Festival will be celebrated with a ‘Super Spud Tour’ along the beautiful Causeway Coastal Route which will celebrate the area’s unique potato breeding & growing heritage.  This ticketed tour offered by Causeway Coast Foodie Tours will include a potato producer tour, themed lunch at one of the area’s most iconic attractions and an opportunity to enjoy a delicious cocktail featuring Ireland’s first potato distilled vodka! To book contact; causewayfoodie@gmail.com.

Guests will be transported back to the Causeway Hotel where they can join the community evening event in the hotel.

The Northern Ireland Potato Festival is a free event held in the region known and respected for the strength of the agricultural industry, award-winning food & drink and stunning scenery.  The Northern Ireland Potato Festival event coincides with the National Trust free open day at The Giant’s Causeway (Saturday only).

There will be a park and ride service with free parking and free shuttle buses, which will operate from Bushmills car park and from Dunluce School.

The festival promises to be a fantastic day out for all ages and interests, the details on the full programme can be found on the NI Potato Festival page on Facebook.

Belfast First Cocktail Festival Set To Shake Up City

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A brand new week-long festival aimed at cocktail lovers will bring a top line-up of special events to Belfast this October.

Whether you are looking for a ground-breaking cocktail creation, want to watch some of the world’s best bartenders in action, or fancy taking a step back in time to the age of prohibition, Belfast’s first and only Cocktail Week has something for everyone.  

Running from October 16 – 22, the inaugural event invites cocktail lovers to whet their whistle and enjoy a jam-packed calendar of bespoke events taking place in bars across the Cathedral Quarter.

Kicking off the week in style, award-winning London establishment Swift Bar will take up a special residency in The Merchant Hotel’s iconic Cocktail Bar from October 16.

Fresh from a big win at the Spirited Awards, where the bar was named Best New International Cocktail Bar 2017, husband and wife duo Bobby Hiddleston and Mia Johansson will bring the Swift team to Belfast for a week-long takeover with innovative cocktails and their renowned Irish coffees on offer.

Festival-goers can also take a step back in time and experience the atmosphere and excitement of the birth of the cocktail at The Luggage Room takeover of Sixty6 (upstairs at The National). Enjoy signature creations from the prohibition age from the acclaimed London based Luggage Room staff who will be mixing up The Darb (Citadelle Gin shaken with apricot brandy, Italian vermouth and lemon juice) and Barney Barnato (pisco stirred with Cocchi Americano, Pierre Ferrand dry Curaçao and aromatic bitters) along with juleps, cobblers, swizzles, imperials, punches, sours, flips and other popular concoctions of the time.
Continuing the festivities, Club Sixty6 will host an intimate whiskey masterclass on October 19, where guests will get a behind-the-scenes insight into the magic of whiskey distilling.  The bar will also cater for those who want to enjoy a non-alcoholic tipple with a Future of Mocktails Masterclass and an innovative mocktail menu, which will be available all week.

Ending the week on a high, guest speaker, author of the Curious Bartender range of cocktail books and award-winning bartender, Tristan Stephenson, will host a seminar exploring the art of mixing the perfect cocktail on October 22.  The famed bartender, co-owner of two of London’s hottest cocktail bars, Purl and Worship Street Whistling Shop, will give guests an exclusive opportunity to taste contemporary and classic cocktails with his own unique twist during the masterclass.  Tickets for this event will cost £10 and includes a drink on arrival.  Following the event, guests will be invited to raise a toast to end the week of celebrations with a free after party taking place in Club Sixty6.
Bronagh Bennett from the National Grande Café and Club Sixty6 and creator of Belfast Cocktail Week said;

“Belfast Cocktail Week is a way of showing that Belfast can compete on an international level alongside cities with great cocktail cultures such as London, Edinburgh and even New York.

“Belfast and Northern Ireland’s hospitality sector has come a long way in recent years and customers are really broadening their horizons.  The wide range of events taking place during the festival will appeal to everyone and I hope it encourages people to try something new.

“We are looking forward to bringing this week-long event to Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter and hope it will be the first of many.”

Bars taking take in the festival include The Cocktail Bar and Berts Jazz Bar at The Merchant, The National Grande Café and Club Sixty6, Bullitt Hotel, Bootleggers, Muriel’s Café Bar, The Spaniard and Babel, the new rooftop cocktail bar at Bullitt, on its opening weekend.

Most events at Belfast Cocktail Week are free of charge and first come first served, please check the website for details for ticketed events.
For a full line-up of events and further information on optional festival passes, visit BelfastCocktailWeek.co.uk More events are still to be announced and will be added to the line-up over the coming weeks.  A limited number of festival passes will also be available to purchase from The National Grande Café. The optional festival passes are priced at £10 and includes 25% off selected cocktails in participating venues (excluding The Merchant where instead festival pass holders will get a complimentary taster of punch with each cocktail purchased at The Merchant Hotel’s Swift Takeover.)