Neither did we – but we are about to find out when an Australian chef marries the pair next week to create a unique dish as a flavour of what’s to come at this year’s Northern Ireland CountrySports Fair at Scarvagh House in Banbridge (28^th and 29^th May).

Dean Coppard, the Australian chef who has been making waves across our region’s cooking scene since he arrived here 12 years ago, will be showcasing his authentic cuisine by combining two of Northern Ireland’s  finest PGI products at next week’s Fair – the Lough Neagh Eel and the famous Orchard County Bramley Apple.

The Sydney ex-pat, who runs Uluru Bar & Grill in Armagh and manages a kitchen full of passionate chefs cooking produce with an Australian twist, will demonstrate his rationale for pulling together these two unique products to celebrate our connection with our land and our loughs.

Dean, husband to Sara and father to Mia, 6, and Dylan, 4, is continuing his monthly celebrations of  Northern Ireland Year of Food and Drink initiative by cooking to May’s theme ‘Places and Landscapes’, to create this speciality dish which is guaranteed to whet the appetite of the crowds on May 28^th and 29^th at Scarvagh House.

Speaking about the event, which is a must in the Northern Ireland country events calendar, Dean said: “From sourcing new products from the field, sea or loughs and cooking them with an Australian twist, this year’s CountrySports Fair is about to be served up something completely unique.

“The dish I’ll be cooking – ‘Lough and Apples’ – was created out of our desire to show people what we believe – and that’s with so many great local producers our job is made a lot easier.

“We champion our producers because they deserve the credit for all the blood, sweat and tears they put in to produce, what we feel is, the very best produce, not only in Ulster but, in Ireland.

“With our recent ability to be able to source Lough Neagh Eel we have developed this dish which Uluru Bar & Grill customers are loving so we know it will go down a treat at the Fair.

“To showcase the authenticity of our cooking, we have married the Lough Neagh Eel with the flavour of the Bramley Apple wood from local orchards, which have been worked by generations of apple farmers in the Co. Armagh area. This creates a really authentic dish, which people at the CountrySports Fair will love.”

Dean’s style and authenticity created a storm in the Food NI marquee at this year’s Balmoral Show. In March, his chefs at Uluru Bar & Grill in Armagh, returned to the ecclesiastical city with two gold medals, two silver medals, seven bronze medals and one certificate of participation from this year’s IFEX Exhibition.

The Michelin Guide recommended Uluru Bar & Grill, headed by Dean Coppard, is going from strength to strength, and, the dish on offer at the Northern Ireland CountrySports Fair 2016, has already been  recognised by Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council’s ‘Food Heartland’ initiative and is on the shortlist at the first ‘Food Heartlands’ awards.

Dean added:  “We’ve always been big believers that we have some of the best produce right here on our doorstep. We take pride in our ingredients and I am proud to say that every element used in our ‘Lough and Apple’ dish is a match made right here in Northern Ireland.”

Attending the popular country fair will also be Armagh Cider, Baked in Belfast and Peppup Sauces and joining them in the food marquee will be many other producers showing the results of their hard labour.

The Northern Ireland CountrySports Fair will showcase the very best in country sports, crafts and local food. It will incorporate new events such a Country and Western concert on Saturday, May 28 the world’s first ferret ‘Grand National’ and a charity Donkey Derby. For more information, visit www.countrysportsfairs.com.

Now in its fourth year, Tiptree World Bread Awards with Brook Food is seeking professional and home bakers for the 2016 competition.

Our industry judges certainly know a thing or two about judging the best loaves. On hand to taste test your bread are: George Fuller, Chairman, Craft Bakers’ Association, Hugh Weeks, Technical Consultant to the Baking Industry. Alan Clarke, Chief Executive, Scottish Bakers, Andrew Whitley, founder of The Village Bakery and Co-founder of the Real Bread Campaign and of course our Chairman, Stephen Hallam, Master Baker, and Managing Director of Dickinson & Morris.

Bread is a world food and baking it is a huge undertaking – 12 million loaves are sold every day in the UK. Along with home-baking, the phenomenon of the artisan bakery has really taken off in the last decade.

Also scrutinising your loaves will be a host of Great British Bake Off favourites – Luis Troyano, Frances Quinn, Kimberley Wilson and Martha Collison. The stellar judging panel includes stars of BBC2’s Victorian Bakers John Foster and Duncan Glendinning, as well as a host of other industry legends.

James Freeman, Victoria Bakery was our winner in 2015; his Great British White beat off competition from hundreds of loaves sent in from around the United Kingdom to take the title.

The awards close to entries on Sunday 4 September 2016 and the judging will take place in September. The winners will be announced in October at a harvest supper-style ceremony at St John’s Hyde Park, London.

By Derek Thompson

The need for Gluten Free food has been with us for many years but recently it has become mainstream as more consumers are diagnosed as Coeliac and more suppliers recognise the growing demand for wider choice and better tasting products.

Despite all the talk and hype around the topic the majority of people know little or nothing about Coeliac Disease or why Gluten Free products play such an important part in many people’s lives!

Ian Elliott, manager at the very progressive McCool’s SuperValu in Ballymoney, spotted us in the Food NI Producers 2016 Guide, realised that his store staff were selling GF food but didn’t really know why so he contacted us for advice.

That led to us doing an in–store Supermarket Masterclass on Gluten Free food in which we explained to the McCool’s SuperValu staff the reason why GF food is essential for so many people. We finished our talks by giving the staff some practical ideas to help develop their GF range and improve relationships with their current and potential GF customers.

The talks were well received, feedback was very positive and when we returned a few days later for an in-store GF Food tasting event we were delighted to hear that some of our suggestions had already been implemented.

News of this training class has already spread and we have had enquiries from other supermarkets around Northern Ireland.

Contact details can be found here: https://www.nigoodfood.com/producers/gluten-free-ireland/ or by email: derek@glutenfreeireland.com

Northern Ireland’s leading independent coffee chain Ground Espresso Bars has opened the doors to its second Bangor site at the new Next plc outlet in Bloomfield Shopping Centre.

This new concession will be the company’s latest installation of its million-pound expansion investment.

Based above Next Plc, the new Ground Espresso Bars will be a coffee-oasis for busy shoppers within the high-street complex. Serving their much-loved menu of treats, teas, and specialist coffee blends, the Ground Espresso Bars Bloomfield team are excited to continue building relationships with the local Bangor community.
Director of Ground Espresso Bars, Karen Gardiner said: “We are delighted with how Ground Espresso Bars’ relationship with Next plc is blooming. This new opening will be our sixth store partnership and we look forward to continuing to support the retail giant just as they have supported us.”

The company’s expansion project is still currently underway with several more Ground Espresso Bars scheduled to open throughout 2016.

Ground will be working in partnership with Next again very soon as work begins on new units in Newry, Newtownabbey and Belfast

For further information on Ground Espresso Bars visit www.groundcoffee.net

Pure, natural sea salt from a remote island in the Atlantic has been launched by Northern Ireland’s Hartnett’s Oils.

Duvillaun Fine Foods, a new artisan business, has been created by Harnett’s, which is based at Waringstown in county Down and has a longstanding reputation in pioneering award winning cold-pressed food oils such as hemp and rapeseed that are highly rated by leading chefs.

The new sea salt was launched in the Food NI Food Pavilion at Balmoral Show.

Jane Harnett, a director of Harnett’s Oils and a leader personality in the Ulster Artisan producers’ group, commenting on the new sea salt, says: “We hand-harvest the sea water from around the island which is known for having some of the cleanest waters in the world and is a protected area.

“At present the sea-water is then processed and packaged on our Waring Estate, county Down by Harnett’s producing our very own artisan salt from what is probably the purest water on the planet.

“We have a number of ideas for the Duvillaun brand in the next few years so hopefully this is our first product of many innovative products. For instance, we are planning to develop Duvillaun lamb,” adds Jane.

Duvillaun, known as the Black island, is an uninhabited island north of Achill Island and South of the Inishkeas in the Atlantic Ocean in county Mayo in the Republic of Ireland.

Duvillaun pure Irish salt is available in 40g bottles at £4 RRP.

Harnett’s Oils is a family-run business which produces cold-pressed and bottles functional food oils. The family has been growing GM-free oilseeds in Northern Ireland mostly from local grown crops since the 17th century.

The family business has won a series of awards for its artisan products including a gold star for its Pure Rapeseed Oil in the Great Taste Awards 2014 and gold for the oil in Blas na hEireann, Irish National Food and Drink Awards, in 2015.

The company was runner-up in the Great British Farm Produce Awards with the oil. It sells its food oils in Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

Jane Harnett on Harnett’s Oil pictured with the new Irish sea salt for seasoning meals.

25th June – 2nd July 2016

Eel‐Eat is an initiative brought to you by Lough Neagh Partnership in association with the Lough Neagh Fishermen’s Co‐operative and supported by Tourism NI and Antrim & Newtownabbey Borough Council, it will take place from Saturday 25th June until Saturday 2nd July 2016.

The event aims to encourage residents, local businesses and visitors to eat Lough Neagh Eels, try something new and support the local fishing industry.

With special menus designed to suit all tastes and budgets, and food events in restaurants throughout Northern Ireland, Eel‐Eat promises to be a week for food lovers from near and far.

Get involved

Lough Neagh Partnership is recruiting up to 40 restaurants from across NI to be part of Eel‐Eat, from family run cafés to gastro pubs and fine dining restaurants.

If you offer a sit down dining experience and are passionate about quality local produce, great atmosphere and top class customer service, then we would like you to be a part of it. To participate, you must serve Lough Neagh Eels on the menu from 25th June – 2nd July 2016.

Where to Source Lough Neagh Eels

Lough Neagh Fishermen’s Co‐operative Donegal Prime Fish

Keenan’s

Eastcoast Seafoods Ewings

La Rousse

Promotional campaign

Eel‐Eat will be promoted by Lough Neagh Partnership’s award winning Destination Marketer and will include:

Advertising ‐ For example digital, radio, outdoor and press advertising.

Website ‐ Dedicated Eel‐Eat website featuring participating restaurants, events and competitions.
Promotions and leaflets ‐ Tactical promotions and leaflet distribution.
PR and press activity ‐ Local media, tourism media, food publications, bloggers and press (launch event)
Social media ‐ Campaign and competitions targeting over 145,000 social media followers. Email marketing ‐ Email campaigns, local businesses, tour operators, press, travel trade and other tourism agencies and partners as well as our consumer database.

Participating restaurants will receive:

A listing on the Eel‐Eat website and an opportunity to promote details of your specific Eel‐ Eat event or menu.
Branded Eel‐Eat point of sale display material e.g. flyers, Restaurant Week cards, badges and a marketing tool kit to support your own in‐house promotion of Eel‐Eat to existing customers.

Email artwork with Eel‐Eat branding which can be used to promote the event to your customer database.
Opportunity to get involved in PR activity, press releases and inward press activity in NI, ROI and GB markets which will feature member restaurants as appropriate.

Opportunity to get involved in Eel‐Eat social media activity.

No Registration Fee

To register your interest for this event please use the following link: http://eepurl.com/bZII_z

As this is the inaugural Eel‐Eat there will be no registration fee.

We do require each participating venue to supply at £30 gift voucher, which will be used to promote the initiative and drive footfall to your restaurant.

More information

Eimear Kearney

Lough Neagh Partnership

Email: eimear@discoverloughneagh.com Phone: 028 7941 7941

Follow Eel‐Eat

Keep up to date with Eel‐Eat by following: Twitter: @eel_eat
Facebook: www.facebook.com/EatEels

Stimulate/join the conversation with #EelsAreTasty on social media