Food NI has secured a further boost for local food producers as part of the NI Year of Food and Drink by offering stalls to eligible producers at a dedicated food pavilion at the BBC Good Food Show in Belfast later this year.

Food NI will be supporting local food and drink by providing stands at a Year of Food and Drink Village at the Show which will take place in the north for the first time between 14th and 16th October. The event is set to attract over 12,000 visitors from across Ireland to the newly developed Waterfront venue. Food NI will host the dedicated area for local producers which will allow businesses to showcase our quality food and drink producers and celebrate the Year of Food and Drink overall. The leading membership organisation for the food and drink sector, Food NI has applied to the Northern Ireland Regional Food Programme for support for the initiative and is passing the benefits on to local companies.

this highly prestigious event, 78 per cent of whom are in the ABC1 socioeconomic bracket, this is a wonderful opportunity for our local producers – from the smallest to the largest – to promote their top quality products.

“Based on figures from other hugely successful BBC Good Food Show events in cities across the UK last year, we expect an average spend from the mainly female visitor of £103, which leaves plenty of opportunity for sales and, just as importantly, exposure.”

To be eligible for a stand in Food NI’s Year of Food and Drink Village applicants must be a Northern Ireland food or drink company with products made in NI, using NI ingredients where possible and sourcing, using and promoting Northern Ireland produce. Companies should also be enhancing the reputation of Northern Ireland as a quality food and drink destination.

Companies with less than £500k turnover can qualify for a 2×2 stand in the Food Village whilst those with a turnover over £500k and up to £5 million can qualify for a 3×3 stand.

The Show will be a major focal point of Northern Ireland’s Year of Food and Drink celebrations and will bring the best of Northern Ireland food and drink to life, from demonstration theatres featuring talented local chefs to this dedicated Food Village which will play host to regional producers. The Show will present a fantastic opportunity for larger brands as well to raise brand awareness and retail to an engaged foodie audience.

To enquire about your eligibility for a Food NI-supported stand please contact darina@nigoodfood.com or Lindsay@nigoodfood.com. Alternatively, you can call Food NI on 028 90249449.

Larger companies should contact the show organisers, River Street Events, direct. Email Cat Banks at Catriona.Banks@riverstreetevents.co.uk or call 020 3405 4282.

Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council is delighted to announce that the inaugural Food Heartland Awards 2016 are open for entries.

2016 Northern Ireland Year of Food & Drink is a golden opportunity to showcase and champion the outstanding food & drink created and produced in the Borough. It is also a unique opportunity to celebrate and champion the great people driving the local agri-food sector forward.

The Food Heartland Awards will take place on Wednesday 25th May at Craigavon Civic & Conference Centre. The 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 award categories for the Food Heartland Awards 2016 are:

• Best New Start Award
• Best Growth Business Award
• Best Export Business Award
• Best Marketing Initiative Award
• Innovation Award
• Sustainability Award
• Rising Star Award (for anyone under the age of 25)
• Best Dish Using Local Ingredients
• Best Use of a PGI Product
• Best Licensed Eating Establishment
• Best Non-Licensed Eating Establishment
• Best Independent Retail Food Business

Please note that ENTRY IS FREE and you can enter as many categories as you wish. The deadline for entries is 5.00pm on Friday 15th April.

Further information on the Food Heartland Awards can be found at www.foodheartland.com

By Michaela Clarke- Oysters Restaurant

Oysters new Spring menu has a new exciting dish in the form of Haven Smokehouse Turf-Smoked Donegal Salmon served with a Pea, Vanilla & Mint Puree, Confit Potato and Crispy Capers!

Head Chef, Niall Gorham, has had a long standing love for Turf-Smoked Salmon from The Haven Smokehouse, and has now brought a piece of Irish heritage to the plates at Oysters.

Hailing from Derry, Declan McConnelllogue has set up The Haven Smokehouse alongside his partner Sue Cruse from Sri Lanka, in the picturesque Co. Donegal village of Carrigart.

Derry is a thread linking Oysters and The Haven Smokehouse, both owners originating from the Maiden City and now collaborating to bring organic turf-smoked salmon, via the most traditional of smoking methods to the palates of Northern Irish diners, a fine example showcasing the best of our local produce with two Derry natives at the heart of the process.

Declan and Sue pride themselves on keeping their smokehouse as authentic and traditional as possible and with Oysters’ love affair of local produce and Northern Irish heritage, this makes for the perfect pairing, the end product being a fabulous melody of true Irish flavours stimulating the tastebuds.

Declan McConnelllogue – The Haven Smokehouse
An explosion of flavours and smoked nuances immediately transport the diner to the Irish countryside of old and the heritage of years gone-by, of farmers cutting turf and the smell of turf-filled fires permeating homes across the land.

The beautiful, fresh, organic salmon is carefully hand selected from a bio-suisse approved organic farm in Fanad Head, and Declan explains how; “within hours of swimming in the wild Atlantic waters, it is on the filleting table.”

The journey of the salmon fillet begins a short distance from the smokehouse, only a stone throw from the pristine waters edge.

After the salmon is caught and brought to the smokehouse, Declan, the Master Smoker, carefully threads a needle under the collar of each side of salmon with twine and then hangs same from hooks, allowing the oil that comes to the surface, to drip off the tail, in sparkling droplets. The delicacy is then left to dry in the fresh Atlantic breeze.

The next step sees the introduction of turf to the process – “It’s time to light the turf fire, gentle smoke envelopes our salmon sides for two to three days as it slowly starts to cure,” explains Declan.
Declan, proprietor of The Haven Smokehouse, details the unique smoking effect used, “Contrary to popular understanding, at The Haven Smokehouse we do not use salt to cure our salmon – we use smoke! Salt is used to create a pellicle on the flesh to let smoke stick to it. Given time, smoke will slowly displace the moisture in the salmon, therefore curing and creating a low salt product – call us rebels!”
The turf is local to the Smokehouse as well, with some of the peat bogs, generated over thousands of years, located in the surrounding hills.

The entire process takes place in the most traditional of smokehouses, designed and established by Declan and Sue, shunning the modern commercialised smoking processes in favour of an authentic dry-stone walled cottage smoking methods, thereby keeping Irish heritage truly alive in the form of turf-smoked salmon, every single element coming from the surrounding landscape and carried out through Irish traditions passed down through generations. “After many late nights and many mistakes, I realised it was a taste of my memories, of a time when simplicity was understanding and knowledge was watching the salmon, with the old soul,” Declan – The Haven Smoke House.
A man, with an absolute passion for heritage and the simplicity of process, Declan is on the threshold of perfecting his recipe for sour dough bread which he hopes to make in his own clay oven currently in process of being fashioned by his own hands. Keep an eye out for another wonderful, exciting product being exported across the region of Ireland / Northern Ireland and Europe.

If this has tantalised your tastebuds and you yearn to savour veritable organic turf-smoked salmon at its optimum, visit Oysters and be enthralled by the delicacies of this superb product, steeped in the heritage of these two Derry natives.

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council’s Taste Junction initiative are thrilled with the success of the first ever Twilight Market that took place in the city’s unique venue Newry Market on Friday 1st April as part of the Year of Food and Drink.

There were over 50 stalls with pop up restaurants ranging from goat burgers to pizza. Food producers from Northern Ireland with a variety of sauces, oils and chocolates and not to forget the local brewed craft beers and cider that was also served on the night. The atmosphere was electric with live entertainment throughout the night. Stall holders were so busy they sold out of produce, children also enjoyed the special cookery and craft skills that were provided.

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Chairperson, Cllr Mickey Ruane stated “I am delighted how successful the Twilight Market in Newry was for the local producers, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council and for The Year of Food and Drink. It was great to witness the many people who turned out to support and experience the first ever Twilight Market in Newry which was a massive showcase of award winning produce and the vibrant restaurant sector”.

There were thousands of visitors to the Twilight Market, positive comments were received about the excellent and varied range of food and drink available on their own doorstep! Among the feedback received people have mentioned the good atmosphere and buzz at the Twilight Market,they would definitely attend again and would love to have more of these type of markets in Newry. Newry, Mourne and Down District Council look forward to hosting another twilight market in the near future

Something very exciting is ‘brewing’ at Silverbirch Hotel, Omagh who have ‘cracked open’ plans for a NEW and exciting event taking place on Saturday 30th April from 4pm in The Pavilion.

Aptly named ‘North West Brew Fest’ this exciting debut event is all about great drink and will showcase local beer, stout, ale and cider produced from across the North West featuring; Pokertree Brewery (Carrickmore), Long Meadow Cider, Hillstown (Randalstown), Red Hand Brewing (Donaghmore), Farmageddon (Comber)and NorthBound (Derry).
The event is being held in conjunction with Brewing & Distilling month as part of Tourism Northern Ireland, NI Year of Food & Drink 2016 calendar. April is dedicated to celebrating Northern Ireland’s brewing heritage and the exciting arrival of a collection of quality local craft beers and ciders.

Allan Duncan, Owner Silverbirch Hotel comments, “The Year of Food & Drink provides our local food and drinks sector with a great opportunity to showcase the quality product offering we can provide for guests. We are excited to host the first North West Brew Fest, as we are aware that food and drink experiences have become increasingly important to guests. The event will give people the opportunity to taste new products and meet the local companies producing the goods.”

Festival goers will have the opportunity to taste for themselves a collection of beers, ales, stout and ciders that have been hand crafted and locally made as well as meeting first hand some of the characters behind the ever growing NI brewing scene.

North West Brew Fest tickets are now on sale from Silverbirch Hotel reception, buy your ticket in advance for just £5pp for your chance to win an overnight stay and tour of Pokertree Brewery for six guests. Alternatively tickets will also be available on the day North West Brew Fest is the perfect event to get a group of friends and family together and try something new, groups of 10 more can enjoy 1 person free! All tickets prices include one free drink per person. There will be also be a festival raffle on the day with a great selection of prizes including craft beer hampers and much more.

To help you get into the festival spirit over the bank holiday weekend Silverbirch Hotel’s Pavilion which will be transformed with a beer garden theme to the event and fantastic live entertainment by local Tyrone band, ‘Hootin Annie’s as well as Fermanagh duo Niall and Karl.

To help wash down the great selection of craft beers, ales, stouts and cider the chefs have created a special North West Brew Fest menu aptly featuring ‘beer battered’ fish and chips and lots more tasty bites, after all it is the year of food & drink!

To keep up to date on North West Brew Fest like us on facebook www.facebook.com/NorthWestBrewFest or follow @NWBrewFest on twitter.
Buy your ticket from Silverbirch reception telephone 028 8224 2520.

Article written for Ulster Grocer by Food NI CEO Michele Shirlow

Year of Food and Drink, now in its fourth month, celebrates our tremendous culture of distilling and brewing throughout April. And there’s a huge amount to celebrate and showcase in both categories. Both are growing steadily especially brewing.

When I was growing up, Northern Ireland had one distillery and a couple of major brand breweries. The sole distillery was the historic Old Bushmills in Co. Antrim. It started distilling whiskey in the 17th century, 1622 to be precise, and continues today as one of our genuine world-class brands. At the turn of the 20th century the north of Ireland had around 20 whiskey distillers including the two biggest producers in the world, the Royal Irish off the Grosvenor Road, Belfast, producer of Dunville’s, VR and Three Crowns, three of the biggest selling Irish whiskies in the US back then, and Watts in Derry’s Waterside, again supplying the huge US market. Both were badly impacted by Prohibition in 1929.

The last major brewery, Bass Ireland, closed its doors in Belfast in 2005. Better known as The Ulster Brewery, it was founded in 1897 by Thomas R. Caffrey. It passed through a number of owners until 2005.

How things have changed in the past five years. We now have another distillery producing whiskey, Echlinville in Kircubbin, which has rejuvenated the old Dunville brands as well as planning to launch its own gin, vodka and rum. Niche Drinks in Derry has launched The Quiet Man Irish Whiskey. Other spirits are now being distilled – Rademon Estate Craft Distillery in Crossgar has won global acclaim for its Shortcross gin, RubyBlue in Lisburn, famed for its Boozeberries liqueurs, is now selling an Irish potato vodka to customers worldwide including Russia, Duallist spiced rum has been developed by a small business in Ballynahinch, and Jawbox has been created in Belfast. All draw on the great traditions of distilling here over the decades.

It’s the same story in brewing. We now have around 30 craft breweries, several of which are exporting beyond these shores, the best known being Hilden in Dunmurry, Ireland’s oldest craft ale, beer and stout producer, and Whitewater in Kilkeel, which is now shipping its beers as far as China.

There’s now a brewery in most parts of Northern Ireland, several of which are integrating with other artisan businesses. For instance, Northbound in Derry is supplying its ale to Dart Mountain in Dungiven for Banagher Bold, a pasteurised cow’s milk cheese washed in beer for a distinctive flavour. The beer is already being enjoyed by diners in local gourmet restaurants.

Hillstown Brewery in Ahoghill is using grain from the brewing operation to feed cows for the production of a Wagyu-style beer flavoured meat. And Farmageddon, a co-operative brewery in Comber is also using grain waste to feed a small herd of pigs. Bacon from the Farmageddon pigs is attracting the attention of top chef Danny Millar of Balloo Inns.

Also significant is a recent partnership involving three craft breweries – Farmageddon, Hillstown and Pokertree in Tyrone to develop a new beer for export to Britain and the Republic. They’ve pooled their expertise and resources to develop the beer, Three-Way, and to ensure the capacity to produce it for export.

As well as a vast range of craft beers, Northern Ireland has a thriving cider industry that is winning acclaim in Britain and the Republic. Our cider is produced from 100 per cent apple juice. In Britain, cider is generally made from concentrates with preservatives. Our cider is natural and delicious.

Thus there could scarcely be a better time to raise a glass, and to stock, our innovative and enterprising distillers and brewers.