Enterprise, Trade and Investment Minister Jonathan Bell today joined five chefs from top Dubai hotels as they took part in a ‘larder challenge’ with Northern Ireland chefs at Belfast MET Culinary College.
The event, organised by Invest Northern Ireland, was part of a programme to showcase Northern Ireland’s unique food and drink heritage and the pure, natural, quality of our produce.

Over 40 local companies submitted products which the chefs used to create a Year of Food & Drink Tasting Buffet. The producers of these ingredients then had the opportunity to meet the chefs who used their produce and also network with buyers from key retail and foodservice outlets in the Middle East. The ‘larder’ was stocked with products including salmon, cote de boeuf, striploin, lamb, cheeses, chutneys and jams.
Jonathan Bell said: “This larder challenge and networking showcase is an exciting opportunity for influential chefs and buyers in Dubai to sample the quality of our local products for themselves.

“The Northern Ireland food and drink industry is making a big effort to showcase the pure, natural, quality of local food and drink. Invest NI and Tourism NI have thrown their collective weight behind the initiative and have arranged one to one meetings with buyers and site visits to producers. This direct contact will help build on the international reputation of the local products already exported to the Middle East and support our producers to leverage new sales.”

Commenting on the experience, Ben Tobitt, Head Chef Jumeriah Restaurant Group, said: “It has been inspiring to meet the passionate producers of Northern Ireland’s award winning food and drink and to get hands on with some of the finest ingredients.”

Harry Robinson, Belfast Met Curriculum Area Manager, School of Creative and Services Industries, said: “Belfast Met are delighted to host events such as the Larder Challenge in partnership with Invest NI and DETI. This event has provided our students with a fantastic opportunity to experience and participate in an event that features such a high calibre of professional chefs, and see first-hand how they work and interact in a culinary environment.
“The year of Food and Drink is an exciting time for our College as more high profile events will be coming to the College throughout the year, which will offer our students with more opportunities to practice their culinary and creative skills in a live environment.”

Belfast MET Culinary College / DETI MInister Jonathan Bell

During the Year of Food, leading Belfast law firm Cleaver Fulton Rankin will be providing helpful legal articles for the Northern Ireland food and drink industry. The first of these pieces, by Associate Solicitor Michael King, covers the area of trademarking, and protected names in Europe. His particular area of expertise is contentious intellectual property law to include disputes involving trademarks, design right patents, copyright, branding, and passing off.

The quality and source of foodstuffs rather than solely their price is becoming increasingly important to consumers, who now demand to know a product’s journey from “field to fork”. In a globalised world, this can actually assist local producers – Northern Ireland produce is world-renowned, and local producers can capitalise on this reputation by promoting their brand and linking it Northern Ireland’s excellent industry.

Promoting a brand is normally done by trademarking. The owner usually registers a word and/or image. It is also possible to register colours, shapes, sounds and even smells. The owner can register in the jurisdictions in which they do business and can apply for a Community mark to cover all 28 member states of the EU.

The owner can also protect unregistered marks from copying under the law of ‘passing off.’ The ingredients for a passing off action are goodwill; reputation; misrepresentation that competing goods are connected with or endorsed by the owner; and loss, usually a decrease in trade.

In addition, with agricultural products and foodstuffs, the producer or group of producers can apply for an EU protected name. The EU currently operates three schemes; protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI) and traditional speciality guarantee (TSG).

PDOs cover agricultural products and foodstuffs produced, processed and prepared in a given geographical location using recognised know-how. UK examples are Jersey Royal potatoes and Stilton blue cheese.

PGIs cover agricultural products and foodstuffs linked to a geographical area. At least one of the stages of production, processing or preparation takes place in the specific area. UK examples are Wensleydale cheese and Cornish sardines.

TSGs highlight traditional characteristics of a product, either its composition or means of production. UK examples include Gloucester old spots pork and traditionally farm fresh turkey.

An individual producer or group within an area, can apply. If it is a single producer, they must demonstrate they are the only producer in the area associated with that product and that it differs from other products in neighbouring areas. Unfortunately, this process can take up to four years.

Protected EU names encourage diversity, protect names from misuse and imitation, and help consumers choose. They represent strong badges of origin in addition to trademarks which promote Northern Ireland produce both in Europe and internationally.

The UK has not been as enthusiastic about EU protected names as its European neighbours, having only 65. Northern Ireland only has a few PGIs; new season Comber potatoes/Comber Earlies, Armagh Bramley apples and Irish whiskey.

Scottish Beef is a PGI. Given the meat, fruit and vegetable industries in Northern Ireland, there is great potential for more EU protected names. It seems to be a resource that is underused or not well-publicised.

Local producers can capitalise on consumer demand for local, and may consider trademarking brands and applying for an EU protected name. To avoid the cost of a wasted application or objection, producers should first consult the appropriate advisor.

Please contact Cleaver Fulton Rankin on 028 90243141, or alternatively visit www.cfrlaw.co.uk

Krazibaker, the Northern Ireland artisan baker, has opened a unique bakery school to help increase awareness of traditional Irish griddle breads.

The award winning business, owned and run by Mark Douglas, who has experience over 30 years in baking a range of traditional and contemporary breads, is aiming to create interest in Britain in the production of staple Irish products such as handmade soda bread, potato cakes, potato apple, wheaten loaves and all butter shortbread.

Douglas has won UK Great Taste awards for his shortbread, which is made using handmade butter from Abernethy Butter, another Northern Irish award winner.

While the bakery school is currenly based at his home in Dromore, County Down, he plans to team up with a local hotel to offer residential courses to attract the interest of baking enthusiasts in Britain influenced by the success of television cookery shows such as ‘The Great British Bake-Off’.

“Interest in baking skills especially traditional Northern Irish breads is stronger now than ever. The trend has also been encouraged by the growth in tourism in Northern Ireland and from presentations in London and Dublin that I’ve been invited to undertake particularly by Tourism Ireland,” he says.

He is also strengthening interest in Northern Irish soda breads by coming up with original products such as an Irish wheaten, a brown soda bread, using sultanas soaked overnight in Irish whiskey and then baked with cinnamon. “It’s an extremely tasty bread for breakfast as well as other times of the day. It’s another bread based on Northern Ireland’s great tradition of wheaten breads, usually known as brown sodas in Britain,” he adds.

Douglas has been developing awarness and interest in traditional griddle baking techniques and products at farmers’ markets and shows throughout Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland over the past three years.
He specialises in “anything that can be baked freshly on a griddle”. All his freshly baked products are made without yeast or preservatives.

“The days when traditional breads like potato cakes and soda farls were regularly baked in many homes especially in Northern Ireland have long gone.

“It’s a skill that appears to be dying, and that’s sad because griddle breads are tastier. This recognition led me to attempt to do something to keep the technique alive. The bakery school is a logical extension of this commitment. I’ve already organised several sessioons and these have proved extremely popular. I’d be keen in particular to take the message about griddle baking to schools and women’s organisations.”

First Minister Arlene Foster MLA has welcomed a delegation of top chefs and buyers from Dubai hotels and UAE based foodservice distributors to Northern Ireland as part of a visit showcasing the pure, natural, quality of local food and drink.

Speaking following a reception at Lough Erne Resort last night, Arlene Foster said: “It is a privilege to welcome this delegation of top chefs and buyers from Dubai to Northern Ireland. This visit is an exciting opportunity to showcase Northern Ireland’s unique food and drink heritage and the pure, natural, quality of our food produce.
“Sales to customers in Dubai have grown considerably over the past three years and the interest shown in Northern Ireland by such an influential group cements the prestige of our offering in this region. The Middle East is a market of great potential for Northern Ireland food and drink and this visit presents a valuable opportunity to local food and drink producers to meet with buyers to explore potential business opportunities with the aim of securing new export sales.

“Northern Ireland’s Year of Food and Drink 2016 presents an opportunity to celebrate our award winning indigenous foods. Invest NI is continuing to work closely with its contacts in the Gulf, to maximise the growth opportunities for local businesses and build on the prestige imported products have in this marketplace.”
The three day visit, organised by Invest Northern Ireland, and jointly hosted by Tourism NI, is designed to build on the successful relationships established by many local companies exporting to the Middle East.

Northern Ireland’s young professional chefs are invited to compete in the S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2016.
The renowned Nestlé Waters brand which is distributed in Northern Ireland by United Wine Merchants, has announced the return of the competition which in its inaugural year drew more than 3,600 entries from across the globe with Ireland’s Mark Moriarty triumphing as the overall winner.

“It was an unforgettable trip and an experience I will never forget,” said Mark Moriarty from Ireland. “I met so many amazing chefs and to win such an esteemed award really made a difference to my career.”

This year 20 young chefs from many different geographic areas will compete for the coveted title of S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2016 and UWM brand manager, Emma Haughian, is hoping for success for Northern Ireland chefs.

“We have some very talented young chefs working here in Northern Ireland and as a result our culinary scene developing rapidly. I would encourage those professionals under 30 to get their applications in before the 31st March deadline and take their place on the world stage,” said Emma.

The results of the competition will be based on the judgement of the Seven Sages of world cuisine. The panel of top international chefs will be composed of: Carlo Cracco, Mauro Colagreco, David Higgs, Gaggan Anand, Elena Arzak, Wylie Dufresne and Roberta Sudbrack. They will taste the dishes of the challengers and decide who deserves to become the best young chef in 2016.

Acclaimed chef Peter Gilmore will also help mentor participants this year, with young chefs from around the world invited to submit their entries alongside their signature dish. Chefs must be no older than 30 and are required to have at least one year of experience working in a restaurant as a chef, sous chef or chef de partie.

The candidates will be divided into 20 regions and their submissions will be evaluated by the ALMA College in Italy, a leading international education and training centre for Italian cuisine. Ten finalists from each region will then be selected in accordance with the competition’s five ‘Golden Rules’: ingredients, skill, genius, beauty and message.

The finalists will participate in live competitions held in each region from 1 May to 15 August 2016, where the chefs will have to cook their signature dishes for a regional jury comprising independent chefs who will taste the dishes and select one winner. On 13 October, the Young Chef finalists will meet in Milan for two days of competition in front of the international panel of judges, who will ultimately crown the Young Chef for 2016.

For more information on the S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2016 competition, visit www.finedininglovers.com or follow #SPYoungChef online.

After the January break, we are looking forward to welcoming everyone back to the next Comber Farmers’ Market on Thursday 4 February 2016, St Mary’s Parish Church Car Park, 9.00am – 1.30pm.

Our plant and flower traders (Trainview Farm, Uncommon Garden Company and Ivan McCutcheon) will be taking a break until March or April as they have no plants or flowers growing at this time of year. However, we have a full house on Thursday with 24 traders attending. We are pleased to welcome:

• Mark Douglas, the Krazi Baker from Dromore who was a big hit at our Christmas market with his fabulous soda farls, potato bread and award winning apple cakes

• Kenny Gracey from Forthill Farm in Tandragee selling free range beef and pork from traditional breeds

• Paul Hamilton, a local farmer from Comber who will be selling vegetables and fruit

• Gary Lecky of the Fabulous Food Factory. Gary has an outside hot food catering business and is based in Lisburn. He will not be selling his hot foods and drink at our market but is diversifying into food production and will be bringing along a range of pre-packed, savoury ready meals; pates; smoked chicken, duck and salmon; homemade salamis and chorizo sausage; and biltong and beef jerky.

Weather
According to the BBC weather forecast, it is to be cloudy and dry on Thursday morning, temperatures around 10C and wind speed of 16 mph.

Calendar
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