There are Turkeys Roaming Free (range) in the Boyne Valley

If you know Olivia Duff, you'll know that she really is a very busy woman! She is a dynamic character who passionately promotes Irish and in particular county Meath produce at every opportunity. When managing the award winning family run hotel, The Headfort Arms, in Kells, she strives to serve the best of Irish food in all food service areas of the business. An example of this being their unique menu, served in the Vanilla Pod restaurant, in which all the ingredients are sourced within a 30-mile radius of the hotel.

Olivia Duff is passionate about telling the story of great Irish food

Olivia is one of the driving forces behind the Meath Food Showcase and the Meath Food Trail Package. This trail offers visitors an opportunity to visit local producers and on returning to the hotel, an opportunity to enjoy the 'Meath Menu' featuring food from the rich sources of the Boyne Valley. She is also one of the Failte Ireland Food Champions and is dedicated to helping others tell their own 'food story'.

Her passion for food has led her family to breeding turkeys, rare breed pigs and sheep, supplying their artisan produce directly from their farm to the consumer. Maperath Farm is a small mixed farm, just outside Kells, which is committed to involving the customer in the full story of food production and they take great pride in this story. With her husband, Eoin Sharkey, a former builder and keen horseman, they have created an atmosphere of honest farming, one that invites the customer to discover where their food comes from. Whether that is a newly born lamb or a day old chick, visitors can follow the process of the meat from the farm directly to the table.

All the animals on Maperath Farm are traditionally reared and enjoy fodder crop (the first poultry farm in Ireland to do so) alongside natural feeds and acres of free range lifestyle. New for 2015 will see Maperath Farm's ‘Lamb in a Box’ which will offer the customer a chance to order a full lamb direct from the farm. This will be then custom-butchered to the customer wishes and presented in a box, ready to eat or for the freezer. This year also sees expansion of their brand to include Maperath Farm Christmas Relish & Chutneys.

Maperath Farm ‘Lamb in a Box’ will be available in 2015

The farm produces rare breed pigs, grass fed lamb and poultry, but it is the Free Range Turkeys & Geese which are the main event at this time of year. With huge demand for their birds, it proves that consumers in Ireland really do care about the welfare, rearing and production of their food.

Olivia's husband, Eoin, believes in honest food direct from the farm

Maperath Farm is unique because it represents a true model of Sustainable Farming, incorporating models of high animal welfare, natural feed products and low levels of intensity. It also represents a real concept of ‘honest food direct from the farm’. Customers can order their own lamb, turkey or goose knowing that it is traditionally reared, then processed and butchered locally.

Olivia and Eoin's farm offers premium product which involves the customer throughout the full story of farm to the table. The long-term vision for Maperath Farm is to expand into a unique Free Range mixed farm which will involve its customers from day one in the production of food. Customers will be invited to visit their food as it grows and for the farm to become a Food Tourism Destination as part of the Boyne Valley.

The free range lifestyle of any bird is reflected in the quality and flavour of the meat

Maperath Farm has a limited number of their free range Turkeys and Geese available over the next few months, but they're going fast! Contact the Farm today on 087 902 7070 or see www.facebook.com/maperathfarm

Zack

See my 10 Tips on How to Cook a Turkey & my Favourite Stuffing Recipe here: www.irishfoodguide.ie/2011/12/10-tips-for-perfect-turkey-my-stuffing.html

Entries Open for the Sheridan's National Irish Brown Bread Competition

Entries are now being accepted for the 2nd Annual National Irish Brown Bread Competition which will be held on Sunday 25th May with €150 Cash Prize for the Winner!

This popular bake-off is already one of the most important Baking Competitions in Ireland and is held as part of the annual Sheridans Cheesemongers Irish Food Festival. The festival, organised by Ireland's most famous Cheese family is now in it's fifth year and is hosted at their Virginia Road Station headquarters in Pottlereagh, Co Meath.

RTE’s Ella McSweeney will be hosting the event as well as judging the competition along with Chapter One Chefs Cathal Leonard and Darren Hogarty and the lady who inspired the Sheridan brother’s love of brown bread, their mam Maura Sheridan!

That's My Homemade Brown Bread - Yum!

The Rules of the Brown Bread Competition are:

• The competition is open to anyone who has baked their brown bread entry at home.
• €5 fee per entry -advance payment if entering online, or pay on the day if submitting entry via post/email/in person
• Any shape of bread is permitted, but 1 lb weight loaves are recommended.
• Marks out of 10 will be awarded for the breads and 1 point is available for “Irish Ingredients” 
• Judging will take place at the festival and the breads must be delivered to the Brown Bread tent by 11am.

The overall winner will be announced at 3.30pm and will receive a cash prize of €150 plus a selection of Irish Foods including Irish flour from Macroom Oatmeal Mills and Dunany Organic Farm with which to keep making their brown bread.

The Deadline for receipt of Entries is Friday 23rd May 2014.

For Full details and to Enter the National Irish Brown Bread Competition, Click HERE or go to
http://www.sheridanscheesemongers.com/sheridans-national-irish-brown-bread-competition/

Best of Luck to everyone!

Zack

WIN an Keogh's Shamrock Crisps Hamper for St Paddys Day 2014

Tom Keogh, managing director of Keogh’s Family Farm is passionate about potatoes! “We are the only potato growers in the world who offer fresh potatoes and potato crisps from the same farm side by side in the same store and we sleep, eat, breathe potato crisps and potatoes!” he says.

The family have been growing potatoes in north county Dublin for over 200 years. The city of Dublin has grown around the farm over the years!

In 2012 the Keogh Family launched the world’s first-ever shamrock flavoured food delight: Hand-cooked Shamrock and Sour Cream Irish potato Crisps. The flavour for these was developed with the "Living Shamrock" company in Ballinskelligs, Co. Kerry, who have been producing fresh shamrock for the American President since 1952. The crisps have a slight Lemon/Peppery taste almost like freshly picked watercress which is expected as Shamrocks are related to that plant family.

COMPETITION TIME!
I'm delighted this year to be once again associated with Keogh's Farm in having a Hamper of their famous Crisps to Give Away in time for this year's St Patrick's Day!

To WIN this yummy Hamper simply LIKE the Keoghs Facebook Page by Clicking below:

Click the LIKE button and Leave a comment to Enter the Competition

Note: Prize is a hamper selection of crisps and does not include decorations or live shamrocks!

The competition will Close on Wednesday 12th March and hopefully you should get the Hamper in time for St. Patrick's Day (but not guaranteed - it's depending on the winner's location.)

Best of Luck to all!

Zack

And the Winner is..... Catherine Cinnamond (Get in touch with us with your address)

St George’s Market in Belfast short-listed in UK Food and Farming Awards

Congratulations to Belfast’s historic St George’s Market which has been shortlisted in the ‘Best Food Market’ category of this year’s UK's BBC Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards 2014.

It is the first time that the Belfast Market has reached the final of what is regarded as the ‘Oscars' of the UK food industry and comes just weeks after St George’s was named ‘Best Large Indoor Market’ by trade body NABMA, The UK National Association of British Market Authorities.

St George’s is one of three markets to have been shortlisted for the prestigious awards: the others are Brockley Market in London and Aberystwyth Farmers Market. The three markets are among 24 finalists who have been shortlisted from a record-breaking 6,000 for this year’s awards.

Reacting to the shortlisting, Councillor Deirdre Hargey, Chair of Belfast City Council’s Development Committee, which oversees the Market, commented: “This is a fantastic and well-deserved achievement. We in Council are fiercely proud of St George’s Market, and it is great news for us to see it continuing to win accolades and justifying our continuing faith and investment in this superb facility. I would like to pay tribute to the Market staff for all their hard work, and in particular to the traders, whose dedication to St George’s is the key to its continuing success, and to all of those who voted for the Market.”

St George’s Market is one of Belfast’s oldest attractions. It was built between 1890 and 1896 and is one of the best markets in the UK and Ireland. It has been selected for numerous local and national titles and awards for its fresh, local produce and great atmosphere. It holds a weekly Friday Variety Market, the City Food and Craft Market on Saturdays and the Sunday Market. It also hosts a range of events throughout the year.

Belfast Variety Market- Day: Friday- Opening hours: 6am - 2pm

The Friday Variety Market dates back to 1604. It opens at 6am every week and runs until approximately 2pm. There are 248 market stalls selling a variety of products including: fruit, vegetables, antiques, books, clothes and fish. It's this assorted mix that attracts thousands of visitors each week. The fish section alone contains 23 fish stalls and holds the reputation for being the leading retail fish market on the island of Ireland!

Belfast City Food and Craft Market- Day: Saturday- Opening hours: 9am - 3pm

The Saturday Market has a fusion of tempting speciality foods from around the world as well as handmade crafts, flowers, plants and local photography, pottery, glass and metal work. The market offers a huge range of local, continental and specialty foods including meat and fish, cheese, coffee beans, tapas and organic products.

Enjoy the best food, tastes and smells brought by local producers including fish landed at Portavogie, pork from Cookstown, beef from Armagh, venison and pheasant in season, local organic vegetables. Continental and speciality foods include wild boar, tapas, cheeses, cured meats, teas and coffees from around the world, and delicious French pastries and crepes. 

Belfast Sunday Market- Day: Sunday- Opening hours: 10am - 4pm 

This market is a mixture of the Friday and Saturday markets with a special emphasis on local arts and crafts, offering more local craftspeople the opportunity to show off their talents. You can also expect live music from local bands. 

Along with local, continental and specialty foods such as spices, chutneys and chocolates, you can expect scented candles, clothes, handmade jewellery, recycled goods, household goods, antiques, garden plants, souvenirs, health and beauty products. 

One other Northern Ireland food company which is also competing in the final stage of the competition is Abernethy Butter, from Dromara in County Down, who count Heston Blumenthal among their customers. They have been shortlisted in the ‘Best Food Producer’ category.

This year’s finalists will feature in a special edition of BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme, broadcast on Sunday 9 March 2014. Winners will be announced at a ceremony held in Bristol on Thursday 1 May 2014.

St George's Market is the last surviving Victorian covered market in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is located on May Street, close to the River Lagan and the Waterfront Hall. It is situated at  12-20 E Bridge St, Belfast City. 

I think this Belfast market area is a perfect example of what can be achieved with the future development of the Victorian Market in Dublin and I hope those planning it's redevelopment have had a look at how St George's Market works. Best of success. 

Zack

New North West Irish Culinary Team to Compete at Hotelympia London 2014

A group of professional Irish Chefs from the Northwest of Ireland have come together and founded a new Regional Culinary Team which intends to compete as an independent Culinary Team at Hotelympia, London, in April 2014.

Hotelympia is the UK & Ireland's largest hospitality and food service event and the most important event of 2014 for people involved in the hospitality industry and the Salon Culinaire is at the centre of Hotelympia for all chefs. Over 8,000 chefs visit the event and for many, the three different sections of Salon Culinaire are the principle reason for their visit.

The Northwest Culinary Team Captain  is international award winning chef Joe Clinton

The Northwest Culinary Team comprises some of the top chefs from counties Donegal , Leitrim & Sligo who have all taken part, very successfully, in international culinary competitions in the past. Earlier this year the North West Culinary team took 4 Golds, 4 Silvers and 6 Bronze Medals at the Chef Ireland International competition held in the RDS Dublin. From this achievement was born their desire to enter a team into one of the world’s most prestigious culinary competitions, Hotelympia.

Hotelympia is a world-class culinary competition and the largest of its kind in the UK & Ireland consisting of three elements: fine dining restaurant La Parade des Chefs, stunning culinary creations in Salon Display and the live competition thrills of the Live Theatre.

La Parade des Chefs is the fine dining experience at the very heart of Hotelympia, where competing teams of chefs from around the world cook for visitors and their guests. The newly formed Northwest Culinary Team say they are determined to win La Parade des Chefs!

Meet the newly formed Northwest Culinary Team

Joe Clinton, Dee Clinton, Gabriel McSharry, Billy Grimes

John Kelly, Alan Fitzmaurice, Tony Campbell, Sylvester Dolan

"We have about 25 members in the complete team between the main exhibition chefs and the backup team. These are both young & senior men and women who want to promote the local region in terms of tourism and in particular our regional food," said Gabriel McSharry, Team Manager. "We believe that we have the best quality food in the world produced locally and at our fingertips, and we want to expose this great food product to the rest of the world. Our shores contain an abundance of beautiful seafood, sea vegetables and a host of other marine foods. Our fields are filled with wonderful organic fruit and vegetables."

"We intend to compete as an international culinary team at Hotelympia London next year and we look forward to putting our skills and knowledge, as professional Chefs, to the test, without fear, on the world stage!" said Joe Clinton.  "We are requesting people involved in the Hotel, catering and restaurant industry and the general public in this region to support us in our efforts to promote our region and help us to help the local industry promote our food and hopefully create jobs in our region."

The chefs have organised "A Taste of the North West", a fundraising night and the Official Launch of the Northwest Hotelympia Culinary Team, with celebrity Executive Chef  Joe Shannon, in the Radisson Blu Hotel in Sligo, on Tuesday, 29th October. The night will include cooking demonstrations, culinary delights & tastings and some special guest appearances. Comedian Frank Ford will also entertain during the evening.

Tickets for the event are only €10 each or 3 for €25 and are available from:
the Radisson Blu Hotel in Sligo on 071 914 0008
or from the chefs:
Alan 087 2472607 (Sligo) - Sylvester 086 8187165 (Leitrim) - Billy 086 8416476 (Donegal)

If you'd like to sponsor the North West Culinary Team in their goal to win at Hotelympia 2014 in any way, please contact any of the chefs above.

Zack

Guinness supporting new Irish Food Projects in Ireland

The Arthur Guinness Projects is a major new initiative, recently launched by Guinness in Ireland, and is designed to champion the best of our creators, thinkers, doers and makers in the areas of Arts, Music, Sport and Food by offering support and funding to the winning entries.

This major new cultural initiative is designed to champion and celebrate people whose ideas, passion and spirit are enhancing and shaping our culture and identity. The initiative sets out to invest in Ireland’s creators, visionaries and innovators across four areas of creativity and culture: Music, Sport, Arts & Food.

Together with a mentoring and promotional support programme, the Arthur Guinness Projects will invest €3 million in people and their projects across Ireland over the next three years, with up to 20 projects benefiting annually.

Speaking at the launch, Stephen O’Kelly, Marketing Director at Guinness said, “Arthur Guinness Projects has been inspired by our founder, Arthur Guinness. He was a true visionary, one of the original innovators who, along with many generations of the Guinness family, made many varied philanthropic gestures. We are continuing this tradition with the launch of Arthur Guinness Projects."

"Ireland is a place where there is an abundance of character, talent and creativity and we wanted to play our part in invigorating our inherent culture by championing the wealth of amazing creative potential within the country" he added. "For many people, their dreams or ideas are on hold and through Arthur Guinness Projects, we hope to help them unlock those dreams and set them alight. We are really excited about bringing together people with real weight and experience, and pairing them with those who have inspiring ideas”.

"We are looking for extraordinary people with innovative, inspiring, brilliant ideas, and the passion and drive to make them happen", said Kristin Fox on behalf of Guinness. "All over the country people are trying new things, coming up with new ideas and finding new ways to do business. The Arthur Guinness Projects are designed to encourage and support this new breed of visionaries and entrepreneurs. We believe that now is the time to rewrite the rules and re-imagine an Ireland that we can all be proud of."

Projects are submitted online with the closing date for entries being the 9th of August 2013. The public will be able to vote for their favourite ideas until voting ends on August 23rd, after which the top 10% of projects will be submitted to their panel of industry experts for judging. If an idea doesn't make it through the public vote, there is one final lifeline, as the panel of experts can choose to award up to four wildcards annually.

The Judges for the Food Panel of the Arthur Guinness Projects are Dylan McGrath, Colin Harmon, Michelle Darmody and Barry Broderick.

Dylan McGrath is one of Ireland's most exciting chefs. In 2010 he opened Rustic Stone with the idea of fusing a less formal, casual dining experience with the flavours he is so passionate about. Fade Street Social followed shortly after, bringing together two exciting concepts under one roof.

Four time Irish Barista Champion, Colin Harmon, recently finished 4th in the World Barista Championships. As founder of specialty coffee shop 3FE, he writes about coffee for various national and international publications, as well and supplying coffee and training baristas for many of Dublin's leading cafes. 3FE is currently building a bespoke coffee roastery.

Michelle Darmody is proprietor of The Cake Cafe, food writer with the Irish Examiner and author of best-selling The Cake Cafe Bake Book. Known for her innovative use of PR and Social Media, Michelle’s fine art background is evident in the design aesthetic of the café and cookbook, created in collaborations with Pony Design.

Together with his brother Bernard, Barry Broderick has grown the business established by his mother to become an established brand stocked in many of the world's finest food emporiums including Dean & Deluca, Selfridges and Galleries Lafayette. The business now encompasses three brands - Inas Handmade, Brodericks and the Irish Flapjack & Muffin Co.

One of the Food Projects that has captured the imagination of the project is the recently launched Irish Food Tours which is building a network of Guided Food Tourism Holidays around the whole island of Ireland. We offer Culinary Tours by Coach around Ireland, north and south of the border, which include visits to the best artisan food producers, farms & restaurants that we have in Ireland.

"We can help Irish food producers and tourism operators build a new and successful future together" said Zack Gallagher who submitted his business idea to the Arthur Guinness Projects. "We are linking up with established food groups and creating new ones, to cover destination areas, to offer Guided Irish Food Tours by Coach Around Ireland. We pay the food producers for up to 20 guests per tour, for about an hour of their time describing their products, telling the story behind the food and tastings and are the only venture that is paying the food producers for their time".

To win funding from the Arthur Guinness Projects can help these new businesses to grow to their full potential and give those involved a chance to dedicate themselves full time to the venture.

You can log in view all the food projects and to Vote with your Facebook account or by signing up, on the dedicated Food Project section of the website.

Vote for our Irish Food Tours project at 

https://www.arthurguinnessprojects.com/food/irishfoodtoursie

The Arthur Guinness Projects winners 2013, a reflection of Ireland’s spirit, culture and modern identity, will be revealed on 23rd September. Also, some of the winners and applicants will be showcased as part of this year’s Arthur’s Day celebrations. Full details on the Arthur’s Day 2013 celebrations will be revealed later this summer.

Good luck to all those who entered in the various categories.

The President of the United States Loves Irish Food

Great to see US President Barack Obama showing his Support for Irish Food!
Welcome to Ireland, Mr President & Family.