As momentum and excitement gathers for this year’s St Patrick’s Festival in Dublin after two years of online events, the festival promises to be one of the best yet. Every year we celebrate what it means to be truly Irish, in Ireland and across the world through a global tribe of 80 million people who claim Irish Ancestry.
The Irish Food Writers Awards together with the National Dairy Council will host an event at the St Patricks Day festival titled “Is there an Irish cuisine?”.
Taking place at midday on Saturday 19th March in Spiegeltent Beag, Festival Quarter, Collins Barracks Dublin. Admission is free. An impressive panel, chaired by broadcaster Suzanne Campbell, will debate this question, asking - does Ireland now express itself through food and cuisine. Most of this is down to having a unique larder of ingredients produced by farmers and food producers from our mild climate which is well suited to produce food sustainably.
The panel:
• Food writer Joe McNamee writes for The Examiner, Eater and several international titles. In 2021 he won the Irish Food Writing Awards Restaurant Writing award judged by Tom Parker Bowles and Xanthe Clay.
• Jess Murphy is a chef, food writer and owner of Kai restaurant in Galway. Kai has been awarded a Green Star from the Michelin guide for sustainable practices. Jess is passionate about Irish food and farmers, seasonal food and adding value to simple ingredients. She is a fan of Irish dairy in terms of quality and sustainability, particularly in comparison to in her home country New Zealand.
• Farmer Louise Crowley from Limerick milks a dairy herd and has won several awards for her work including Best Emerging Farmer and Queen of the Land as well as appearing in NDC’s marketing campaign From the Ground Up. She is a popular promoter of women in farming and gender equality on social platforms. Louise uses sustainable on farm practices such as low emission slurry spreading, milk recording and grass measuring to reduce emissions, feed and energy use on the farm.
• Chef Damien Grey from Liath restaurant in Blackrock, Dublin which was recently awarded two stars by the Michelin guide. Having come to Ireland form Australia he is particularly proud of having achieved two stars for Liath as Ireland has "something incredibly special to offer right now. We have farmers and producers that really care about their product. It's unique, it really is".
Ireland is all about our food producers and farming, but have we arrived at the point of having a national cuisine? The discussion will be chaired by broadcaster Suzanne Campbell and is sponsored by the National Dairy Council. When: 12 -1.30pm Saturday 19th March in Spiegeltent Beag, Festival Quarter, Collins Barracks Dublin. Admission is free. See https://stpatricksfestival.ie/events/festival-quarter-day/irish-food-writing-awards for further updates.
Slán go fóill,
Danny