On Friday last I was at the first ever Irish Food Camp which was held in Kilkenny as part of the Savour Kilkenny weekend. It was terrific.
Eighty-five like minded people gathered to talk and share ideas about all things foodie. There were four strands of talks running all day. It was difficult to choose which to attend! I totally missed Wendy Kavanagh from My Chef At Home’s talk on the next generation of farmers. Sorry, Wendy, traffic, roadworks and all sorts conspired to delay my arrival!
Sally McKenna (Bridgestone Guides) and Donal Doherty (Harry’s Restaurant) shared their social media tips in the next session. I finally got to meet Donal in person, having been chatting both on line and by phone for the past few months. That was one of the most enjoyable things on Friday – finally getting to meet people I had only ‘spoke’ with online, but there were lots of people I didn’t get to talk to either. Next time!
Then Kristin (Dinnerdujour) and Caroline (Bibliocook) launched the Irish Food Bloggers Association – what a wonderful idea. All food bloggers of Ireland listed in one location. Well done ladies on concieving the idea and bringing it to fruition. So looking forward to watching developments.
Lunch was a fantastic affair. Everyone brought a selection of things to be shared. What a spread we had! I particularly enjoyed the vegetarian terrine which Aoife of The Daily Spud brought. There was a delicious noodle salad from Claire of An American in Ireland. I also got to try some of Anthony’s (Ummera) smoked duck – yummy – and David Tiernan’s wonderful Glenbrehon cheese.
And then there was dessert! All sorts of chocolate brownies – Deirdre from The Food.ie brought one’s that included beetroot in them. The dessert highlight for me though was getting the nod of approval from Gillian of Some Say Cocoa on my chocolate brownies with raspberries through them! Now that’s surely a seal of approval!
After lunch there was a panel discussion which covered trends and happenings in the food industry in Ireland. One interesting fact that stuck… did you know that Ireland produces 15% of the world’s baby food?
I finished off the day attending Philip McCabe’s discussion on Honey – the Oldest Known Medicine. Gosh, what a talk. I could have listened all day! Philip had such a huge amount of information that he was willing to share.
There were so many other people that I got to meet – Joanna Schaffalitzky (Smorgasblog) [and to discover I used to work with Joanna’s Dad!] and Tom Watts with his Secret ingredient idea – brilliant!
I so enjoyed Friday that we travelled back on Saturday to attend the food fair on the Castle Plaza. Again met lots of people; attended the cookery demo with Kevin Dundon – I think he met his match with his 5 year old assistant! 🙂
I couldn’t write without say a huge ‘thank you’ to Mag Kirwan (Goatsbridge Farm) and the rest of the committee for organising such a wonderful event! Take a big bow – you did really well.
And, of course, we couldn’t leave Kilkenny without visiting Shortis Wong’s. I love that shop. It is just such a treasure trove of goodies!
It was a great day wasn’t it. I can away buzzing and motivated again. Hope they have another one next year. 🙂
Yes, Dee, it was. I know what you mean about buzzing and motivated!
It must become an annual event! We will make it happen.
Margaret
Thank you for the lovely comment on my brownies, unfortunately I didn’t get to try yours which sound amazing!
I also saw that demo, he was great wasn’t he (Kevin dundon was fairly good too)
Still wondering what to do with the treasured lard!
Roast potatoes! Or half butter/half lard makes nice pastry…. or you could even try the fried bread!
It is amazing I am learning so many people were about on Saturday and the only person I bumped into was Donal!
Margaret
[…] last week (if you’d like to read more about Ireland’s first-ever Food Camp, visit some of these blogs for their recaps; they were obviously taking better notes than me!). If you’re an Irish or […]
You made the most of your 2 days Margaret, glad you got to put faces to some virtual friends during Foodcamp!
Keith
Yes, Keith, it was a great two days! And it was great to meet you too!
Seems like a lifetime ago and it was only last week – time flys. Anyhoooo, I must grab that brownie recipe off you at the next foodie meetup 🙂
I know what you mean Gillian… and look at the weather this weekend! Check out the recipe here https://ayearinredwood.wordpress.com/recipes/chocolate-brownies/
Enjoy!
M
Hi Mags, gutted i missed KK, are you going to Dublin for the launch sat?? Just wondering if you’d consider voting for me on Cheffactor.ie I’d really appreciate it. Thanks Vick
http://www.cheffactor.ie/content/competition-entries/vicks-rabbit-pie
[…] there has been so much more that has happened. In October I went along and spent 2 days at the Savour Kilkenny festival. At the beginning of this month, I attended the Food Photography Workshop which was […]