Celebrating Irish Food

We do love potatoes!

Unless you are Irish, you probably don't come to Ireland for the food.

If you are a foodie you travel to France, Italy, Spain, Greece - countries renowned for food. 

But this is changing.

Ireland is one of the best producers of lamb and beef in Europe, we are an agricultural based country. We are also expertly located for fine fish and our vegetables are some of the most organic, sweetest produce in the world.

So why are we not pulling in the punters for our food? Is it that we can't cook? Of course not. 

We are just too easily influenced.

Galwayfoodfestival.com

A recent Lonely Planet guidebook on Ireland said you could order a panini in almost every town in Ireland - it is more accessible here than in Italy!

For too long we looked upon our own traditional foods as poor. It has taken us a long long time to get over the famine, to look past our poor decrepit history, to see the positive in the bare meals our ancestors survived on, but I think we are beginning to understand.

Food Festivals, celebrating our splendid produce, our traditional feasts and our cultural knowledge are springing up all over the place.

Galway Food Festival Brochure
(c) fifiheavey

The inaugural Galway Food Festival, which I attended over Easter attracted an estimated 30,000 visitors to the city, offering more than 70 food-themed events, from cooking demonstrations to foraging trails. And the majority of those visitors were foreign tourists, many quite surprised by what they were seeing, hearing and of course tasting.

More than 50 restaurants and outlets took part in Galway, with some reporting an increase in turnover of over 80% - what a result in a recession. What an inspiration for other towns and cities.Food festivals have “sky rocketed” in the last two years, according to  Fáilte Ireland. In that time the list of Irish food festivals across the country has gone from around 15 to 40. Irish Food Tourism is growing and rightly so.

Demo on how to cook the perfect steak
(c) fifiheavey

We visited a food demo on 'Cooking the perfect steak' at the festival. The cooking part took only a few minutes. First we heard about the history of beef in Ireland and why it is among the best in the world.

Our beef is among the best because of our strategic location and surprisingly our terrible weather. 

(Next time you curse the rain think about a nice juicy steak!)

Happy cow!

The secret ingredient to the perfect steak? 
Salt?
Pepper? 

Oil?

Nope the secret ingredient is:

A happy Cow!

Of course there were oysters galore, muscles, fish of every size and colour alongside beautiful breads, homemade lemonade, sweets, nuts, deserts and BBQ goodies.

The Food Festival was a delight.

A success. More of these please!

Something missing ...

“Where is the table? There has to be a table.”

There was no table, the room was completely empty.

The iconic painting of The last Supper - see the table?!

Imagine visiting Disneyland and not seeing Mickey Mouse, flying around the world to visit an authentic Irish pub to hear the Guinness has run out, find out people in Texas don't wear cowboy hats or take a trip to Lapland and see no snow?

It would be disappointing wouldn't it?

Now I didn't place all my hopes on seeing a table, I hadn't dreamed about it for years, this wasn't the main attraction of the trip. But still I expected it, and it wasn't there.

And I was disappointed, really disappointed – a lot more than I could have expected.

The sign to the Room of the Last Supper
(c) fifiheavey

It was a beautiful sunny day, we were inside the walls of Jerusalem. The walls were the same colour as the buildings, which matched the colour of the ground. There were so many buildings, so many laneways, so many people bustling. Without a guide we would have been lost.

But all of a sudden we were outside the room of The Last Supper (also known as The Lord's Supper, the Mystical Supper, the Cenacle and the Upper Room) it was here that according to Christian belief Jesus and his apostles had one of their final meals before his crucifixion. It is from this meal the Eucharist derives.

The Supper was a feast of the Jewish passover.

Supper - made up of food and drink needs a ....?

Table.

We waited outside the room for the large groups of tourists to pass through. I had the image in my mind – you know the one, long table with Jesus and the twelve apostles. I imagined a long mahogany worn down table with a long runner and candles. Obviously not the original – just a symbol.

Inside the Room of the Last Supper.
(C) fifiheavey

But the room was empty. As a result of arguments between the Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians, the Jews and the Muslims each of the religions have a small symbol/carving/area. But aside from that the room is empty. Could they not have just agreed on a table?!

I did not know until the guide explained that the room is directly over the tomb of King David. That was a pleasant surprise. It helped to combat my disappointment – but only just.

The women's section of the Tomb of King David.
(c) fifiheavey

How can you have a supper without a table? Even when I explained my trip back home my family and friends had expected a table there. I understand that each of the religions have their own beliefs and are entitled to them, but it didn't suppress my disappointment.

Luckily the rest of Jerusalem made up for it – and the believed site of the crucifixion, the hill of cavalry, the tomb of the resurrection were all mind blowing.

As I stuff myself with Easter eggs this Bank Holiday Weekend, I will cast my mind back to Israel, to my amazing journey there.

Table or no table, even with all the conflict and the religious turmoil, Jerusalem is a special place, a spiritual destination no matter what you belief in.

Make it a dramatic Lent

“Sweet stuff”

“Chocolate and crisps”

“Alcohol”

“Smoking”

“Just crap”

Are all legitimate answers to the Big Question which gets asked annually on the small island of Ireland: What are you giving up for Lent?

Lent may not be a season which attracts a lot of tourists to Ireland (except for Paddy's day which falls in between). But it should be, because it is a precarious time for us Irish.

Lent suits us, not because we are a Catholic country devoted to penitential preparation, or because of our strong will power, or indeed our spiritual commitment.

But because it gives us a legitimate reason to take part in our favourite passtime: complaining.

I don't mean to paint us Irish in a bad light, as you all know we are a fun loving, adventure seeking, merry folk. But oh do we rejoice in the moaning, groaning, misery department.

We excel in communal suffering, take pleasure in agony and smile in the face of sacrifice.

Lent – depending on what you give up provides the perfect opportunity to join the national hobby. 40 days of complaining, of hunger pains, of smoking craves, of social exclusion (the lack of alcohol) etc.

There is of course more to Lent than the suffering, in Ireland it is a time of dramatic celebration. And in that I mean it is a time for drama to flourish.

Small towns, villages and parishes around the country put aside their beleaguered sacrifices to join with others and provide entertainment for the suffering masses.

Whether competing for the One Act Drama Festival Finals or not, local halls are filled with comedy, dramatic scenes, plights of love and sorrow and best of all some of the finest pieces of Irish literature.

Whether you are just in it for the pancakes and the Easter eggs or you go the whole hog and fast off everything that ever tasted nice – take the time out this Lent to support local drama groups.

Make your Lenten Promise to invest in yourself (that is deep ...) and in Irish culture.

http://www.adci.ie/

http://www.dli.ie/

Also are you going off anything 'unusual' this year?!