Magazine
The Food Experience March 2016
Three years ago, if you googled ‘Irish food’, you would have found images of bacon and cabbage. Now that’s all changing and an important aspect of this change is the content that food producers are pushing out there.
consumer themselves.” Visitors are getting pushed down the coast and along the Wild Atlantic Way based on food recommendations from chefs and restaurants they visit, according to Zack. “ These often take visitors off the beaten track and what used to be hidden food gems are becoming more well known with tourists making that extra effort to uncover them.”
Wild Atlantic Way chefs are asking themselves what they can source locally and, not without controversy, how far geographically is too far to quote as ‘local’, according to Zack. “Out Of The Blue restaurant in Dingle will only offer diners fish that is caught that day and if it’s been a poor day for the fishermen then the restaurant simply does not open.”
Sourcing local has become an important aspect of food culture in Ireland. “At the recent Food On The Edge conference held in Galway in October 2015, leading chefs from around the world expressed an awe of the close relationship restaurateurs and chefs have with the primary food producers. The World’s Top 50 Best Pastry Chef in The World 2015, Albert Adria, one of Spain’s most prolific chefs said “Ireland is unique in the relationship between chef and food producer. It is wonderful and benefits all”.
“Chefs are discovering a pride in using produce from local farmers and fisherman and they are highlighting it within their menus, name checking producers and profiling them within their own marketing activities,” adds Zack who sees more and more chefs becoming restaurant owners. “That gives them a sense of freedom in terms of the dishes they create and the produce they experiment with. It is all good for the food producers and of course, consumers and visitors to ireland who now have a better variety
and can choose to eat local produce by local food providers.” “This all adds to the sense of a dynamic new age in Irish food culture,” he concludes. Zack believes that visitors to Ireland are getting an understanding of new wave of cuisine that is not just determined by the technique of cooking but more so the ingredients used. “Slowly this message spreads to overseas and the traditional ‘bacon and cabbage’ image is not what we become known for.” For more details on Irish Food Tours see IrishFoodTours.ie
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