[Listing] West Waterford Festival of Food 2015

The West Waterford Festival of Food returns for the 8th successive year between Thursday, April 9th and Sunday, April 12th. The coastal town of Dungarvan will play host to some of Ireland's best chefs, producers, stall-holders and all-round lovers of fine food. 

The theme of this year's festival is Generations in Irish Food, which will shine a spotlight on some of our home-grown heroes and the generations of Irish families who continue to produce, cook, sell and run some of Ireland's greatest and best-loved restaurants and food businesses. 

One of the festival's key events, Celebrating Generations of West Waterford Food Stories, will take place in Dromana House, which incidently this year celebrates 800 years of ownership by the same family. Local chef Eunice Power will create a tribute to local West Waterford food families, such as the McGraths, Flahavans and Barrons, by showcasing not just their continuing history and narrative, but also their delicious ingredients.

Other highlights will include The Emerging Generation, a series of demonstrations from up and coming members of established food families, where the next generation will cook with the the older generation lending a helping hand. The series will features Jack and Tim McCarthy, the award-winning Kanturk butchers, Richard and Duncan Blair (and their mother) of Georgina Campbell's Pub of the Year 2014 Blair's Inn, and finally charcuterie master Frank Krawczyk with his talented chef son Rob Krawczyk, who will demo together for the first time under the title of Charcuterie from Father to Son.

The Tannery will continue as a festival cornerstone by hosting Generations of Food Producers tasting menus on Friday and Saturday, which will be based on the family producers participating in the festival. On Saturday, the Tannery will host brunch featuring Flahavan's, a family enterprise since 1785 from nearby Kilmacthomas, while on Sunday, they will host a duck feast lunch, in association with Silverhill.

Cois Cé, or Seafood Saturday, will offer fun activities by the water, sensational seafood and inspiring demos. The Farmers' Market will set up in the main square on Sunday with over 100 stalls scheduled to take part. The Busanna Bia will return, with three different routes available this year, giving festival goers the opportunity to visit as many producers as possible on each route. Tickets will be on sale for the The West Waterford Festival of Food Restaurant Trails and booking in advance is definitely recommended.

As if all those activities weren't enough, there is also a special schedule of events for the little cooks, featuring Cócaireacht le Chéile, pizza workshops, Mucking Around with Kitchen Sink Science and baking classes.

Check out the website - West Waterford Festival of Food - for more information, or keep an eye on the @WdFoodFestival Twitter account for the latest news.

[Event] Mediterranean Magic at the Tannery Cookery School

A lot of my friends and family call me a lucky person. You may call me a jammy git, but over the years, I have won a fair amount of competitions and prizes, including many books, tickets to U2, and a top prize of an IBM laptop. (A huge prize for a poor postgraduate student). I don't have any secret to my success though - other than the fact that I enter competitions. It takes a second to pop your name in the draw and you could very well win. It's amazing the amount of people who will say that they have no luck, but how can you win if you don't enter?

Twitter has been a great mechanism for winning competitions. Until recently, my top Twitter prize was a 2 night stay at the lovely Sheen Falls Lodge, but that was all changed when Máire Flynn of The Tannery Restaurant, Townhouse & Cookery School rang. It turned out that I was one of three lucky Twitter winners who had won places on the Mediterranean Magic course. Máire had been struck by a string of last-minute cancellations, and generously offered the places via a Twitter raffle. 

We were a little late arriving at the Cookery School on the Saturday morning, which meant that we were able to sit with a cup of coffee in the kitchen, while Paul Flynn and the other attendees picked supplies from the garden. The kitchen in the school is an amazing bright space, which used to be a convent music room. Our particular class was going to be a demonstration class, but hands-on practical classes also on offer for the more dedicated students. 

The demonstration counter 

A wider view of the bright and airy room (#spotflynny to the side)

Watching Paul work was an educating experience. I'm no slouch at multitasking in the kitchen, but Mr Flynn is a whole different level. This shouldn't come as any great surprise, given his long experience in the cheffing game. He chatted and entertained as he chopped, diced and whisked his way through the dishes. We spent the morning watching him make the dishes for our lunch, including a fabulously fresh gazpacho, a vibrant Tuscan bread salad and a warming Moroccan chicken. Dessert was a wonderful Orange Almond Cake doused in a spiced orange syrup. 

Gazpacho

Moroccan Chicken

Panzanilla - Tuscan Bread Salad

Orange Almond Cake

As the dishes were completed, Paul and his lovely assistant piled them on the kitchen worktop and we then helped ourselves before taking a seat in the calm and serene dining room. Generous glasses of wine, and a common love of tasty food ensured that there was plenty of chat over lunch. We were treated to a visit from Twitter royalty in the form of Paul's wife and business partner Máire, along with their two angelic little girls. The Tannery is a real family business. 

Lunchtime in the elegant dining room

After lunch, we were more than a little sleepy, but Paul seemed to have gained in energy over lunch and he launched into Round Two of cooking. He churned out aubergine rolls with red pepper sauce, a comforting ham, cheese and potato cake, all finished off with an exotic and spiced fruit salad. Of course, we had to sample all this before we could depart! We rolled out of the Tannery holding our recipe booklets, hugely inspired by Paul's attitude to flavours and freshness. 

Aubergine Rolls

Spiced fruit salad

Ham, Cheese and Potato Cake

If you are interested in taking a course with Paul at the Tannery Cookery School, then you can check out the website below for more information on upcoming courses. If you want to make a weekend of it, it's also possible to combine a cookery class with a stay in the lovely Tannery B&B, as well as enjoying a meal in their famous restaurant. Or perhaps, given the proximity of the Christmas season, a trip to the Tannery Cookery School might make the perfect gift. 

The Tannery Cookery School, 10 Quay Street, Dungarvan, Co Waterford
Tel: +353 (0)58 45420
URL: www.tannery.ie/cookery-school
Twitter: @TanneryDungarva @paulflynnchef

The Tannery, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford

It's been ages since I last ate at the Tannery Restaurant in Dungarvan. But I got a surprise the last weekend we visited the in-laws. Sunday lunch had been booked at the Tannery. Mmmm...

Firstly, the Tannery is located in a beautiful old building, and appears dark when you first enter. However, as the waiters lead you up the stairs to the dining area, it opens up and sunlight floods in through the roof. It's a light, bright airy dining space.

The Sunday lunch menu consisted of 3 starters, 5 mains (with a E5 supplement for the Bouillabaise) and 5 desserts for E30 a head. I'm not convinced that it's the best value around, but I'm always keen to give the food of Paul Flynn a go.


For starters I chose the McConnells smoked fish plate which comprised smoked mackerel served with beetroot and horseradish, salmon, potato and creme fraiche, trout and fennel compote and finally, a shot of the parsley and parmesan soup. I wasn't very keen on the soup as I'm not a fan of the strong taste of parsley. Out of all the flavours, the beetroot and horseradish, when combined with the mackerel, was delicious.

4 out of the 6 of us sitting at the table chose the slow-cooked lamb with Moroccan vegetables and mint yogurt as our main. How could you not when it sounded so good? What I got was of mixed standard. The Moroccan vegetables, fresh warm hoummous, mint yougurt and couscous accompanying the lamb were simply divine with rich, exotic flavours. However, the lamb itself was a bit variable, demonstrated by the little piles of fat left on many of our plates.

The other mains chosen by our table were the roast chicken with ham hock cannelloni and the grilled cod. The cod was cooked beautifully but the bread salad contained olives, which weren't advertised on the menu, and significantly changed the expected flavour of the dish.

From the minute that we had sat down to eat, we had been looking forward to the desserts. And they did not disappoint. I love anything involving meringues, fruit and cream so I plumped for the rhubarb meringue fool - and it was good! Too good, because when I came to the end, I was wanting more.


We ordered coffees, which were included in the E30, when the bill came, but we were charged as additional 10% due to the size of our party. Overall, we were very pleased with our lunch, but at the same time wondered if we had paid just a 'little' too much?

The Tannery Restaurant, 10 Quay Street, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford. 058 - 45420