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You are here: Home / Shows, launches and events / Bloom, Dublin – food, flowers and friends

Bloom, Dublin – food, flowers and friends

by Jeanne Horak on June 23, 2011 19 Comments in Shows, launches and events

BloomInThePark2011 © J Horak-Druiff 2011

 

Irish food.  It’s all potatoes, potatoes and more potatoes, washed down with Guinness, right?

Well, no, not really – and the lovely people at Bord Bia (the Irish Food Board) are on a mission to dispel that misconception and introduce the world to the wealth of wonderful produce and products that Ireland has to offer.  But I did start wondering if they were losing the plot a little when they invited me to attend Bloom in Dublin earlier this month.  As far as I knew, Bloom was Dublin’s answer to the Chelsea Flower Show – more of an event for horticultural bloggers than food bloggers, right?  Well, actually, wrong again!  A sizeable area (three pavilions) has been set aside for showcasing Irish food and drink, from brewers to Irish farmhouse cheese producers, to artisan bakers, to purveyors of fine meat and fish.  It was at these food pavilions that Andrew, Ailbhe and I arrived, fresh off the plane, one sunny Friday earlier this month.  Here are some highlights of our day:

 

BloomBeerCollage1

8 Degrees Brewery:  Handcrafted in the rugged Ballyhoura region in Ireland by Scott and Cam, a Kiwi and an Aussie, the latter of whom was on hand to pour for us in Dublin.  The pair were perplexed by the lack of craft beers in Ireland when they arrived in the emerald isle and set about founding their ow microbrewery to fill the gap.  The name is clever on many levels as it represents the line of longitude that runs through the middle of Ireland; and it is also the perfect temperature at which their beers should be served.  Although they are still referring to themselves as Ireland’s newest craft brewer, if their refreshingly hopsy Howling Gale Ale is anything to go by they will be around for many years to come.

 

BloomBeerCollage2

After a brief visit to O’hara’s to try their new subtly smoky Smoked Ale No1, Dungarvan Brewing Company was our next stop where Cormac O’Dwyer tempted us with their Coffee and Oatmeal Stout.  I loved this – the coffee added a bitter bite while the oats rounded out the flavours, with a surprisingly clean finish.

 

BloomPorkCollage

TJ Crowe pulled pork sandwiches:  We realised pretty rapidly that we could not carry on tasting beers much longer without some sustenance to soak up the alcohol and so we checked out the options on offer in the fast food area.  My brain stopped as soon I saw the words “pulled pork sandwiches” and I was particularly pleased to see that they were using Old Bay seasoning for the authentic Southern taste 🙂 TJ Crowe raises organic lambs and happy pigs on their farm in Co. Tipperary, where artisanal bacon and sausages are also made. The sandwiches were huge and delicous, with tangy coleslaw and beauiful meat – my only slight technical criticism would be that the are roast pork rather than pulled pork sandwiches… but it seemed churlish to mention it!

 

BloomMurphy'sIceCream

Murphy’s ice cream:  What  better way to cool down (and believe me, it was SWELTERINGLY hot!) and round off lunch than with an ice cream.  The queue outside the Murphy’s ice cream stand told its own story and we were not disappointed.  I tried dark chocolate (super-indulgent) and honeycomb (subtle, but a winner if you love honeycomb like I do); Ailbhe tried the honey lavender (delicious and not too floral); while Andrew picked a winner with the champagne and elderflower sorbet, which was frozen perfection.  Murphy’s never use preservatives, colours, mixes, powdered milk or bottled flavours – and it shows in the taste.  Check out their website for other flavours, including their least-favourite flavour ever made.

 

BloomCheeseCollage

Knockdrinna farmhouse cheeses:  Knockdrinna have been making cheese since 2004 at their farm in Co. Kilkenny. Although they started out making cow’s milk cheeses, they now source goat’s and sheep’s milk from local farmers to produce a range of artisan cheeses. There is also a farm shop and a café on the farm and farm visits and cheese tours are in the pipeline.  We tasted the Meadow Sheep’s Cheese (a semi-hard sheep’s milk cheese with a rind washed in an organic white wine wash); Knockdrinna Snow (a soft goat’s cheese with a bloomy penicillin rind which looks a little like soft snow, hence the name); and my personal favourite the Knockdrinna Gold Goat’s Cheese with its white wine washed rind, creamy texture and nutty flavour.  The wedge that I bought was heavenly with preserved green figs in syrup!

 

BloomGlenilenCollage3

 

BloomGlenilenYoghurt

 

BloomGlenilenCollage2

Glenilen Farm yoghurt:  Ailbhe insisted that we track down and sample some Glenilen yoghurt.  I figured a yoghurt is a yoghurt – what’s the big deal?  But that was before I tasted Glenilen yoghurt.  Owner Alan Kingston’s family have been farming on the same dairy farm in Co. Cork for generations but it was only in 1997 that wife Valerie started using some of the farms’ high-quality milk from its happy cows to make cheesecakes for local markets.  What began as a hobby grew and grew, and today they manufacture a range of milk-based goodies including cheesecake, yoghurt, pannacotta, mousses, cream cheese, clotted cream and butter (which was even served to Queen Elizabeth on her recent visit to Ireland!).  The lovely Valerie very kindly took time to chat to us over a class of Glenilen lemonade and gave us samples of the vanilla pannacotta as well as the small raspberry yoghurt pot and the lemon cheesecake – we adored all the design and packaging. The pannacotta was trembly and vanilla-seed-studded; the cheesecake after a night wihout refrigeration had sadly liquified but tasted terriffic with a real lemon kick and excellent biscuit base. But my favourite was the little yoghurt pot – so perfectly tart and packed with raspberries – and packaged in a glass pot that screams “prop!” to any food blogger.  Here is a list of their UK stockists (including many branches of Waitrose – hurrah!)

 

BloomSoulBakeryCollage

Soul Bakery breads:  It’s not often that I go ga-ga over bread, but the Soul Bakery stand had both me and Andrew positively slack-jawed with admiration – and one look at the photos will tell you why!  Based in Dublin, they sell mainly at markets all around the city, but after they gave out samples of one of their fruit breads (I think it had apricots and/or figs in it?) we made sure that some of these baked treasured made their way back to London in our suitcases.  They make a range of breads, from the decadent sweet apple & walnut or custard, apple & almond logs; to traditional soda breads; to spelt loaves; to spectacularly good gluten-free fruit breads like the sultana, walnut and sesame seed loaf that I brought back with me.  Heaven with a smear of salted butter.

 

BloomJHicks

J Hick & Sons bacon jam:  Yes, you read right – bacon jam.  Niamh had written about it.  Ailbhe had told me about it.  But I wanted to see (and taste it!) for myself. And bacon jam could scarcely have a better spokesperson than the hilarious and charming Ed Hick of J Hick & Sons.  “There’s a lot of flavours going on in there”, he said as he passed around samples of the bacon jam and he was not kidding.  Tasting like the lovechild of a bottle of chutney and a jar of pork rillettes, it’s meaty and salty and sweet and intriguing – all at the same time.  Yum.  J Hick & Sons also produce sausages, bacon and all manner of artisanal pork products.

 

BloomHarty's

Harty’s pepper jelly:  Right next door I spied the Harty’s pepepr jellies – how could you resist them, al red and glistening like rubies!  Originally from Ireland, Melanie Harty travelled to the US where she fell in love with chillies and the Southern idea of pepper jelly as a condiment.  In 1993 she launched her range of pepper jellies at US markets and in 1996 she returned to Ireland to launch the range here. I tasted a couple of these and each one was better than the last – a particular favourite was the original hot pepper jelly with its sweet heat and the char-grilled bell pepper jelly which had a real depth of smoky flavour – can’t imagine anything nicer with cheese.

 

BloomScullery1

BloomScullery2

The Scullery Christmas puddings:  Florrie Purcell founded The Scullery in Co. Tipperary back in 2004, making simple, old-fashioned foods without additives or chemicals.  Keeping to this philosophy, she has now expanded her product range to 21 items and has collected a slew of awards along the way and she is one of the most engaging people we met at Bloom:  unpretentious and super-enthusiastic about her products.  She makes a range of pickles, relishes, sauces and sweet preserves – but what she really wanted us to try was her Christmas pudding and brandy butter (which is now being sold in the cylinders above in the form of four mini puddings).  I loved it – not as heavy as some Christmas puddings and simply packed with fruit – and I can’t wait to try the plum pudding she gave us to take home.  She also hinted that some of her products might soon be gracing the shelves in Selfridges, so keep your eyes peeled. (And would you believe – the little girl on the packaging is Florrie herself as a child!)

 

BloomSlaneCastleCollage

Slane Castle whiskey cocktails:  Slane Castle Irish Whiskey has been specially created for Henry, the Eighth  Marquess Conyngham, head of the Conyngham family that, since 1701, have lived in Slane Castle in Ireland.  It is distilled by the nearby Cooley distillery (more on them in a moment) and is a fairly light whisky with caramel and vanilla notes – making it the perfect base for whisky cocktails!  We spent a happy half hour on the grass under the trees enjoying a Sunkiss (whisky, creme de cassis, fresh lemon, and ginger beer).

 

BloomCooley1

 

BloomCooley2

Cooley Distillery Irish Whiskey:  Our logical next stop was the Cooley distillery stand, where Cooley global brand ambassador (now there’s a job I’d like!)  John Cashman guided us through a tasting of their four brands.  Greenore is unique in that it is a single grain Irish whiskey made from maize rather than a blend of malt and grain  It is matured for 8 years in bourbon casks and this translates into a caramelly, velvety palate – almost like drinking a liqueur (and I LOVE the bottle).  Kilbeggan Irish Whiskey is a classic blended whiskey made in the world’s oldest distillerey, founded in 1757. It has a classic flavour blending  Tyrconnell is a historic single malt Irish whiskey, named after a racehorse that beat the odds and won a legendary race at odds of 100 to 1 (you can still see the horse on the label).  I thought it tasted rather like Armagnac, but Andrew begged to differ!  And if you like your whiskey peaty, you have to try Connemara, their single malt peated whiskey.  The smoky peat flavour comes from drying the malting barley over peat fires and often I find the flavour overwhelming in a whisky (yes, Laphroaig, I am looking at YOU!) – but this is perfect for my palate:  a hint of smoke rather than death by smoke inhalataion.  Just lovely.

 

BloomCheeseplate

Cheese tasting plate from Cais (the Irish farmhouse cheesemakers’ association):  Our last stop of the day was to rest our weary legs and try a plate of Irish farmhouse cheese. By now I was no longer making notes (hmm, could be the preceding whisky tasting) so cannot give you detail about what we had… But at a guess, the plate included Carrowholly cow’s milk cheese with herbs; Glebe Brethan (a comté-style cow’s milk cheese), a blue cheese (possibly Cashel); Killeen Farmouse cheese; and a fresh soft white cheese filled with berries.  All were delicious, but the sun made good pictures inpossible – hence the picture of Andrew and Ailbhe doing the traditional Irish cheese-worshipping dance (!) in a vain attempt to create some shade!

From there it was a short walk through the floral pavilions back to the media centre and our life to the hotel, so I will leave you with a few gratuitous flower shots.  If you love flowers, artisanal food, or just enjoy chatting to people who are passionate about what they do,  Bloom is a fantastic way to spend a day making new discoveries.  Thanks to all the lovely producers who took the time to chat to us and a huge thank you once again to Maeve and Bord Bia for flying us to Dublin; and to Tess from Food Matters for organising the smooth running of our visit so well.  A couple of extra pics are available in my Bloom Flick album.

 

BloomFlowers1

 

BloomFlowers2

 

BloomLogo

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  1. Ailbhe says

    June 23, 2011 at 9:56 am

    That was such a brilliant day. Lots of great food and drink, fab tastings and lots and lots of laughs. Not sure how Bord Bia managed to arrange the sun to shine but shine it did (I went back for another visit Sunday and it was damp but still great fun). Roll on next year when hopefully there’ll be time to drag you to visit at least one Dublin pub.
    Lots of good memories here Jeanne : )

    Reply
  2. meeta says

    June 23, 2011 at 10:16 am

    I was waiting for this one! Looks like you had an awesome time. WOuld have loved to have been there too. I think it might have been hard to pull me away from the whiskey place LOL! Great one!

    Reply
  3. Móna Wise says

    June 23, 2011 at 10:27 am

    I really hope you will stay longer next year Jeanne and maybe even head West for a night or two with your husband.
    The photos are gorgeous and I love that you stopped taking notes after the Whisky. That could be the title of a book!
    Móna

    Reply
  4. Daily Spud says

    June 23, 2011 at 10:47 am

    What do you mean, Irish food is not just potatoes, potatoes and more potatoes ? 🙂 Seriously, though, I loved the food village at Bloom this year which showed (yet again) that we have some wonderful food to shout about, spuds included.

    Reply
  5. Astrid says

    June 23, 2011 at 10:51 am

    I envy you for that visit at the Cooley Distillery stand. They are my favourite distillery I love all of their Whiskeys. Your article makes me want to be there next year to see, smell and taste it all myself.

    Reply
  6. Sam says

    June 23, 2011 at 11:47 am

    What an amazing looking event, so my cup of tea. I was most intrigued by the bacon jam. Cannot imagine, and would love to try it.
    Sam

    Reply
  7. bellini says

    June 23, 2011 at 2:07 pm

    I just love these types of events Jeanne. Thanks for sharing your day!

    Reply
  8. Sarah, Maison Cupcake says

    June 23, 2011 at 2:51 pm

    Very envious! I would have loved to have gone to this!

    Reply
  9. Krista says

    June 23, 2011 at 10:59 pm

    Oh my goodness – that shredded pork looks incredible! And I’d love to try that bacon jam. 🙂

    Reply
  10. Andrew says

    June 24, 2011 at 8:13 am

    Think the flower photo comparison is damn close; think you win on the Glenilen product shots though.

    Reply
  11. Firefly says

    June 24, 2011 at 8:14 am

    As a blogger you are very fortunate that there are so many events geared towards bloggers and comapnies / establishments / people who see the benefit and exposure that bloggers can offer them. I on’t know what its like in Johannesburg and Cape Town, but here in Port Elizabeth nobody seems to realise the exposure they can derive from bloggers.
    Is that Colonel Sanders in disguise in that second picture?

    Reply
  12. Paula @ Cookware Cooking says

    June 24, 2011 at 6:34 pm

    Must make plans to travel there! Shredded pork (looks like it was roasted to perfection!), oh, and bacon jam!

    Reply
  13. Melissa @ OliveOilExp says

    June 24, 2011 at 8:24 pm

    Good food and good people. You don’t have to ask for more. You just have to enjoy every moment of the day. You have good photos too.

    Reply
  14. Audrey says

    June 25, 2011 at 12:35 pm

    Where can you get green fig preserves in London?

    Reply
  15. Simone says

    June 25, 2011 at 10:36 pm

    Love all those photos Jeanne and wow, that sounds like a really nice event you’d been invited too!! It’s true really that the Irish have a bit of a weird name when it comes to food… It’s not the first country I would think about when I think about good produce and good food. But then again; no one thinks that of Holland either (apart from croquettes and bitterballen I guess..:))

    Reply
  16. Kieran says

    June 27, 2011 at 1:19 pm

    Lovely round up and photos! I’m delighted you liked the ice cream. It was great fun. 🙂

    Reply
  17. Cupcake Crazy Gem says

    June 29, 2011 at 12:32 pm

    Wow great photography, this event looks very yummy indeed! If you fancy winning a gourmet cheesecake, head over to my blog for my giveaway!

    Reply
  18. Pille @ Nami-Nami says

    June 29, 2011 at 8:39 pm

    We’re planning a family trip to Normandy this autumn, and now I’m thinking we should have chosen Ireland instead 😉 Gorgeous overview, Jeanne! That bacon jam especially caught my eye 🙂

    Reply
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Maybe some colours make you agitated and some make you relaxed. Or maybe you find yourself inexplicably attracted to a particular colour (oh, hi teal and aqua!💙). On the basis that all colours have a wavelength, and that those outside the visible spectrum can affect us, it makes sense that the colours we see can affect our mood or even our physiology. Did you know for instance that exposure to red light can increase your blood pressure and heart rate? Are there any colours that you find yourself particularly attracted to or affected by?

The pretty colours of these roasted Brussels sprouts with feta cheese, pomegranate and pine nuts will be the first things that attract you to this dish - but it is the delicious combination of flavours and textures that will keep you coming back for more!

The recipe (and more about how colour affects us mentally and physically) is now live on my blog - click the live link in my profile and remember to like and bookmark this post to see more Cooksister in your Instagram feed ❤️
Perspective: a particular attitude towards or way Perspective: a particular attitude towards or way of regarding something.

Perspective is the one thing that the Covid-19 pandemic has given us plenty of. It has certainly made us re-evaluate what is truly important, and also what we did and didn't enjoy about our lives  before the pandemic and its associated lockdowns. It made me appreciate how much happiness my house, my job, my friends, my own company and my running bring to my life (and how fortunate I am to have all these things). But it also brought home how much I enjoy and miss travel, the theatre, and the luxury of reataurant visits at the drop of a hat. I don't think words can describe my joy at sipping the first coffee purchased from a coffee shop in summer 2020 as lockdown eased. It's the little things...

One of the things I have enjoyed and will not miss as the world creeps back to normality is the absence of crowds in what is usually a crowded city. On the occasions that I have been in central London since the start of the pandemic, streets have been blissfully empty and it has felt as if I were discovering my city anew. This glorious perspective (hah!) of St Paul's Cathedral normally requires a long wait while a queue of tourists and "influencers" ahead of you pose for photos - but on this glorious day last Spring it was almost deserted. I will miss that...

Is there anything you will miss as Covid-19 restrictions start to be lifted?
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Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

Latest Recipes

Salmon with blood oranges dill and capers
Brussels sprouts with feta and pomegranate
Roast lamb with pomegranate glaze
Blood orange & pistachio galettes
Cauliflower topped steak with melted cheese
Plate of potted smoked salmon with slaw and a glass of champagne
bowls of pistachio pomegranate bircher muesli
Brussels sprouts with chorizo & hazelnuts

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