Food on the Edge Podcast

Food On The Edge Podcast Episode 1 Seaweed by Sharon Noonan

Failte Ireland's John Mulcahy explains why Failte Ireland supports Food on the Edge and highlights the important contribution events like FOTE make to food tourism in Ireland.

Sharon Noonan talks to Eanna Hassett, Director of Food & Beverage at Ashford Castle about the speakers' excursion to Cong in Co Mayo and hears the impact that FOTE 2016 has had on him personally.

Sasu Laukkonen attended FOTE 2015 as a speaker and was on the FOTE 2016 panel "Producing Food Sustainably." He is a chef and owner of Chef & Sommelier in Helsinki. Laukkonen describes himself as a 'no waste' chef, using lesser known cuts of meat such as tongue and belly, and is a passionate advocate of organic and wild food, grown in the restaurant’s own garden and foraged from the Finnish countryside. Laukkonen has a long experience in the kitchen, with short internships at Château Carsin (Bordeaux), Lux and F12 at Stockholm, and as head chef to La Petite Maison and Loft Restaurant & Lounge in Helsinki. In 2010, Sasu opened his own restaurant, where he and his team decided to focus on organic products, local and close to nature. Chef & Sommelier was awarded its first Michelin star in 2014.

Co founder of the Foodie Forum & GMIT Lecturer, Jacinta Dalton, discusses the culinary delights enjoyed by everyone who attended FOTE 2016 with Manuela Spinelli.

Massimo Bottura, chef patron of the three Michelin star Osteria Francescana which is No. 1 in The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2016, visited the Media Room after his presentation for a Q&A session.

National Chef of the Year, James Devine from EIPIC in Belfast, shares his FOTE 2016 highlights with Manuela Spinelli.

Manuela Spinelli talks to FOTE team member Ruth Hegarty from Egg & Chick Projects and Chef Network Ireland about what happens behind the scenes, the excursions that the speakers have to look forward to, being styled by the Tweed Project and lots more!

Enjoy feedback from delegates attending Day 1 of Food on the Edge 2016.

Meet some of the producers in the Artisan Food Village at Food on the Edge 2016.

Raymond McArdle (@mcardle_23) is Head Chef at Restaurant 23 and winner of the Great British Menu 2013. Growing up on the South Down coast he fell in love with food due to his grandmother baking a variety of breads from stone milled flour. He decided to become a chef taking what he learnt as a child and building upon it using earthy and delicate flavours to create modern Irish food. He learnt his trade with Paul Rankin and Michael Deane, the only two chefs at the time to have Michelin stars for 9 years. McArdle moved to the Nuremore Hotel as Head Chef and achieved three AA Rosette’s and Best Hotel in Ulster numerous times. Moving home to the coast was in his heart, he missed the rugged coastline and ‘where the mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea’! He wanted a simpler life creating his ideal food.

Danni Barry (@Danni_Barry) is the 2nd female chef in Ireland to have achieved a Michelin star. Danni’s cooking career began with Michael Deane in 2003, that gained a Michelin Star in 1997 and held it for fourteen consecutive years. After four years in Deanes, she travelled to cook in restaurants throughout South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, then later to Spain, spending time learning from the cultures, chefs and restaurants where she worked along the way. Danni was appointed to head up the kitchen at Simon Rogan’s restaurant in Cartmel, Rogan & Co., internationally famous for its locally sourced, seasonal produce. Danni worked there for two years until Michael Deane head-hunted her to come back to Belfast to take the helm at Deanes EIPIC in 2014, where she gained the Michelin Star within just eighteen months of the opening, adding the 15th Star to Deanes.

John McKenna was born in Belfast and first qualified as a Barrister at Law. In addition to his legal work, John worked as a journalist in Dublin, writing particularly for Hot Press and In Dublin Magazine. In 1991 John and Sally McKenna began their research into Irish food, giving up their Dublin flat, and splurging on a broken-down Renault 4. They set off around Ireland to discover what they hoped would be an exciting food culture, and John has written about Irish food ever since. John McKenna has won numerous awards for his food writing, including a series of Glenfiddich Awards, the Andre Simon Special Award and the Slow Food Ireland Media Award. A long-time writer for the Irish Times, contributor to RTE television and news programmes, John also has written for various international publications, including The Art of Eating. He is regarded as a leading commentator on Irish food.

Mark Murphy is co owner of Dingle Cookery School in Co Kerry and a Failte Ireland Food Ambassador. He studied Sport and Leisure Management but became fascinated with cooking while travelling. He loved to eat and thought it would be useful to know “how to cook ten or twelve dishes”. He learned, and soon he was shopping in local markets and cooking 3 course meals in hostel kitchens for fellow backpackers. He decided to train as a chef. Having worked in good local restaurants and hotels, Mark found he had a passion for teaching and joined IT Tralee as a lecturer in Culinary Arts. Mark attended the inaugural Food on the Edge in 2015 and acted as a moderator at one of the sessions.

Sally McKenna is a photographer, cookery editor, film-maker and the publisher of the McKennas' Guides, working from her office in West Cork. She began her writing career with the weekly Irish Independent column Guest Who's Coming To Dinner, and has worked with food since 1991. Sally was the editor and publisher of Pizza Defined by Bernadette O'Shea, and Martin's Fishy Fishy Cookbook, with Martin Shanahan. This year will see the publication of her book Extreme Greens, a book about gathering and cooking seaweed. Sally blogs about wild food and foraging at www.lifeskills.ie and contributes to various newspapers.

Wade Murphy is the owner/head chef of 1826 Adare in Co. Limerick. After graduating Wade spent several years working in London. In 2001 he returned home to join the team at the Four Seasons Hotel in Dublin. During his time there he also helped out with the opening of other Four Seasons Hotels in Egypt and London, moving on to the Four Seasons in Chicago in 2005. In 2007 he returned to Ireland to take up the position of Executive Chef at Lisloughry Lodge in Cong, Co. Mayo, moving to The Lodge at Doonbeg, Co. Clare in 2010, before taking the plunge and opening his own restaurant in 2013. In that year Wade was also appointed Commissioner-General of Euro-toques Ireland. In 2014, 1826 Adare was awarded Best Restaurant in Munster by the RAI and in 2015, Best Restaurant in Munster at the Food and Wine Awards. 1826 Adare has a Bib Gourmand by the Michelin Guide. http://1826adare.ie