Food provenance to the fore at Comeraghs Wild Festival
(Left to right) Willie Drohan, Comeragh Mountain Lamb; Clotilde Kiely, Comeragh Mountain Farm; and Andrew Malcolm, forager. Picture: John Bermingham
Food provenance is a term that has become increasingly familiar with consumers over the past few decades. That’s because people are looking for more data about the origins of the food they buy, where it has been grown, raised or caught and how it has been produced and transported to the supermarket shelves.
All those factors contribute to the purchasing decisions of shoppers as they seek quality assured food in the supply chain. It is against this background that events have been organised in Waterford to highlight the region’s reputation for quality food.
Organisers of the annual Comeraghs Wild Festival have included a feast in a forest to highlight the benefits in a natural setting.
Crough Wood is the venue for the July 14 evening food fest, which is prepared by Eamonn Connors and Roisin O’Connor, who run Eamo and Ro in Kilmacthomas. They are locally-based chefs, restauranteurs, and caterers.
The duo hosted an event as part of the Comeraghs Wild Festival programme last year, but it sold out within hours.
“We can only seat up to 28 in the restaurant, so we liaised with the festival organisers and have come up with an amazing menu,” said Eamonn.
It will feature the best in local produce, cooked in the open air and served on a long, communal table under a canopy in Crough Wood, close to Mahon Falls, with 50 places available.
“Our guests will start the evening with a cider Pimm's cup with fresh raspberries and cucumber. It will be bursting with freshness.
“We’re very proud of our locally sourced ingredients, and on the menu will be seafood from the Copper Coast, for the mains, we have Dexter Beef cooked in the woods with root vegetables, cauliflower and a rich cheese truffle sauce and bone marrow gravy.
“For dessert, there will be local strawberries, meringue and whipped cream. We finish with a coffee/chocolate whiskey combination for all to enjoy,” he said.
Eamonn said business has been very brisk since they set up in Kilmacthomas. Night-time dining has gone down an absolute treat, and their outside catering business continues to grow.
The Comeraghs Wild Festival is celebrating its 10th birthday across the first two weekends in July.
It will start with an open-air concert on July 6 featuring the High Kings in the courtyard of Curraghmore House and Gardens, the ancestral home of Lord Waterford with the Feast in the Forest taking place on the following weekend.
The festival will include a mix of activities in the mountains and in the sea. The live music, dance and outdoor events will celebrate the generations-old customs, history, culture and natural beauty of the Comeragh Mountains, Copper Coast and Nire Valley region.
Meanwhile, food producers, sustainable farmers and food foragers have collaborated to organise other guided visits to food producer locations and farms across the Comeraghs during the summer.
July 19, August 23 and September 27 are the remaining dates in the schedule which is aimed at putting a spotlight on Waterford’s agri-food offering and those behind it.
Richard Povey, Taste Waterford project manager, said the region is home to many food growers and market gardens and farms of all kinds. “We are delighted to be able to share an authentic insight into our award-winning and sustainable food scene,” he said.
Tour Guide Johnny Landers will meet tour-goers and offer them a unique insight into the landscape, and life on the mountains. Folklore, heritage and the foods that can be lived on from the land will be shared on a foraging trail led by Andrew Malcolm.
Guests will then head into the heart of the Comeraghs and meet French-born Clotilde Kiely to get an insight into her sustainable 16-acre organic farm. Tour-goers stop off at the Mahon Falls to meet sixth-generation mountain sheep farmer Willie Drohan and his dog Ben.
He’ll talk about this special landscape, show his distinctive Scottish Black Face sheep, explain why mountain lamb is unique and demonstrate shepherding. The tour concludes at Willie’s farmyard cafe ‘Cooney’s Yard’, where guests will enjoy a lunch of seasonal produce.
