Caitriona Redmond: The food and demonstrations that impressed me most at Bloom

Bloom is a feast for the senses and food columnist Caitríona Redmond has picked some of the best offerings from this year's event

Members of the public browsing the stands on the first day of the Bloom gardening festival in Phoenix Park, Dublin. Picture: Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie

Bloom is the ultimate event for foodies with food to sample and cookery demonstrations from top Irish chefs on the Quality Kitchen Stage. It’s a feast for the senses with scents and sights of food from top-notch Irish fruit and vegetables growing on display, and the best of Irish grown produce to sample or bring home and enjoy.

In the past 16 years, many food enterprises have found that Bloom has been a springboard to greater things and exhibiting can open many doors as both Áine of Aine’s Chocolate and Miena of Miena’s Nougat can attest. Both of these strong female-led businesses have gone from strength to strength with own-brand products and listings in top Irish stores. Bloom was one of the stepping stones along the way to make that happen, along with their hard work and vision.