Things are hotting up at tasty festival

Enjoying a head massage by the pond in Fitzgerald Park, still savouring the exquisite aftertastes of some Ballymaloe crab paté washed down with a 30-year-old sherry, as a string quartet plays in the background — it is hard to imagine a finer place to be on a Friday afternoon than the inaugural Irish Examiner Food Festival.

Factor in the company of a complete stranger around these parts over the last few months — the sun — and a staggering display of wares from Cork’s top restaurants, food and drink producers and retailers, and a “walk in the park” becomes more akin to a gastronomic pilgrimage by the River Lee.

But not everyone is happy to kick back and relax in the sun, for among the contented nibbling and drinking punters lounging on bean bags, listening to former You’re A Star contestant Pat Fitz, it is possible to pick out at intervals some visibly unrelaxed men and women — the chefs!

Following a successful opening night on Thursday, with TV chef Rachel Allen packing out the demo tent and a good crowd making the trek down the Mardyke to wine and dine in the glorious summer sun, a much quieter Friday morning smacks of the lull before the evening’s storm, and no one is more impatient than a fully-prepped chef awaiting the rush.

The morning’s demos begin with Patrick Ryan from the Heir Island-based Firehouse Bread, in West Cork, giving a very keen audience a run-through of his yeast and sourdough breads, including an ‘epi’ which, he jokes, is basically a baguette with a series of cuts enabling the baker to charge twice the price, before finishing up with a two-foot long steak sandwich which miraculously manages to feed everyone in the tent.

It may not be quite 1pm but Fiona O’Brien, Elaine Doyle and Laura O’Callaghan are hanging on Patrick’s every word, while hanging on even tighter to their bottle of prosecco, having decided that such a promising weekend can surely begin a little earlier.

Next up is TV3 chef Andrew Rudd — one of the special festival guests along with Rachel Allen, Darina Allen and Paolo Tullio. He is doing a series of demos and is clearly enjoying, himself enormously, especially as he is expecting a party of friends down from Dublin to turn it into a real working holiday.

Irish Examiner columnist and chef/proprietor of Dublin’s Cake Café, Michelle Darmody sets about preparing a chicken hotpot, quesadillas and an apricot and almond tart using ingredients already gathered from the English Market, despite having only arrived by train that morning, and she soon has the punters craning forward, eagerly anticipating a taste.

With a capacity for 4,500 guests there is still plenty of room to manoeuvre but Philip Ryan, one of the festival organisers, is delighted with the close-to 1,500 visitors who have passed through the park gates for the morning session, confident of a good turnout for the evening.

“It’s going great; so far, so good, and we are very lucky with the weather, so we’re hoping for another few busy days with lots of sunshine,” says Mr Ryan.

By 6.30pm, his confidence proves justified as the crowds throng the Mardyke en route to what is shaping up to be one of the culinary events of the summer down South.

What’s on

* Get a good viewing spot this weekend for what promises to be a fantastic sight as Bantry hosts its biennial week-long Fringe Festival and Atlantic Challenge boat races. The festival fun kicks off today.

* If you feel like you need a favour, or you could give one yourself, get involved with Clonakilty’s Random Acts of Kindness Festival this weekend as it promotes the community’s new skills and labour exchange initiative.

* Get your walking boots on and meet new people at the Kerry Way Cancer Research walk this weekend. The guided walks start and finish each day in Kenmare.

* Also, Kerry’s Sneem Family Festival is in full steam, the four-day festival ending tomorrow, Sunday.

Treasure hunts, markets and a farm skills challenge are only a taste of what the festival has to offer.