On entering Bord Bia I was greeted by the lovely Klara Golez, Klara played a huge role in making the day happen, who presented me with a name badge and a folder. The room was already a buzz with clusters of excited people as I entered. Having met no one in person prior to this occasion I made my way towards the lovely Babaduck, whom I had had many online conversations with via Beaut.ie. Some other beaut.ies in attendance included Reindeersp, Gee Gee and TrulyMiss all looking stunning as would be expected.
Once seated Maeve Desmond, Bord Bia Marketing Services, welcomed us all and introduced David Owens who spoke about the Bord Bia Quality Mark and its importance for Irish pork. Next up, Lorraine Fitzmaurice of Blazing Salads, demonstrated a quick and easy recipe for some delicious Organic Spelt Soda Bread (the ingredients for which have been purchased and a recipe should appear later this week). Slices of the bread were passed around for the group to sample and from what I could see all devoured it. In addition Lorraine spoke about Miso and its importance in vegetarian diets as a rich source of protein. A Migu Miso Pesto was prepared and tossed with some tagliatelle and again a sample was sent around for everybody to try. It is something else that I will be trying out this week as it offers a healthier, low fat alternative to regular pesto, without any compromise on taste.
Following on from Lorraine the hilarious Pat Conway, GMIT, demonstrated his skill in butchering a pork loin. Let me tell ya, don't for the love of Jesus cross this fella in a dark alley if he happens to be brandishing a saw cos he is pretty nifty with the aul cutting clean through flesh and bone! Pat sliced the loin into it's various cuts and gave some wonderful tips on how to ensure that you always cook a beautifully tender piece of pork by following some simple steps and guidelines.
Maire Dufficy, a Bord Bia Food Advisor, took over from Pat to demonstrate some quick and healthy recipes using pork. The aromas that wafted their way through the room from her cooking had us all drooling and she armed us with a myriad of recipes to try at home. Maire also gave out her top tip, and it is one of the best cooking tips I have heard yet. If you are buying meat from your butcher to marinade, bring the marinade to the butcher and ask them to vacuum pack it with the meat. Vacuum packing will completely seal in both the flavours and the aromas of the marinade so no longer will I have to spend the day worrying that the smell of my main course is permeating my dessert!
While lunch was being prepared, Damien Mulley spoke about blog marketing. As with all who spoke before him Damien shared some great advice on networking and how to improve blog readership. Lunch followed and was delicious; yes you guessed it, pork. I had some yummy pork belly, complete with crackling, accompanied by roast vegetables, salsa and noodles. Once that lot had been scoffed plates appeared before us baring the most wonderful light strawberry tart (if I track down a recipe it will be posted without fail). As time was running over slightly Eoin Purcell spoke on the process of transitioning from blog to book as we licked our plates clean.
Following lunch Erica Ryan and Jocasta Clarke spoke about food styling and photography and doled out some indispensable tips. Erica spoke about the use of glycerine, super glue, WD40 and many other unlikely items you would never even contemplate using with food. Jocasta advised on the ideal light to use for photographing dishes and also about how to arrange displays to maximise visual impact. I hope to put these tips to good use and produce a higher standard of pictures for the blog. I desperately wanted an upgrade on my camera prior to the event, having listened to Jocasta I now desperately NEED one, so I shall be throwing all of my spare euros into Percy for the foreseeable future.
Now, you would think that all of that would be enough for one day but oh no. We had been told in advance to bring a bag for some swag and boy were they needed. Once the day's talks had drawn to a close we were invited to mingle and to load up with lots of scrummy freebies. I did things in the wrong order so missed out on what I hear was some top notch cheese but none the less I left with a bag heaving full of yummies. Below is a list of what I nabbed:
Mint plant courtesy of Living Flavour
Alfalfa, Broco Shoots & Smart Seeds Sunflower Mix courtesy of Good4U
Chutney for Cheese courtesy of Sheridan's (as I said I missed out on the cheese also)
Biltong Beef
Smoked Trout courtesy of Goatsbridge
Pu-Erh & South African Rooibos Tea courtesy of Barry's
A Macroom Oatmeal Ginger Biscuit courtesy of Lilly Higgins
A melon salad, the name of the supplier I have since forgotten, soz.
Most of the above has been sampled already. The melon was eaten when I returned home from the event and was exactly what was required on such a sticky day. Lilly's scrummy biscuit was practically inhaled the following morning and the rest was dipped into over the weekend. On Saturday and Sunday numerous mojitos were mixed up using Living Flavours mint plant. On Sunday whilst relaxing in my back garden with my hubby, his brother and his wife I rustled up a salad with some spinach, all of the goodies from Good4U and the lovely Goatsbridge Smoked Trout. To accompany this I made a honey mustard dressing, sweet potato wedges and a salad of mozzarella, tomato and basil. Yum yum yum! Below is a snap of the trout salad but as I had hungry people waiting to be fed I was only granted permission for one quick snap.
Thank you to Donal Skehan, Bord Bia (especially Klara and Maeve), all of the guest speakers and all who provided swag for a truly wonderful day. Looking forward to the next one already, and to meeting more lovely food bloggers as I really only skimmed the surface this time. To those of you that I did manage at least a quick hello, it was lovely to meet you. To those that I did not have a chance to meet, I hope to meet you in the future.
P.S. I didn't take too many photos on the day as my camera felt a little shy and intimidated when it saw all of it's bigger, shinier cousins around. See, I really do need a new super dooper camera.
