Taste Kilkenny – Episode 5: Savour Kilkenny 2017

Savour Kilkenny 2017 is an annual festival which will take place from the 27th to 30th of October. The program is rich and exciting and with more than one hundred events (most of those are free) and one hundred stall holders, you will have plenty to chose from. 

I will be going to Savour Kilkenny 2017 on the Saturday, but I thought it might be useful to you if I selected a few essential events that I think are unmissable. The choice is varied but with just a very small amount of preparation you can ensure you have a truly fantastic experience.

My Picks For Savour Kilkenny 2017

Love It To The Bone 

This by far the most exciting event of the festival. A pre-dinner demonstration by Japanese chef Takashi Miyazaki who will be working with Goatsbridge Trout product. Takashi is one of the greatest chefs in Ireland and there very little he cannot do with fish, right down to the bone. The demonstration is to be followed by a 3 course fish supper throughout which you will hear food and fish stories. The evening will be MC’d by John McKenna. The demonstration and supper will take place at 7 pm in Harper’s restaurant in the Kilkenny Hibernian Hotel. Most of the events at Savour Kilkenny 2017 are free, and this one is not, but at €35 per head (includes a Highbank Orchard Gin with tonic, the demonstration and 3 courses fish supper), it is an absolute steal. The freshest of products prepared by the most talented of chefs. The only negative of the event for me, is that as it is held on the Friday evening, I will be unable to attend it as I wouldn’t get out of work early enough to make it on time. But given a choice, this is my number 1 pick. If you do end up going, I’d love to hear what you thought of the evening, so please give me a shout.

Seaweeds – Meet them, eat them, love them. 

On the Saturday 28th, at the Black & Amber stage at 10 am (duration: 2 hours), Dr Prannie Rathgan, one Ireland’s top seaweed experts will give a talk on how to grow seaweeds and what to do with them. It is a free event and sounds like a very informative couple of hours.   I am a massive fan of seaweeds and their odd texture and saline flavour and will be in the audience. If you see me, do come say hi please. 

 Cookbook Swap Shop

This free event is ran by Graiguenamanagh City Of Books who will hold a stall at the Savour Market. The idea is that people will have given their unwanted books to local libraries (clicl above link for more details) and you can come and swap them for yours if you have some gathering dust at home. This pleases me for two reasons, first as I am becoming more waste conscious, I like the idea of swapping items rather than throwing them out. It makes economic and ecologic sense. Secondly, it reminds me of the great community spirit alive in Kilkenny.   

At The Medieval Table Exhibition

The exhibition will run throughout the Savour Kilkenny 2017 festival, from the 27th to the 30th at the Tudor Kitchen in Rothe House. This appeals to the food stylist and photographer inside me. It is a free event and I will be calling in for some medieval inspiration.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Global Kitchen                

My final mention is for this for very inclusive project. The Global Kitchen returns to Savour Kilkenny 2017 and it is very exciting. The idea is that people who live in the county, native and non native alike, come together and do food demonstrations and tastings. There is no better way to bridge a gap than breaking bread together. I am most pleased to see such an event and I will make sure to pop in there (The Parade) before heading home.

Hewn Spoons Eamonn O’Sullivan, Carraig, Sandyhill Westport. Photography by Michael Mc laughlin © 2017 2016 IPPA Landscape Photographer of the Year 2016 Bronze Camera Landscape FEP Photographer of the Year 2015 IPPA Photographer of the Year’ 2015 FEP. European Photographer of The Year Finalist michael@michaelmclaughlinstudios.com BallinrobeRoad,Westport,Co.Mayo.Ireland. O: 00353 98 24700 M: 00353 87 6896944 www.michaelmclaughlinstudios.com