STORIES FROM THE SOIL, STORIES FROM THE SEA
If you're looking for a novel food culture
experience why not try out the Stories from
the Soil, Stories from the Sea eating sessions
on Friday 19th September in Skibbereen. The
event is being organised by ourselves at West
Cork LEADER Co-op and is part of the Taste of
West Cork Food Festival. We’ll be sitting
down to on three occasions during the day to
dine on local seasonal food and listen to the
personal stories of 2 local producers at each
sitting.
Diane Curtin will be on hand to guide diners
and introduce the speakers. Diane is a journalist
and chef and is deeply involved with food in
West Cork, particularly through Slow Food. She
recently published her own book The Creators,
which combines the life stories of farmers and
food producers in West Cork with enjoyable recipes.
The breakfast session focuses on fish and we
will hear from Sally
Barnes of Woodcock Smokery and Frank
Fleming, a fisherman from Crosshaven. Sally
is one of Ireland’s most highly acclaimed
artisan producers and has been smoking fish
in Castletownshend since 1981. She has an unswerving
commitment to producing the very highest quality
food. Like everyone else involved in seafood
though, her business has had to cope with turmoil
and uncertainty. Frank Fleming has been fishing
with his brother Martin for 24 years. They concentrate
largely on catching prawns. Frank has strong
views about the future of fishing and is committed
to finding positive solutions to many of the
industry’s current dilemmas.
Lunch will have a bovine theme with talks from
Paul
Johnson of the Traditional Meat Company
and Bill Hogan of West Cork Natural Cheese.
Paul rears Dexter cattle on his farm near Dunmanway.
Dexters are a rare breed of cattle native to
this part of Ireland and as such are uniquely
well adapted to live in harmony with our environment.
Bill
Hogan is one of our foremost cheesemakers,
he and Sean Ferry produce Gabriel and Desmond
Cheese. Bill is a real champion for the small
producer and the importance of food for rural
areas.
The final session of the day will be afternoon
tea, a chance to enjoy some very fine baking
and patisserie with Jean Domican from Buns ‘n
Stuff in Macroom. Jean will be joined by food
historian Diarmuid Ó Drisceoil, who besides
writing the fascinating history of Cork’s
English Market, also spins a great tale.
Places for each session are limited so I would
advise booking early by calling West Cork LEADER
Co-op at 023-34035, tickets cost €15 per
person.
NEW WEST CORK FOOD MAP
We're launching our new food map of West Cork
in Skibbereen next week (Friday Sept 19 at 5pm).
The map is a photo montage of the area and is
full to bursting with wonderful colourful images
of fish, fowl, fancies and fine food. There
are cheeses, cakes, breads, shellfish and farm
animals. We want to use the map to draw attention
in local grocery stores to the vitality and
vibrancy of food in West Cork. The map is also
available in large poster format for local schools
as an educational resource. We have an ongoing
programme of working with schools to educate
young kids about healthy eating and local food
- if you're interested in food education have
a look at our site - www.foodskool.ie.
You can download
the map in pdf format here.
WEST CORK SCULPTURE GUIDE
"In every block of marble
I see a statue as plaing as though it stood
before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and
action. I have only to hew away the rough walls
that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal
it to the other eyes as mine have seen it"
- Michaelangelo.
The West Cork Sculpture Guide extends from
Carrigaline in the East to Mizen Head in the
West and includes a combination of historical
and themed sculptures. While not an exhaustive
list, it sereves as a good introduction to key
aspects of West Cork's heritage and culture.
The principle objective of this publication
is to highlight the wealth of publicly accessible
sculptures and to reveal the stories that lie
behind these and the events and themes they
commemorate. Some of the sculptures included
are renowned historical figures such as Michael
Collins, Wolfe Tone and Sam Maguire, who have
shaped and influenced both local and national
events. Others simply commemorate key local
figures whose deeds are remembered by their
own community. In either case, it provides an
intriguing insight into the richness of West
Cork's culture and heritage.
You can download the map in jpg here
& here
(2 sides) or drop us an email
and we'll pop one in the post.
FOOD CULTURE WEST CORK BLOG
Ivan McCutcheon of West Cork LEADER
Co-Op has just started a new blog on food producers
and food events in West Cork. The posts are
largely drawn from his fortnightly column in
the Southern Star - Food Culture West Cork.
If you've got a food event you'd like to promote
why not send it to Ivan at ivan@westcorkleader.ie
or Visit
the blog here..
A TASTE OF CORK
What a brilliant event! For 3
glorious days from 27-29 June, the Cork City
Gaol hosted pleasure seekers from all over Munster.
Great style, tasty food and plenty of drink
& music. The organisers report an attendance
of 15,000 people. Fuchsia was represented by
a wonderful food display, with a number of West
Cork producers coming along to offer tastings.
Based on the word of mouth afterwards tt looks
like next year could be even bigger!
GUIDED FUCHSIA FOOD TOUR ON MIZEN PENINSULA
  
Run in parallel with The Turas (see below)
on June 17th, this tour offers a journey through
West Cork's food culture, visiting a selection
of local artisan food producers. The bus leaves
Schull Sailing Centre at 1pm sharp and returns
beofre 5pm. Tickets are €15 per person.
As places are limited it is essential to book
in advance. For further information and booking
please contact Jean (086/6682672) or Kevin (086/2672288).
The tour will include a visit to Gwen Lasserre's
choclaterie, Gubbeen Smokehouse and Cheese Dairy
and the Mizen Visitor Centre where you will
meet Bill Hogan of West Cork Natural Cheese
and sample some local mussels.
EXTREME SPORTS EVENT COMES TO THE SOUTH WEST
 
650 Kms, 160 athletes, 10 disciplines, 7 days,
6 festivals, 5 peninsulas …… one journey
The South West will host a 6 day World Series
Adventure race (The Turas) from 15th to 21st
June. This is an expedition-style race, where
athletes compete non-stop day and night for
over 90 hours. The 10 disciplines include biking,
horse riding, navigation via megalithic monuments,
rafting, kayaking, running, rope course, etc.
The competitors are allowed no outside assistance
and access food only at points along the route
or where provided by the organisers. The highlight
of the race is the longest zipline ever in adventure
racing, spanning a glaciated valley in the McGillycuddy
Reeks area.
The race starts in the Dingle Peninsula and
goes on to Schull. From here, athletes embark
on a journey winding through the mountains and
waters of the Mizen, Sheeps Head and Beara and
Iveragh Penninsula.
It is a community event also with a number
of festivals in various locations. In West Cork,
Schull will be providing an evening of music
and food on the pier and Kilcrohane will do
something similar with live traditional music,
a seafood barbeque and Fuchsia Branded local
food produce tastings.
There will be a lot of media coverage coming
up to and during the event, culminating in a
DVD which will showcase the spectacular scenery
and landscape of the region. This will be used
after the event for further promotions.
For further information on the event, please
check out www.theturas.com
A Taste of West Cork at a Taste of Edinburgh
Trade Show
Visitors to the Taste of Edinburgh Show which
took place between May 29th and June 1st, had
an opportunity to enjoy West Cork farmhouse
cheeses, biscuits, chutneys and yogurts. The
tasting promotions were conducted by Failte
Ireland whose stand had a food/holiday theme,
with Irish musicians playing the show to accompany
the food/drink sampling.
Picture from Meitheal, The Irish Tourism Trade
Fair 2008, held in Citywest Hotel, Dublin on
7th and 8th of May. Included in Failte Ireland
South West Stand are me, Bernie Carroll, Ballyhoura
Country, Marie Keane, Failte Ireland and John
O’Connor, Ballybunion.
CHAMPIONS IN DEFENCE OF FOOD
Congratulations to Bill Hogan and Sean Ferry
of West Cork Natural Cheese Company in Schull
on being presented with the Observer Food Monthly
annual Judges Award in March for Outstanding
Achievement. The judges made to the award to
recognize the invaluable service that Mr Hogan
and Mr Ferry have given in protecting our food
culture and heritage - for the last 6 years
they have been embroiled in a legal dispute
with the Department of Agriculture at the core
of which is their fight to preserve raw milk
cheese making in Ireland. Their story was excellently
presented in last months Observer Food Monthly
- follow
this link to read the article.
Travel
Destinations based in the U.K. is bringing
two groups of classic cars to Kinsale in May
and June this year. Each group will contain
around 60 cars (120 people). They will be visiting
West Cork, heading down to the Mizen Head. Travel
Desinations is putting together a "Travel
Pack" for each car, to include information
about their destination and places to visit.
This will be sent to them with their tickets
in April. Fuchsia Brands has provided them with
our general West Cork brochure and other useful
information for the trip.
IRISH FRESH FOOD MAP
Paul O'Mahoney from siopaeile
has just recently created an interactive google
map for quality, fresh food in Ireland. The
map will include farmers markets, artisan food
retailers and individual farmers who sell directly
to the consumer. Let me know, if I should add
to that list.
The idea is that anybody can see at a glance,
who is providing fresh food in their immediate
vicinity and when they are open for business.
This is an open collaborative
map, which means that anybody can add a location
to the map and there's even a demonstration
video to show you how.
TASTE OF CORK
sponsored by Oceânico Group
Taste Festivals Ireland will host “Taste
of Cork “at the Cork City Gaol from the
27th-29th of June 2008. This is the first
time that the event will be staged in Cork,
and up to 15,000 food lovers will converge on
the venue over the two days. Cork is a great
foodie place and given the reputation of its
fine restaurants and its illustrious food producers
the event promises to be a unique opportunity
to showcase the food products of the region
in front of an influential, highly engaged,
high spending, responsive audience at Ireland’s
premier food and drink event.
The West Cork Regional Branding Initiative
“Fuchsia Brands” will showcase up
to fifty food products from West Cork, a region
that possesses a unique character, beauty, tradition
and culture, factors all manifest in the variety,
quality and originality of its produce, products
ranging from smoked salmon, preserves, confectionary,
handmade chocolates and award winning farmhouse
cheeses to mention but a few will be on display
at stand number 28 during the two day event.
The marriage of a strong identity and reputation
for quality with natural resources the products
marketed under the Fuchsia Brand are firmly
rooted in the unique traditions and influences
of the region. High standards of product and
service excellence reflect passion and enthusiasm
that you will get from the producers of these
products.
We invite you to experience for yourself West
Cork’s finest gourmet delights, and we
will be happy to address your comments or queries
on aspect of the branding initiative or on any
of the accredited products and services, so
while your on your walk around make sure to
visit us at stand number 28.
Look to the Fuchsia – its our commitment
to offer you West Cork’s finest
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