Savour Kilkenny, Festival of Food, a great success

Arun Kapil & MS Clare Anne O' KeefeSavour Kilkenny, Festival of Food was a great success over the October Bank Holiday Weekend. The Chefs’ Table, sponsored by the EPA’s Stop Food Waste Programme and organised by the LAPN and Environmental Awareness Officer Bernadette Moloney from Kilkenny County Council promoted a theme of food waste prevention in the kitchen. MC Clare Anne O’Keefe did a wonderful job ensuring chefs kept the prevention theme a priority as each chef cooked up their signature dish.

Highlights from the weekend included Arun Kapil’s spicy take on potato cakes, he enthused that the use of species can transform any leftovers and encouraged the audience to experiment with the vast array of species readily available.  Ger Dunne, the executive chef in the Lyrath Estate Hotel, Kilkenny was an excellent food waste prevention advocate and he encouraged the audience to get the most out of their ingredients.  On Sunday, Head Chef and Co –owner of Pichet Restaurant, Stephen Gibson cooked up tasty gnocchi and discussed with Clare Anne how his kitchen ensures food waste is kept at a minimum so the kitchen can turn a profit, as he directly linked food waste with a shrinking profit margin.  The final cookery demonstration of the festival with Breda McDonald from ICA Bootcamp and celebrity chef, Edward Hayden was entirely devoted to food waste prevention.  This wonderful duo held aninteractive demo and gave out spot prizes to audience members who could volunteer their own food waste prevention tips.

‘The Chefs’ table was one element of a successful festival, said Bernadette Moloney, Environmental Awareness Officer from Kilkenny Co. Co. ‘The weather stayed mostly dry and large crowds wandered around the parade sampling local produce and tasty treats. Sincere thanks to all the chefs who completed a cookery demonstration at the Chefs’ table and to Clare Ann O’Keefe who acted as MC for the two days’. ‘A hearty congratulations to the festival organisers for making the Savour Kilkenny Festival of Food such a success’, added Odile Le Bolloch from the Stop Food Waste Programme at the EPA. ‘We were delighted to be involved in such a well-organised and vibrant food festival.’

Stephen Gibson Savour Kilkenny

For more information about this event, contact Bernadette Moloney, Environmental Awareness Officer, Kilkenny County Council, Bernadette.moloney@kilkennycoco.ie or phone 056-7794487