Tasting Wexford with the IFWG

The sun shone on IFWG members as we gathered for our summer outing to Wexford in August. We chose that area as a destination because the county has been working on developing a food tourism offering and, in terms of location, it was also to facilitate members who wished to join us for the day. I worked with local food and travel expert Anthony O’Toole on developing the tour and he put together a very well organised showcase of food and producers, focusing on the area around Gorey.

With Anthony and Lorraine O’Dwyer from gallivanting.ie as our hosts and tour guides, we first visited IFWG Award Winner and Blás an hEireann Supreme Champion Wild About to meet with Fiona and Malcolm Falconer, where we were also joined by Marisa Roche of Meadowfield Goat Cheese. After learning all about the value of nettles and other overlooked wild foods, we made a quick visit to see where the waste nettles get reused: Dots Plots Donkey Rehoming Hub.

We travelled a short distance to Salt Rock Dairy where Catherine Kinsella showed us the travelling vending machine that enables her to sell her own pasteurised, unhomogenised milk direct to local customers. We enjoyed a banquet lunch at Catherine’s kitchen table, catered by Anthony, and featuring her milk, butter and yogurt, vegetables from Anthony’s garden along with a selection of foods from other local producers.

After lunch, we visited Tara Hill Honey, donning bee keeper suits alongside Michael and Anne Wildes to harvest wildflower honeycomb. That certainly was an experience, as was getting to eat the honeycomb while it was still warm from the hive. Sticking with the sweeter side of Wexford, our stop at Bean and Goose saw us learn about their sourcing from Original Beans, check out some other kind of bean experiments that they’re working on and taste some of the original flavours that sisters Karen and Natalie Keane produce.

Members who had booked in for the night at Ashdown Park Hotel, had the opportunity to relax over a tasting of locally produced Jackford Irish Potato Gin with Poachers tonic while we learned about the hotel’s sizable farm to fork operation from GM Paul Finegan, horticulturalist Andrea McCann and head chef Andrew O’Gorman.

It was a quick turn around after that to make the producers’ dinner at Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant Table 41 under the careful eye of chef Andrew Duncan. He cooked a superb meal using many ingredients from producers who joined us for dinner, in a neat upstairs room where seasonality and local were key.

Thanks to Anthony for all his organising and catering lunch, Lorraine for exemplary tour guiding and teaching us about the wild food of the area and all those who hosted us on the trip. That night’s producers’ dinner at Table 41 was a lovely way to round off the day and an ideal opportunity to chat more to all the people that we met en route during the day. It was also a wonderful opportunity to catch up with fellow Guild members, to learn about and enjoy great food in the good company with our colleagues and friends. For anyone who wants to learn more about Wexford food, the Taste Wexford website is a great place to start for food tours, trails, workshops and tastings.

All IFWG members paid for the food tour and accommodation.