 The demand for plant-based dishes in company restaurants is growing yearly as workplace services provider Sodexo Ireland marks Veganuary 2023 with food data results from 43 of its client sites in Ireland. Approximately 21,600 vegetarian or vegan meals were bought on those sites between January and November 22, representing a thriving 8.5% of sales, up from 5% in 2021.
Vegetarian and vegan dishes purchased on client sites in Northern Ireland remained steady at 6% of sales for both years. Sodexo offers vegan and vegetarian main courses, grab and go snacks and sandwiches throughout the year. The survey showed that demand for plant-based food options is greatest during the summer months, but December also has a strong showing. Sodexo has long been committed to providing more vegan and vegetarian meal options to suit the changing demands of its customers. As part of its Social Impact Pledge, the organisation is focused on increasing the uptake of sustainable meal options by promoting and raising awareness of sustainable plant-based choices to its clients. The organisation continues to develop and expand its plant-based meal options to enable its customers to make more sustainable food choices. Vegan options offered by Sodexo include lentil celeriac chestnut pie, potato mixed bean chilli, tofu summer tart, Southern Indian vegan chickpea curry, vegan mushroom burger, vegan chicken nuggets, aubergine masala and many more. Claire Atkins-Morris, Director of Corporate Responsibility at Sodexo, said: “Whether people are vegan, vegetarian, or just want to try something new, it's great to see that more and more customers are trying plant-based meals across our sites. This really demonstrates a shift in consumer awareness, a wider range of options and a marketplace responding. “We are a proud supporter of Veganuary, and our community of chefs are encouraging more customers to try our plant-based meals by developing delicious vegan and vegetarian recipes that show the variety of meal options people have at our client sites. As part of our Net Zero commitment, we have set ourselves the goal of increasing the number of plant-based meals and recipes our clients choose from to 33% by 2025.” Toni Vernelli, Head of Communication & Marketing at Veganuary added: “We're delighted to see Sodexo reporting an increase in sales of vegan and vegetarian meals across their UK and Ireland client sites. Veganuary is here to support anyone who wants to try being vegan, but it makes our job a lot simpler when organisations like Sodexo are offering delicious, nutritious, and easily accessible options.” Sodexo Ireland Sodexo Ireland is part of the global Sodexo Group, a world leader in delivering services that improve the quality of life to clients in business and industry, education, financial, pharma and healthcare. These include food services, infrastructure build, facilities and estate management, optimising the workplace experience, wellness experiences, personal and homecare services.
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 ABOUT REBECCA SWEENEY Originally from Galway, Rebecca is the Head Chef of Hooked Restaurant, Sligo. She graduated from ATU with a Bachelor of Business degree in Culinary Arts Management. Rebecca was one of the Taste the Atlantic Ambassadors for 2022, collaborating with Bord Iascaigh Mhara and Chef Network and is the Granddaughter of well-known Kinvarra Fisherman, Rainer Krause. TASTE THE ATLANTIC AMBASSADOR PROGRAMME 2022: MY EXPERIENCE The Taste the Atlantic Young Chef Ambassador Programme was proudly supported by:  After coming across the social media input of 2021’s Taste the Atlantic (TTA) Ambassadors, I was introduced to the TTA Program created by Chef Network and Bord Iascaigh Mhara, I had to apply, especially with my family history of oyster farmers and fishermen! Alongside four other talented chefs, I had the privilege of being chosen for the second year of the TTA Program. The program began in late June, and mostly ran its course in my beautiful home county of Galway. Our first event was held at Aniar with JP McMahon. JP had an amazing variety of fish delivered to the kitchen that morning, including salmon, turbot, oysters, mussels and lobster. We learned about preparing each product, flavour pairings, how to maintain the delicate flavours of these seafood items through cooking, handling and seasoning. It was also a great team building experience for all the young ambassadors, being our first in-person meeting. The following day we met Brigitta Hedin-Curtain at The Burren Smokehouse in county Clare. Brigitta told us her story and the creation of the now well-known Smokehouse. We learnt about the preparation and handling involved and the different smoking methods they use. The Burren Smokehouse use 100% organic Irish salmon and they promote sustainability and display this in their educational Centre on-site. Later that day we enjoyed some Flaggy Shore Oysters for lunch; one of the two hatcheries in Ireland. They have a 2 to 3-year life cycle, before they are much-loved by diners at Linnanes Bar. The Flaggy Shore oyster has a mineral flavour.  In late July, each ambassador visited their assigned producer. I had the pleasure of being paired up with Jimmy and Marion from Irish Premium Oysters, Donegal. Irish Premium Oysters is a family run business which began 33 years ago. They have become massively successful especially within the Asian Market, where this unique Irish shellfish is celebrated in 11 countries around Asia, exporting 2 Tonnes weekly. Their clientele typically enjoys their oysters in a buffet setting. Irish Premium Oysters have a 2.5-year lifespan, where they spend the last 6 months “fattening” in grade A bog water which contributes to the remarkable sweet notes when tasting. Jimmy and Marion kindly gifted me a box of their oysters, which I created into a delicate saffron and fennel stew. I lightly poached the oysters in the velouté, maintaining their flavour, as JP McMahon had taught us. In August, the ambassadors and I met again at Connemara Oysters to take a glimpse of DK's farm. DK presented us with a 258g oyster, which one of the lads bravely took on! From there we headed to Killary Fjord Shellfish, who are well known for their mussels. Killary Fjord is one of the 3 of its kind in the whole of Ireland. We met Kate and Simon, the creators of Killary Fjord Shellfish, who had an array of seafoods and salads awaiting us in their marquee. Oysters were bubbling away on, all while surrounded by Connemara’s fantastic scenery. This experience inspired me for my potential dish ideas for the final event! In late August, after having a couple of weeks to plan and create recipes, we presented our ideas to JP McMahon. JP mentored us for the day in Aniar and advised us on how we can enhance our dishes. Our dish had to include a product from our assigned producer to support them and show a variety of ways in which their products can be utilised. Jimmy from Irish Premium Oysters adores travelling to Asia and the food culture, therefore I decided to embrace that in my dish. I created a tempura Irish Premium Oyster bao with a white cabbage, fresh horseradish and green apple slaw in an oyster kewpie mayo and burnt corn salsa. That dish had a variety of flavours that complimented yet didn’t overpower the oyster. I wanted to capture the flavours of Asia while using Irish products such as using a local seaweed blend to season the tempura mix.  Coming into our final month of the program certainly didn’t fall short. The Ambassadors and I had the pleasure of working with Master Fishmonger Hal Dawson. We completed a fish handling and preparation course in Clonakilty at the BIM Seafood Innovation Hub. We prepared an extensive variety of fish species including Mackerel, John Dory, Monkfish, Gurnard and more. Hal was passionate about his craft and his course made me understand how to optimise and maintain the quality of fish while also reducing waste.
The final event was the International Galway Oyster Festival. This popular event celebrates the molluscs and holds the international oyster opening championship. Here we presented our dishes and described our experience to an audience. We then commemorated our time together for the remainder of the evening. What an end! However, it truly isn’t the end, as this experience will forever be a fond memory of mine. I have had many opportunities also arise during and after the programme. It has amplified my career and changed my perspective on the food industry in a positive manor. I met many incredible personalities throughout my journey that I will keep in contact with thanks to Chef Network and BIM. It is important to network with others in the industry, as support and teamwork is necessary to succeed in the culinary sector. I look forward to what may arise in the future and passing on the legacy of being a Taste the Atlantic Young Chef Ambassador to the next lucky team of chefs.  Bord Bia and Chef Network wanted to come together to create a campaign to highlight Quality Assured Irish pork & to promote increased usage of Irish pork and bacon with industry chefs. The Irish pig meat industry is one of many facing enormous pressures, specifically as a result of unprecedented increased feed and energy costs. Chef Network worked with Maureen Gahan, Bord Bia’s Foodservice specialist & Peter Duggan, their Sector Manager for Pig meat and Poultry. Together we developed an exciting programme that launched this week, with an interactive butcher & chef - pork masterclass. The line-up included a butchery demonstration from Michael Bermingham who has over 30 years’ experience in the butchery and meat wholesale trade. Irish TV Chef Kwanghi Chan demonstrated a number of pork dishes showcasing the versatility of Quality Assured Irish pork and consultant chef Tom Flavin outlined how including pork dishes on menus can help with balancing costs. See the recipes demonstrated on the day here. In addition, we were joined by Loretto Kiernan from Carty Meats who discussed what membership of both the Bord Bia Quality Assurance and Origin Green sustainability programmes means for their business. During the event, we heard about Ireland’s long tradition of producing high quality pigmeat, a tradition that is centred around family farms. These farms are passed from generation to generation, as is the craft and love of rearing pigs. The Irish pigmeat processing sites are strategically located to minimise any long distance transport and support pig comfort. The Irish pigmeat sector is the 3rd largest Irish agricultural sector after dairy and beef. In 2021, Ireland produced around 335,000 tonnes of pigmeat, the domestic market being the main market outlet for Irish pigmeat suppliers. There is extremely strong support for Irish pigmeat that is produced under Bord Bia Quality Assurance standards. At Retail level, 90% of pork, bacon & cooked ham products carry the Bord Bia Quality Mark – reassurance for the shopper that the product has been produced in accordance with required Quality Assurance standards and secondly that the ‘Origin Ireland’ flag verifies that the food was farmed and slaughtered in the Republic of Ireland. At foodservice level however, imported product is typically favoured, mainly due to the cost competitiveness offering. When the product that ends up on the plate is effectively ‘decanted’ without any logos or labels, the restaurant customer is none the wiser regarding origin or Quality Assurance standards. Peter Duggan spoke about the Pigmeat Quality Assurance Scheme (PQAS) that is operated by Bord Bia and how it holds Irish pig producers to exceptionally high standards around items such as animal welfare, traceability and biosecurity. This scheme has played a key role in ensuring Irish pork is the trusted choice among retailers and consumers. The PQAS is regularly updated as new knowledge and information becomes available, meaning that Irish pork production shows due diligence at every link of the supply chain Through PQAS, production facilities are regularly inspected and audited frequently to ensure they are adhering to its rigorous standards. To ensure full supply chain compliance, pigmeat processors are members of the Bord Bia Meat Processor Scheme where they are audited to ensure that they pigs they source from Quality Assured farms are handled correctly. And that the meat they market with their customers meets the Quality Assurance standards around thresholds for any added ingredients such as water or salt. We were absolutely delighted with the positive response from Chef Network members, with the event selling out quickly. The members in attendance really enjoyed the masterclass, which was the first cookery demonstration at Bord Bia’s new Global Hub in Ballsbridge. They view their new headquarters as a valued and vital investment in Ireland’s food, drink and horticulture industry and it is available as a resource for both food and drink client companies and industry customers alike. This event forms part of for a wider industry campaign. Based on feedback received from those in attendance on the day, we have plans to produce a series of short tutorial videos that can be shared with all Chef Network members through our website and Social Media channels in the coming weeks.  Meet the chefs & teams of Ireland’s professional kitchens, with Chef Network
The Chef Network community brings together chefs at all levels from all sectors across Ireland. In a Hotel & Restaurant Times regular column we meet some members and hear from them what inspires and motivates them, their career challenges and opportunities, and how they believe we can improve the industry. In this edition, we meet Michelle Daly. Michelle began her Chef journey at an early age, when she worked in kitchens on weekends while in school. Her passion has lead her to the UK & Australia, working in kitchens small & large. Michelle is currently a Development Chef with Sodexo. LONG QUESTIONS 1.Why did you become a Chef? For me, I have always loved the feeling of camaraderie in the kitchen. I started working in restaurants on the weekends when I was in school and I was immediately drawn to the fast-paced, sink or swim environment. When I enrolled in culinary school, I studied at a live-in college in Ireland. Every six months a different group of students would take over a hotel ౼ we were both the guests and the staff. Depending on your area of study, you’d run a different part of the hotel. I was in the kitchen while other classmates ran reception, served in the dining room, etc. It was a wonderful experience and my first time creating a sort of “culinary family.” 2.What was your path to where you are today? After my studies, I worked in kitchens in Ireland, England, and Australia ౼ everything from a tiny boutique hotel in Edinburgh to an outside catering company where I’d cater massive meals for thousands of people. It was very varied and kept me on my toes! Through these different experiences, I learned how important it is to say yes to opportunity ౼ and also how equally important it is to say no if you think it’s going to overload you. When you’re overloaded, you’ll never be able to put in 100%. You have got to be passionate about what you do, otherwise, it affects you and it affects your colleagues around you. One of the things that I love about working at Sodexo is that there are so many opportunities at every level of the company. I’ve really been able to take advantage of those opportunities on a personal level. In fact, this past summer, I earned a BA in Business Studies. The company supported me with time allowances on projects and I was able to use Sodexo as my guinea pig for assignments! 3.What is the most important ingredient in your success to date? Throughout my career, I’ve made a point to learn as much as I could everywhere I went, to take as much as I could out of every experience. That mindset has helped me grow and has gotten me to where I am today 4.Tell us about the team you work with The vast majority of chefs spend more time in the kitchen than with their own families, so the workplace becomes a kind of second family. I believe that if you're going to be around a group of people for a significant amount of time, you’ve got to find your niche, that place that you can feel good about going to every morning when you wake up. In my current position at Sodexo as a Development Chef for the Food platform in Ireland, my day to day is extremely varied. Together with my team, we create new food offers, build regional menus, look at insight and feedback, test recipes and try to find ways to work smarter. We serve clients in schools, corporate offices, manufacturing companies, and even major government contracts. I liaise with segments, supply management, branding, marketing, the list goes on. I’m able to touch base with a lot more people in a lot more segments, which is very challenging and also rewarding at the same time. There's no job fatigue because there's so much to learn and to do. 5.What is the most important lesson you have learned about being a leader in the kitchen? With every change, I’ve found that the most important thing is to be passionate about what you're doing and who you're doing it with. QUICKFIRE Q & A The biggest challenge is: at 5ft, my height, not easy reaching the back pot on a stove The most difficult thing I have had to face is: criticism The most rewarding thing I’ve done is: taking criticism onboard and turning it into good feedback I have learned that: old age saying: you can’t please everyone all the time The key skills or traits to have in this job are: willingness to adapt My advice to chefs starting out is: be willing to adapt! My advice to chefs trying to progress their career is: assess what you want as an end result and take the steps to get there (assess if you can take the bigger risks or smaller ones at each stage, but just take a step) My greatest mentor has been: Mercy Fenton. She led by example every day and didn’t hesitate in giving her time in showing you new skills (deboning a full lamb during her split). She was one of the strongest female chefs I was able to emulate as a younger chef, My favourite job ever: Dipping Marshmallow wafer cups in chocolate! My first job in a handmade sweet factory, I used to go home smelling of clove rock. My favourite place to eat is: In the Sun!! The sun makes everything better My favourite thing to eat is: anything served up to me with a smile My favourite piece of kit is: good shoes so you can carry whatever the day throws at you  Meet the chefs & teams of Ireland’s professional kitchens, with Chef Network The Chef Network community brings together chefs at all levels from all sectors across Ireland. In a Hotel & Restaurant Times regular column we meet some members and hear from them what inspires and motivates them, their career challenges and opportunities, and how they believe we can improve the industry. In this edition, we meet David Gillmore. David knew from an early age that he wanted to be a Chef. He started his career with an apprenticeship in his local Holiday Inn before moving up the ranks in to numerous luxury hotel kitchens. He moved to Northern Island with his wife, where he is now Executive Head Chef at Galgorm. LONG QUESTIONS 1. Why did you become a Chef? The decision to become a Chef was a very conscious one when I was in high school. I had to choose home economics in school as I was, and still am, terrible at woodwork and DIY. I then discovered that I enjoyed cooking and decided that I wanted to be a Chef. I also used to watch Gary Rhodes in a series he had on television. He came across very well and he became someone I admired – and still do. I was delighted that I was able to meet him when he came to The Chester Grosvenor a couple of times while I was working there. 2. What was your path to where you are today? I left school at 16 and started work as an apprentice, going to college one day per week. I began the apprenticeship at a local Holiday Inn and then moved to The Chester Grosvenor Hotel. In the area where I grew up, The Chester Grosvenor was an iconic, luxury five-star city centre hotel. It was my first experience of Michelin star standards and a large kitchen, which was run like a military operation. I started petrified but, over time, as I started to increase my knowledge and experience and rise through the ranks, I gained an immense sense of achievement. Whilst the hours were long, I enjoyed the feeling of being part of a different world and I realised that this was the level at which I wanted my career to be. Following my apprenticeship, I worked with a Chef called John Campbell at Lords of the Manor in the Cotswolds. This was in the early 2000s - at a time when we had ice cream on savory dishes and it was my first experience of cooking that was directed by science. I continued to work with him at The Vineyard at Stockcross in Newbury, also working alongside Nathan Outlaw. I later returned to The Chester Grosvenor in a senior position when I relocated back to the area where I had grown up. Simon Radley was still the Executive Chef, as he was when I had worked there initially. He was a Chef who kept himself away from any limelight but was a great role model and an example of how to lead a multi-outlet hotel at a very high standard. I progressed from there into my first Executive Chef role at Thornton Hall Hotel & Spa and won three rosettes in the restaurant. It was a learning curve in terms of managing and cooking at the same time. After getting married to my wife Rachel, who is from Northern Ireland, we moved to Belfast and I spent eight years working for Niall McKenna at James Street South, Hadskis and James Street South Cookery School. I worked closely with restaurant owners and learnt to be more confident, by talking in front of people and teaching within the cookery school. I then moved to my current role of Executive Head Chef here at Galgorm. 3. What are some of the highlights of your career to date or some of the periods/aspects of your time as a chef that you have most enjoyed? A key highlight of my career was cooking for members of the Royal Family while working for The Duke of Westminster. I’m also proud of achieving three Rosettes in the AA Restaurant Guide as well as numerous awards while working in James Street South, including from the Irish Restaurant Awards and the Waitrose Good Food Guide awards and Georgina Campbell’s Restaurant of the Year. My first experience working in a five-star hotel was something that has stuck with me and shaped me into who I am today. Without that experience, I would never have had the career I have had to date. Working within the best establishments from an early age is something I would encourage everyone to do. 4. What are the greatest challenges you’ve faced in your career and how did you overcome them? Initially, when I was at the beginning of my career, I struggled to believe that I was good enough to work at the highest level. Appreciation can oftentimes be overlooked in the profession and this is something I quickly learned in my early years working as a Chef. I had to remind myself that just because you aren’t continuously being praised, that this doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not doing a great job. Integrating into new teams when you start a new job, proving your worth, and showing the new staff around you that you have the capability to succeed is also a challenge, as is adapting to the unique ways of working under a new Chef. This helps mould you into the Chef you want to be and influences the way you treat people once you have reached a senior position. Cooking for large numbers can be a big challenge in our industry, so you need to be able to rely on your team and trust the methods and ways you know work. There is of course an increased risk factor when working with very large numbers but the satisfaction of being successful afterwards is very rewarding. Balancing the life of a Chef and a parent is something I’m not sure you ever overcome, you just adjust, but it is certainly one of the biggest challenges. 5. What is the most important ingredient in your success to date? I believe work ethic and adaptability are key ingredients in my own personal success. I come from a family where older grandparents continued to work past retirement age and this drives me to work hard as they did. Adaptability is also key and it is important to know which battles to fight and which to move on from. Chefs by nature can spend a lot of time fighting the problem rather than looking at solutions. Don’t get me wrong, we all make decisions that don’t work out, but it’s how we react afterwards that matters. 6. Tell us about your work environment and the team you work with I joined Galgorm just before Christmas 2021, so it is not a team I have known all that long. There are a couple of staff with whom I have worked previously, so obviously that helps with communication and expectations. I try to speak to every member of the kitchen staff each day when I arrive as I feel it’s important to have that moment with everyone and build mutual respect. It was something I experienced in a kitchen in France and think it helps build the team environment. Man-management is a big part of the role - treating people as individuals and knowing your team well enough that you can sense if something is not right. The senior members of the kitchen team were great in helping me settle in quickly when I first started. It doesn’t matter how long you have been working in the industry, when you begin a new job in a new environment, you still need the knowledge, experience, and support from existing staff to make the transition easier. I’m motivated by wanting to be better and more successful. I want the hotel and food to be talked about in a positive manner and for Galgorm to be held up with the best there is in the UK and Ireland. 7. The Chef Network Kitchen Workplace Charter aims to create a positive and nurturing work environment in kitchens, which point(s) of the charter do you feel are most important and can you share examples of practices from your own kitchen that help you to achieve these principles? I feel that one of the most important aspects of the charter is “To build a positive and encouraging environment.” This is something I have made an active effort to work on over the past few years. Whilst working in some high-end, demanding kitchens, it was always about the result and not necessarily about how we got there. As you get older, and especially if you have your own children, it gives you more empathy about the type of environment you would want for them and others. Greeting everyone each morning and creating that mutual respect starts the day in the right manner. It is important to choose your words and the delivery carefully, to ensure a better outcome. Telling someone we need to be better or correcting something doesn’t need to be an attack on them as an individual. I try to create an environment that lets people speak up and an environment in which they feel comfortable, to help them be the best version of who they are. Another important aspect of the charter is to “Prioritise work life balance.” We try to be mindful of the previous week’s rota when designing the new week to prevent where possible a real lengthy run of consecutive days. We also try to balance shift patterns between late finishes and early starts. I’ve always believed that everyone has something just as important to them as the next person. What is important to the 18-year-old commis chef is always going to be different to the Sous Chef with a wife and small children, but that is never comparable, it’s just different. Avoiding making contact on days off, letting people know that an email can be replied to when they are back working, or where possible holding off and talking about it in person, can all make a huge difference to work life balance. 8. What is the most important lesson you have learned about being a leader in the kitchen? The most important lesson I have learned about being a leader in a kitchen is that people react to how you behave. If you’re stressed, they will be stressed, and if you are calm, likewise, they will react to that. A kitchen that is always on edge isn’t a great environment to be in, and people will follow your lead, in terms of work ethic and adaptability. It is important to give people confidence, and make them believe they are capable, by showing them, and teaching them. As a leader, you want to empower your team to feel like they can achieve the standards required regardless of how busy a particular service might get.  QUICKFIRE Q & A
What I love most is: Every day throws up different challenges. The biggest challenge is: Keeping everyone motivated. What makes me most proud is: Seeing a constant improvement in everything we do. The most difficult thing I have had to face is: Leaving your loved ones at Christmas or family occasions to go to work. The most rewarding thing I’ve done is: Getting through a day or service when you were facing adversity. I have learned that: Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can accomplish today. The key skills or traits to have in this job are: Work ethic, adaptability and a willingness to learn. We can create a better workplace by: Creating the right environment. My advice to chefs starting out is: Look for solutions, rather than focusing on the problem. My advice to chefs trying to progress their career is: Be fully committed. My greatest mentor has been: Simon Radley. My biggest inspiration is: My children. My favourite job ever: I’m fortunate to have experienced a range of roles, all of which have ultimately set me in good stead for my role at Galgorm. My favourite thing to eat is: Cheese on toast. My favourite dish on our menu is: I have a real sweet tooth, so naturally I gravitate towards the pastry menu and like to be involved in its development. I love a classic like the Sticky Toffee Pudding or the Chocolate Brownie Sundae in Gillies. The Coconut and Mango Sundae in the Castle Kitchen & Bar is also a favourite of mine. There is something about a tall glass layered with ice cream, sauce, and different textures and temperatures that is just pure indulgence. That for me is the perfect end to a meal. My favourite piece of kit/equipment is: A Rational oven. Something I would like to learn is: A foreign language. How I keep or attract staff: Provide a working environment that is enjoyable and make them feel valued.  Meet the chefs & teams of Ireland’s professional kitchens, with Chef Network The Chef Network community brings together chefs at all levels from all sectors across Ireland. In a Hotel & Restaurant Times regular column we meet some members and hear from them what inspires and motivates them, their career challenges and opportunities, and how they believe we can improve the industry. In this edition, we meet Ciaran McGill. Ciaran started his career with a placement in One Pico where he eventually worked his way up to head chef. He is now Head Chef for Gather & Gather. LONG QUESTIONS 1.Why did you become a Chef? I’ve always wanted to be a chef since I was a child. I remember playing restaurant with my Mam when I was little pretending to take orders and cook the food on my Fisher Price kitchen and its pretty much all I wanted to do from then on. I Loved watching Cooking shows and reading the cookbooks in the kitchen and trying to write out my own dishes to try out when I could. The creative element is also a big part of the attraction for me. I love dish development and testing. I carry a notebook with me so if I get an idea in my head I write it down and try to develop it into a dish. 2.What was your path to where you are today? I had a work experience placement in transition year for two weeks to see what the industry was like and if it was still the career path I wanted to take. Eventually got into I.T Tallaght on a two-year course after my leaving cert. On our first year I got a placement in One Pico. I absolutely loved it and was asked if I’d like a job part time on the weekends after college, which eventually turned into a full-time job after college. I eventually left shortly after to be part of the Dylan Hotel. I did a year there and then left. I took a year off and went traveling across the states and then an opportunity to go back to One Pico came up. I went back and worked my way up eventually to head chef within 2 years. I spent 10 years as head chef before departing in December 2021. I’m now working for Gather & Gather as one of their head chefs. 3.What is the most important ingredient in your success to date? There are a few. Hard work, Dedication, that drive to be the best you can be, listening to advice and a few sacrifices along the way pretty much brought me to where I am and the level I want to be at. I’m a bit of a bookworm, constantly reading recipes looking for inspiration and always trying to learn new techniques. The best thing is every day is a learning day in the chef world no matter what level you’re at. 4.Tell us about the team you work with We have a very small team at the moment due to the events of the last two years and the fact that office numbers are not quite back to pre pandemic levels. Being from a fine dining background, we spend time teaching the guys new skills and how to use new ingredients to keep them interested. We also try to switch sections every few weeks so they don’t lose interest doing the same job all the time. 5.Have you seen a negative side to the industry? I’ve seen a few examples and have experienced it myself recently. I’ve always tried to talk to chefs about their mistakes and show them how to fix the problem for the next time rather than berating them all day every day. You end up losing your staff that way. I always try and encourage rather than discourage. You get more productivity out of your staff if they are treated with respect. 6.The Chef Network Kitchen Charter aims to create a positive and nurturing work environment in kitchens, which point(s) on the charter do you feel are most important and how do you implement these in your own kitchen/business? Having a positive kitchen culture in the workplace is a must. Everyone has an input into menu planning and development. Each person’s idea or feedback always counts and it’s what makes successful kitchen teams work so well. Its also good for their own personal development as chefs for the future. 7.What is the most important lesson you have learned about being a leader in the kitchen? I’d say Communication and patience. Trying to use your experience and skills to develop the younger members of the team and show them where they have gone wrong so the next time will be perfect, which will give them a confidence boost. Efficient communication helps with the smooth operation of any kitchen.  QUICKFIRE Q & A
What I love most is… The Ingredients and Dish concepts/development The biggest challenge is… The shortage of chefs and rising food costs What makes me most proud is… the food I’ve produced over the years The most difficult thing I have had to face is…. Missing out on family occasions The most rewarding thing I’ve done is… swapped jobs for better work life balance The key skills or traits to have in this job are… a thick skin, to be hard working and determined We can create a better workplace by… paying and treating staff fairly One small change I would make is… 4 day working week We can make our businesses better by… including all staff front and back in the development of the restaurant My advice to chefs starting out is… Try before you buy My advice to chefs trying to progress their career is… Always ask questions gain as much knowledge and experience as possible My advice to any chef opening their own place/setting up a business is… get as much advice as possible from other restaurateurs, do you research and have your figures My greatest mentor has been… My first Head Chef Jack Duffy My biggest inspiration is… Mikael Viljanen My favourite job ever… Clean down and going home after a successful day My favourite place to eat is… Patrick Guilbaud/Chapter One My favourite thing to eat is… love Asian food My favourite dish on our menu is… Menu changes Daily My favourite piece of kit is… My Japanese chef Knife Something I would like to learn is… More Pastry Techniques How I keep or attract staff… keep them interested let them run the kitchen sometimes and have an input in dish development  ABOUT NIAMH CONDON With over 20 years’ experience in the catering sector and over 8 years in aged care, Niamh set up Dining with Dignity in 2019 to provide catering consultancy training in the healthcare sector, primarily in aged care. Niamh has collaborated globally with dietitians and speech & language therapists on how best to create safe food for those who struggle to swallow. She has also been asked to contribute to a book for UNESCO and a series of books for Breakthrough Cancer Research.  FROM HOSPITALITY TO HEALTHCARE At the age of 12, I started my cooking career in my Uncles Deli and little did I know it, but it was an introduction to the world of food that was going to have me hooked for life. I continued to work with food while I was in school and started working in hotels and bars, and from this went on to study Food Process Engineering in UCC. What did I do to put me through college? Well yes, I worked as a chef. Constantly learning from other chefs, I realised that engineering was not for me and went back to cooking. I have also worked designing kitchens. Who best to design a kitchen but a chef? My previous role was catering contractor in a golf club where the hours were long and the events were exciting. From day-to-day catering to special events like gala dinners for the Presidents’ Prize, it was all very fast paced and constantly evolving. The requirements of a caterer in a golf club meant that I was working 80 hours a week and on call constantly. Yes, I had special requests like gluten free meals, vegan meals, low fat and some other allergen requests and we catered to everyone of them as best I could. But it wasn’t until I was asked to work in an aged care facility that my world in terms of food changed. I started in a small 50 bed nursing home in West Cork 2014 and was convinced by the owner that the role would be a more relaxed environment than what I was previously used to, with less hours and a work life balance. So, was he right? Yes he was. But what he didn’t say was there were other obstacles that I needed to face. Yes, cooking for 50 people seemed easy with 3 meals a day but then the Director of Nursing started speaking and informed me that there were other medical diets to cater for. Diabetics, low fat, high fat, renal diets and then texture modified diets.What in the name of God is a texture modified diet?? I could manage the rest as it was a manipulation of ingredients, but this was a whole other ball game! A texture modified diet is required for people with ‘Dysphagia’ and there were different textures to suit a person’s individual needs. Dysphagia is a medical term for swallowing difficulties. It was then explained to me, that it also needed to look good. Bear in mind that all I had in my head was, throwing a roast dinner in the blender and making a smoothie. I asked if I would get training and I was told that I would figure it out. Totally petrified to be responsible for feeding somebody with medical needs I decided that I would look it up online and figure it out like I was told. Sweet divine, I was now panicking as the internet was little or no help, so I began asking questions as often as I could. Yes, initially I was blending the food altogether and serving it, as that was all I knew and also that was what was done before me. If I was to stay in this job, I needed to do better. Simply put, if I wouldn’t eat it then why in the name of God would I expect the residents to eat it. So, I decided that we would blend the foods separately and hope that the colours of the foods would entice people to eat. A lot of these residents were losing weight and had little or no appetite as nothing seemed to whet their appetite. They were missing the actual taste of savoury foods. Yes, there were plenty of options when it came to sweet desserts, with mousses, custards and sweetened yogurts but very little in terms of savoury items. From when I was working in the Hotel, to running my own catering company, I was always obsessed with the plates coming back into the kitchen. I wanted to see if people enjoyed their food. This attitude followed me into the nursing home and the staff thought that I was bonkers. The main food at the time that was not been eaten was the modified diets. Clearly, I understood why and couldn’t expect people to eat their meals like this anymore, so it made me look for another way.  We first opted for blending foods separately. I often sat and ate meals with the residents and asked if they enjoyed it. I witnessed a lady’s joy at the sight of 3 scoops of food on her plate and I thought that I cracked it. To hear her shout “yes Ice-cream” nearly broke my heart as she clearly didn’t realise that this was her dinner. She tasted it- it was hot, it was salty and NOT ice-cream, so she pushed the plate away and refused everything until she got ice-cream. The trouble here, was that this lady, because of her swallow could not eat ice-cream as the risk of choking or aspiration was too high. Even though this was not right, we learned what foods our residents didn’t like and learned that they ate more when they could taste the food separately. We now knew why they were refusing a beef casserole blended, especially if they were like my grandmother and didn’t eat carrots. It was all starting to make sense. We took it one step further and started to attempt to make the food look better by piping the hot fresh food into recognisable plates of food. There was so much to learn and very little training available. Then I sourced food moulds in Australia to make things a little easier for the catering staff when I wasn’t there as it was a lot to ask people to pipe hot food and burn their hands. With a combination of food moulds and piping, meals were now recognisable and eaten. “Nutrition only counts if it is consumed”. Then in 2019 an International Standard was introduced in Ireland where we now had testing methods to ensure the foods were safe for each level within this standardisation. IDDSI (International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative) made things clearer for chefs to audit their techniques and gave a sense of reassurance. This led to me being extremely curious and I was finding it hard to get to speak to speech & language professionals and dietitians as they were extremely busy and only ever spoke to the clinical team. These people were handing documents to the clinical teams to refer residents to a special diets/food fortification or move within levels in the IDDSI framework. These documents were handed to the catering team with no discussion on how best to prepare the meals or even an explanation of the changes that were being made. I was on a mission to find someone to talk to and to get an understanding of whether what I was doing was right or needed more work. Eventually I met a dietitian, Grainne Kent from Nutricia, who happened to be standing at the desk waiting for the clinical team… so what did I do? I pounced. I think I freaked her out because I had 100 questions fired at her within 2 mins and I barely came up for air. I pulled her away from the desk and brought her to the kitchen in case anybody distracted her. Thank God I did as she shared the same passion as I did. From this meeting we always met to discuss the residents and how I could improve nutrition in pureed diets. So much so that she did a dysphagia challenge with me, and we consumed pureed food and thickened drinks for 3 days to learn what people face with dysphagia. The information that we got from doing this was huge. I also got her to plate her own food as I wanted to highlight that plating food is not as easy as it looks, especially for purees. I then plated mine and we compared. She still laughs at this and even posted it on her Instagram account! Did I learn anything from this? Yes! Preparation and consumption of Food is a social activity and we need to include everyone. Food is not a luxury but a necessity for many and the whole experience should be shared. The importance of collaboration makes it clear how important it is to work closely with speech & language, dietitians, doctors, nursing teams, care assistants, managers, chefs and relatives. It’s a big wheel that needs every cog working simultaneously. I have been working as a consultant dysphagia chef with Nutricia since 2018, and they asked me to present at their symposium. I am a chef, and this really was out of my comfort zone, but I wanted to get across what it was like to have dysphagia! I asked the hotel for scones and biscuits. I introduced myself and said that before we start, I wanted to divide the room in 2. I offered the people on the left of the room scones with jam & cream and biscuits and the people on the right, I ignored them & left them sit there because why? Well, they had dysphagia. You should have seen the look on their faces! Observing the other side of the room eating their lovely treats, triggered a mix of emotions by the people left with nothing. This is the reality for someone with dysphagia! My focus now is providing the best possible mealtime experience for those who struggle to eat. I look at meals and wonder if it would be possible to recreate them in a pureed form. I try to make the foods look like what they should and enhance the taste of each individual flavour. This was something that I learned when I did the 3-day dysphagia challenge. As chefs we are taught texture and layers within meals but this is completely different when you have a pureed meal. The flavours tend to merge because the texture is the same for everything. Using strong flavour to enhance taste sensations on the tongue like ginger for heat and mint for cooling to name a few. Training chefs and recreating recipes with dietitians to provide safe foods for those who need it most, is now a role that I didn’t expect to be filling but one that I wouldn’t change.  Meet the chefs & teams of Ireland’s professional kitchens, with Chef Network The Chef Network community brings together chefs at all levels from all sectors across Ireland. In a Hotel & Restaurant Times regular column we meet some members and hear from them what inspires and motivates them, their career challenges and opportunities, and how they believe we can improve the industry. In this edition, we meet Peadar Mc Namee. Peadar started his career doing part time work in a local kitchen before moving to Brooklyn and then on to the South of France. He now travels the world on a private yacht cooking for high profile guests and celebrities. LONG QUESTIONS 1. Why did you become a Chef? I guess it was just something I always wanted to do way back as far as I can remember. I don’t have a story of cooking in my grandmother’s kitchen at the age of 3 or anything like that, although both my grandmother and mother were both cooks in the local convent for the nuns. I always had an interest in cooking, probably from when I hit my teens. I found myself experimenting in the kitchen, cooking a roast chicken, or attempting to bake a cake or cookies. I then started looking up cookbooks and picking something from it that caught my eye and I would put my heart into whatever the recipe was and hope it turned out remotely similar to the photo in the book. From there, I gradually floated towards part time kitchen work. 2. What was your path to where you are today? I left school early, so from the age of 17, I started working on pot wash at weekends and on the building sites during the week. The Kitchen I was in was local to where I lived and was like a lot of establishments in Ireland at the time. It was a country pub/restaurant, a place where the farmers or the construction lads and locals came in, not looking for anything fancy, but plenty on the plate. A meat, potato and veg type place, shall we say. It was a start, and it was the first footstep in the direction I wanted to go. I got the feel for what it was like to work in a real kitchen. I could see how everything came together, how the dynamics worked and eventually the chef had me slicing onions and halving mushrooms and doing small prep like that. Then one day it was up to the fryer to drop baskets of chips or onion rings when it was busy and so there, I was, I had the start as a commis chef and very quickly I tired of that type of food, and it was time to move on to bigger and better. I signed up to the chef’s course at DKIT and really that’s when it all started to get interesting. Working with all these exciting new ingredients in an environment where you were constantly encouraged by really great mentors who I still keep in contact with today and would consider good friends. My first full time commis chef job was at Kilkea Castle and I loved it, as a matter of fact looking back through my career I can honestly say it was my favorite job ever. It was such an amazing place to learn, using top quality ingredients. A lot of the produce I was using for the first time, so everything was very much new and exciting. I also had a really cool head chef whom I respected, and he respected me. After Kilkea I worked in a bistro in Dundalk called no.32. It was a trendy little place with great food, and at the time, these types of restaurants were just starting to blossom in small towns across Ireland. I worked with another head chef who was real easy going and full of passion for the love of food. After No.32 I started in Ashford castle under a staunch German head chef with a team of 27 cooks in the kitchen at any one time. This was my first introduction to a brigade style kitchen. Things were run by rank and broken down into sections. I learned discipline and the importance of structure; why things needed to be done the way they were in order to keep the standard the chef commanded. I can’t say it was my favorite job, or by any means easy, but I did learn and I’m thankful for that. After Ashford I traveled to New York and started working in the River Cafe in Brooklyn where I grew up from the age of 6 to 16. The restaurant, which is still there is under the Brooklyn Bridge overlooking the New York skyline, was another large brigade style kitchen. I worked through the ranks working my way up from starters to grill in a fast-paced busy kitchen with a great team of cooks. I spent a few years in New York and worked in other restaurants there before moving to the south of France and working my way through some restaurants as head chef and as sous chef of a restaurant where we earned a Michelin star after the first year of opening. I eventually decided to join the yachting world and now after 8 years, continue in the yachting industry, working for high profile guests and celebrities. I continue to study culinary arts at the Cordon Bleu in Paris and do courses all over Europe every chance I get. As chefs, it’s our duty to keep learning and keep trying to move forward. 3. What are some of the highlights of your career to date or some of the periods/aspects of your time as a chef that you have most enjoyed? I guess some of the highlights of my career would definitely include being part of a team of passionate chefs that earned a restaurant in Nice, France its first Michelin star the first year of it opening. We all worked hard and had one goal, which wasn’t to earn a Michelin star, but was just to cook our hearts out. We were all really in sync with each other and loved cooking, the star was a bonus. Another highlight to my career would have to be when I published my first cookbook, From Fridge to Fork, I’m quite proud of it ( available on amazon). It’s nothing fancy just my ‘go to’ dishes if I’m cooking at home. It’s not complicated in anyway, simplicity was what I was going for so that anyone could pick up the book, choose a recipe and execute it with ease and I genuinely hope I’ve achieved that. I put a lot of effort into the whole process, I’m self-published so it was quite an interesting challenge. Cooking the dishes was the easy part, writing out the recipes, photographing the dishes, editing, proof reading and repeating to make sure you got it right was the more time-consuming part (and even at that I’ve noticed one or two spelling mistakes but don’t tell anyone!). Like everything else, it’s a learning process and book number two, which is simple recipes for home baking, is in progress. I might add that I have to thank my wife Edwina for helping me with the whole publishing process, it wouldn’t have happened without her 4. What is the most important ingredient in your success to date? That one is simple, Passion. Cooking is my passion and I love it. If you have passion for something, do it and you’ll be successful at it (if you want to be) 5. What is the most important lesson you have learned about being a leader in the kitchen? I think the most important thing about being a leader in a kitchen and indeed in any leadership role is to lead by example. Don’t ask someone to do something you wouldn’t or haven’t done yourself, remember where you started yourself. Try not to be arrogant or condescending to any of your team. Remember someday they will probably be in the same position as you. There’s a difference in teaching a certain level of quality. Choose the humble road, be the leader not the boss.  QUICKFIRE Q & A What I love most is the variety of things to do. There’s never a dull day and always something new to create. We work with such an abundance of seasonal ingredients that your creativity and hunger for development is constantly being stimulated and that to me can be very satisfying. The biggest challenge is trying to do something better than you did it the time before. Perfecting sour dough is an ongoing challenge for me; rewarding but challenging. What makes me most proud is being able to pass on knowledge to younger chefs and then watching them take that knowledge and make it their own. You kind of feel that you’ve done something right, an accomplishment - passing the flame on is very important to our industry. The most difficult thing I have had to face is letting someone go because they didn’t have enough passion or motivation. In order to run a successful kitchen you need a team of like-minded chefs, chefs you can bounce off, that get excited about a new ingredient or a new dish on the menu. Chefs with a huge smile of satisfaction on their face when they taste a dish for the first time and feel the same way about it as you do, without speaking a word you just know what each other is thinking. If you don’t have a team like that, the simple answer is you need to get one. I have learned that you never stop learning unless you want to. Once you start to stagnate it’s time to throw in the towel, it’s not fair on paying customers. The key skills or traits to have in this job are to work well as part of a team, to respect your team mates. Confidence is important, be humble enough to know that you don’t know it all and every day you go into work is an opportunity to learn and better yourself. Grab the bull by the horns and do it. We can create a better workplace by treating your team with respect and fairness. Be a leader not a boss and set an example. Be flexible to a certain extent and a exercise a level of understanding. Set a standard and stick to it (or better it through time). Anyone who can’t meet that standard or at least be willing to learn shouldn’t be there. Everyone needs to be on the same page. My advice to chefs starting out is if cooking is not your passion, then don’t waste your time. Go and find out what your passion is and pursue it. Trust me you will excel at whatever that may be. For young chefs starting out you need passion and motivation, an inquisitive mind and being competitive isn’t a bad thing either. Remember to stay humble, nobody likes a big ego. If you can tick some of these boxes, then you need to find an establishment that’s good enough to feed your hunger to learn. If you are in a place already and it doesn’t do this, then you need to find somewhere that does. It’s so important, otherwise you stagnate and go round in circles. Don’t be afraid to leave your hometown, county or country to follow your career and passion. Step outside your comfort zone, throw yourself into the deep end from time to time, take chances, ask questions. Watch how things are done, don’t be afraid of hard work, it’s not hard work if you love what you’re doing. I used to say don’t take any B.S. from anybody, but that’s wrong. What I would say is don’t take it from anybody unless it’s worth it. You’ll know it’s worth it or not, in which case ‘yes chef’ it is and head down, carry on. It might not feel it at the time but it will stand to you, even if your pride is temporarily bruised. My advice to chefs trying to progress their career is to never use the term ‘it’ll do rightly’ because it won’t. Always use the best of your ability, keep your passion alive by learning new skills, practice, set yourself goals and constantly strive to meet those goals and set new ones. My greatest mentor has been… There have been too many along the way to name. I think you learn from everyone you work with, how to do something or how not to do something. My lecturers at college and my Head Chefs when I was just starting out had the biggest influence on my understanding of what being a chef is all about. My biggest inspiration is all the beautiful ingredients that come through the doors of the kitchen. I’ll see something and be like ‘yup, I know what I’m going to do with that’ and an idea starts and then all of a sudden its garnished and on a plate and a new dish is born. My favourite job ever was Commis Chef in Kilkea Castle. My favourite place to eat is London, I love the variety and the standard of food there. My favourite thing to eat is a good Pizza with a proper base, or a good loaf of sour dough with lashings of salty butter. My favourite piece of kit/equipment is my Thermomix , its magic the things it can do! Something I would like to learn is to master viennoiserie. There’s a science to it I find fascinating, you need to be on the ball and precise with timing, temperature and weights otherwise things just don’t work. It takes a lot of patience too!   Meet the chefs & teams of Ireland’s professional kitchens, with Chef Network The Chef Network community brings together chefs at all levels from all sectors across Ireland. In a Hotel & Restaurant Times regular column we meet some members and hear from them what inspires and motivates them, their career challenges and opportunities, and how they believe we can improve the industry. In this edition, we meet Andrew Walsh. Andrew has gone from watching his brother in the kitchen in Co. Mayo to running the Michelin starred Cure Restaurant in Singapore. LONG QUESTIONS 1.Why did you become a Chef? I became a chef as my older brother, Lyndon, is a chef. He got me cooking at a very young age. I left school early, after the Junior Cert. Seeing my brother in the kitchen gave me confidence and he gave me guidance to follow his path. 2.What was your path to where you are today? I grew up in Breaffy in County Mayo. I Started washing pots and pans in the Travellers Friend Hotel in Castlebar. This led to my brother getting me into a culinary course GMIT. After my first year, I got my first placement in Darcy’s Restaurant in Kenmare, County Kerry. I then went on to the Michelin Star Sheen Falls, where my love for fine dining began. From Kerry, I went to Dublin to Kevin Thornton’s 2 Michelin star. After that, I decided to leave the beloved homeland and have worked in London, Australia, New York. In 2012, I came to Singapore, where I now run four restaurants, including Cure, where under our NUA menu, I showcase exceptional Irish produce and culinary influences. 3.What are some of the highlights of your career to date or some of the periods/aspects of your time as a chef that you have most enjoyed? One that sticks out is the day I received my professional chef qualification from GMIT. My parents came along to the ceremony for the day out and it was a very proud day both for them and for me. I am also very proud to have survived the pandemic. Not only surviving it but being awarded a Michelin star during it is very gratifying. After a lifetime of making sacrifices, poor pay, long hours and unpleasant kitchen culture, earning the Star for our team, during the pandemic was amazing. 4.What are the greatest challenges you’ve faced in your career and how did you overcome them? The work life balance has been the biggest challenge for me. This life is not 9 to 5 and is not Monday to Friday. I have missed out on family time, social occasions and relationships have suffered. There have been challenges and no doubt more to come, but what you put in you get out. 5.What is the most important ingredient in your success to date? There are a few things.. Having a Sense of ownership, along with drive, determination and a backbone. Trusting in my chefs, my managers and my sommeliers is key, combined with a strong team. Having a can-do attitude and being solutions driven. Also, Irish ingredients… Kerrygold butter! Irish Cream! 6.Tell us about your work environment and the team you work with During the pandemic, we had to pivot our business, like many others. We went from customer facing to deliveries and takeaways, hustling to make revenue. This was essentially moving from a restaurant to an online business. That period really brought the team together and made us tighter. Pre-Covid, we used to have team outings and gatherings. Time together outside the kitchen and that was good for boosting morale. For the team, it is essential we keep communication lines open. Kitchen workplaces used to be regimented, so I respect my teams work life balance. If we are very quiet, we will close for lunch service or close the kitchen early in the evening, so staff can go home. I believe motivation comes from within and it is important to invest in yourself. I buy my own tools and iron my own jackets. I try to read more and constantly improve. 7.What is the most important lesson you have learned about being a leader in the kitchen? The biggest lesson is not just to be a leader in the kitchen, but in the business. It is not to just worry about food. What about your toilets, cutlery, music, room temperature, uniforms etc.? It is all part of the experience. Knowing the business side is essential for success. Learn outside the kitchen as well as inside. It is important to lead by example.  QUICKFIRE Q & A
What I love most is: cooking for my family when I get home The biggest challenge is: current life in general! The pandemic What makes me most proud is: my independence since leaving school, I have never had to borrow money. I have made it on my own. The most difficult thing I have had to face is: an Irish customer in the bar after 10.30 in Singapore and not being able to get a drink…thanks to COVID The most rewarding thing I’ve done is: opening my first restaurant in Singapore I have learned that: talk is cheap The key skill or trait to have in this job is: a sense of ownership We can make our businesses better by: making more money We can create a better workplace by: not taking ourselves too seriously. Getting over it and moving on. One small change I would make is: more sleep My advice to chefs starting out is: learn to be a chef. Don’t just say you are a chef, learn how to be a good one My advice to chefs trying to progress their career is: do the basics right. Learn your apprenticeship My advice to any chef opening their own place/setting up a business is: Don’t rush. Wait for the right time My greatest mentor has been: My brother Lyndon My biggest inspiration is: my team. They are the guys who push me daily My favourite job ever: my current one My favourite place to eat is: at home In Ireland My favourite thing to eat is: Japanese My favourite dish on our menu is: Potato Seaweed Caviar Black 1847. It is a tribute to those who have lost their lives in the Great Famine My favourite piece of kit/equipment is: my tweezers with my name on it Something I would like to learn is: patience How I keep or attract staff: my good looks and my humour!  ABOUT SARAH BROWNE Sarah is originally from Co. Kerry but is now working as a chef de partie in Cava Bodega in Galway. Sarah has studied and honed her culinary skills in CIT and LYIT and has extensive experience working in tourism including at the world-famous Avoca Molls Gap in Kerry. Sarah is from a dairy farming background and is a passionate believer that sustainability in food production is critical and that chefs and producers are key stakeholders in the future of sustainable food production. TASTE THE ATLANTIC YOUNG CHEF AMBASSADOR PROGRAMME: MY JOURNEY The Taste the Atlantic Young Chef Ambassador Programme was proudly supported by: The Wild Atlantic Way is synonymous with incredible scenery and dramatic landscapes. The route shines a light on the beauty of the west of Ireland and brings tourists to rural areas helping to sustain communities. Dotted along the coastline from Kinsale to Malin Head there are hundreds of seafood producers working year-round to bring the highest quality product to market. In 2017 BIM and Failte Ireland launched Taste the Atlantic – A Seafood Journey, highlighting the fantastic seafood and cultural heritage that exists on our coastline. The trail includes around 20 producers and features Oyster farms, Mussel Farms, Smokehouses, Seaweed farms and an incredibly rare abalone farm. Last year the Taste the Atlantic Young Chef Programme was launched as a collaboration between BIM, Chef Network and Failte Ireland. Myself and four other young chefs were selected to participate in the programme from June to September. Our journey began in Galway with a visit to Kelly’s Oysters where Diarmuid Kelly gave us a crash course in everything there is to know about Oyster farming. We learned that there are two types of oysters farmed in Ireland, the Native oyster which is more round and flat, and the Pacific oyster which is the classic oyster shape that most people are familiar with. It takes three years for an oyster to grow to market size and a huge amount of work goes into ensuring that the shells take the right shape. Seed is placed into net bags and attached to trellises in the bay which is full of nutrients from the surrounding landscape and the Atlantic. As the oysters grow the bags are shaken in order to correct the shell shape, ensuring a deep shell and a meaty oyster. Oyster farming is an incredibly sustainable enterprise because the oysters filter clean the water as they grow and leave nothing behind. The industry supports around 1,300 jobs and is a lifeline for rural communities.  After eating our fill at Kelly’s, we headed back to Galway city for a workshop with JP McMahon. He took us through everything there is to know about cooking with seafood and showed us how simple it really is. When we arrived in the kitchen of Aniar JP had about 12 different types of seaweeds and herbs laid out on the table, most of which I had never heard of before! He showed us some simple techniques for manipulating these seaweeds and herbs in order to maximise their taste and use for dishes and showed us that cooking with ingredients from the sea can be really simple while still creating complex flavours. We learned how to humanely kill a lobster, how to cook it to perfection and also how to make a flavour packed oil from the shells. We all left the workshop feeling inspired and excited to work with seafood, especially when it can be so low waste. The following day we went out into Connemara to visit Kate and Simon Kennedy at Killary Fjord Shellfish. Simon has been farming mussels since 1989 in Ireland’s only fjord - which is one of the most spectacular locations you could imagine! We were taken out onto the fjord to see the ropes first-hand where we could see mussels growing at all stages of development. Ropes are suspended from floats in the bay and the mussels simply attach and filter feed from the surrounding waters. The farmers go out and check the ropes daily and remove mussels that have grown to full size. Then the mussels are processed through a de-bysser which removes the majority of the beards which the mussels use to attach themselves to the ropes. They’re then washed and bagged and ready for road! After our little trip out onto the fjord we came back to the shore where Kate prepared a huge pot of mussels which we lapped up with homemade bread. It was an incredible experience to have been out looking at the mussels on the ropes and a few minutes later be sitting by the shore eating a beautiful bowl of them!  After our trip to Galway, we were each paired up with a producer and asked to create a recipe in collaboration with them which we would then present at the Oyster festival in September. I was paired with Mulroy Bay Mussels in Donegal and had a fantastic time working with them over the few months. I went through every recipe I could find for cooking mussels and asked everyone I knew for ideas and was told time and time again, ‘Everything has already been done with mussels, you’ll never come up with something different!’. So, I set myself the challenge of coming up with something different. My background is in pastry so I started to think about how I could make mussels into some form of a dessert. I discovered some recipes for sweet escabeches, so I decided to make a sweet pickled mussel with a seaweed ice cream. I had great fun with testing out all the different ideas and somehow didn’t get sick of eating mussels at any stage!
In August we made the trip down to Clonakilty to the BIM Seafood Innovation hub where we were absolutely spoiled with a workshop with Ireland’s only master fishmonger, Hal Dawson. Hal took us through filleting every type of fish in the most patient and elegant way. It was eye opening to watch him fillet, every cut is thought out and made with precision. He showed us how to maximise the takings from round fish because there’s always some waste near the bones. We learned how to cleanly lift two whole sides from a flat fish and leave nothing but bone behind. The workshop was an invaluable lesson in reducing unnecessary waste while also saving time. Once your knives are sharp and you know which cuts to make, filleting is a breeze. From start to finish the TTA Young Chef Programme was an amazing experience. I feel so lucky to have been a part of it and to have met all the incredible people that I did through it. It renewed my passion for seafood and strengthened my belief in the importance of seafood in our future food systems. In Ireland our seafood industry is under appreciated. Now more than ever we need to look at the sustainable seafood options that are right under our noses and as chefs we have a responsibility to showcase these amazing products to consumers. Tourism initiatives like the Taste the Atlantic Seafood Journey are an ideal way to celebrate the excellent seafood being produced in Ireland as well as being a great way to experience the best scenery that the Wild Atlantic Way has to offer. |
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