Caroline Hennessy counts the roasting pigs at the Waterford Food Festival in Dungarvan, and relishes the local foods.
Think pig. Think the mouthwatering aroma of Wildside Catering's pig-on-a-spit turning in the open air and drawing people into Dungarvan's central square. Think succulent slices of overnight-roasted Ballyvolane pork shoulder anointed with mustard mayo and stuffed into a blaa. Think Crowe's Farm savoury pulled pork, cooked by Waterford's Bodega Restaurant, served with apple and celeriac remoulade.
Think visiting Mary's Koffee Korner stall for crubeens and colcannon. Think sausages everywhere: O'Flynn's sizzlers, stuffed into rolls to eat on the spot, or herby Cumberland bangers from Woodside Farm to take home and cook with Pine Grove Farm's properly streaky rashers. Think pig's head on a plate at the Angela Hartnett demo in the Tannery Cookery School. Think, if you wish, of the Tannery logo, their aprons and even the walking pig picture on the wall of the cookery school.
It was all about the pig in Dungarvan at last weekend's Waterford Festival of Food. Sunday's dazzling sunshine brought crowds flocking to the food market for a family day out. Kids tumbled from cars as everyone arrived for lunch - probably pig, from one of the six stalls that offered some form of cooked pork, not to mention the four sausage stalls - grabbing some sweet treats for dessert (cupcakes still holding prime position) and finishing off with a coffee. Judging by the queues, Badger and Dodo was prefered but there were seven other spots offering a cuppa if you were stuck.
This is food as entertainment - especially with that spit-roast pig as the centrepiece - but, at a festival that was all about "celebrating local produce", it looks like customers have got the message. From chilli sauces to hens' eggs, there were no shortage of signs emphasising “local”, “free range!”. The definitions might still need some work but those are obviously key words for the newly engaged consumer. And these are the people who are not slow to ask. Norbert and Audrea of Tastefully Yours, based just up the road at Dunhill, said that 90% of those that tasted their chutneys and sauces (watch out for their well-named Smoky, Sticky Barbeque Sauce) asked if the company was local and if the products were made nearby. In an adjacent marquee, the ladies of the Dungarvan Country Market - an organisation who has been flying the 100% Irish, 100% local flag for the last 65 years - were inundated with buyers for their homemade apple tarts, breads and buns.
Entertainment, yes - but also very good eating, especially of a local, free range porcine variety.
Photo One: Ted Berner (Waterford Food Festival). Photo Two: Joe McNamee (http://josephdmcnamee.com/2012/04/20/fungarvan-waterford-festival-of-foo...)
