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Irish Examiner
27-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Munster producers championed at Euro-Toques Ireland Food Awards
It was another mighty Munster showing in the West yesterday at the 2025 Euro-Toques Ireland Food Awards, held in Ashford Castle Estate, in Co Mayo, as three of seven awards on offer went to food producers from the Southern province with many other Munster producers amongst the nominees. Euro-Toques Ireland, founded in 1986 by Myrtle Allen, is the Irish chapter of a European-wide chefs-led organisation dedicated to preserving and championing local food culture, traditional food craft and gastronomy, and the Irish awards carry a special prestige as chef members, numbering some of Ireland's finest, nominate and then vote on eventual award winners. This year, themed as 'Honouring Ireland's Kitchen Table', brought together over 100 chef members, food producers and others to salute some very exceptional food producers across seven categories: Water, Land, Farm, Dairy, Artisan Produce, and Traditional Craft. Tom Leach and Moe McKeown of Dingle Sea Salt Dingle Sea Salt triumphed in the Water category as highly innovative producers of Ireland's first solar-evaporated Atlantic sea salt using a fully off-grid, low-carbon process, with Salt of Kinsale, Cork, and The Sea Gardener, Waterford, also nominated. The highly progressive Moy Hill Farm, to the fore of the new wave of regenerative farming in Ireland, prevailed in the Farm category for sustainable animal rearing, for their ethical egg production and holistic approach to farming, while Tinnock Farm, Co Tipperary, was the other Munster nominee in this category. Sarah Richards' Seagull Bakery, Waterford, was a very popular winner in the Traditional Craft/Skill section for the artist-turned-baker who began out with a tiny oven in her back garden studio and now employs 30 people in their bakery and two retail outlets, in Tramore and Waterford city. Richards' business/life partner Conor Naughton said: 'We were chuffed to win amongst such great company, some really great Irish bakers nominated, and it is great to see real bread bakers celebrated for their craft at such a prestigious awards.' Sarah Richards and Conor Naughton, Seagull Bakery Richards has long championed real bread made from Irish-grown grains and works with local grain farmers in her region. 'It's great to be recognised for our commitment to developing an Irish grain network to really complete the cycle of farm to fork, to support local farmers and systems change to ensure genuinely sustainable food security for Ireland in the future.' Winners in the other categories were: Coole Farm, Co Louth (Land – Honouring Our Heritage); Ballylisk, Co Armagh (Dairy Soft Cheese), with Cork's Durrus Cheese also nominated; Wild Irish Foragers, Co Offaly (Artisan Produce – Irish Preserved Ingredients); and Salt Rock Dairy, Co Wexford (Dairy - Cultured Butter), with Irish Gourmet Butter, Waterford, and Toonsbridge Cultured Butter, Co Cork, also nominated. Hugo's Bakery, Co Clare, and Wild Flour Bakery, in Innishannon, in Co Cork, were also nominated alongside Seagull Bakery in the Traditional Craft/Skill category. Fergal Smithof Moy Hill Farm, Co Clare, which won the Farm award. After the awards ceremony, guests enjoyed a celebratory seasonal lunch of local produce prepared by Ashford Castle chefs Liam Finnegan and Jonathan Keane, the meal accompanied by a beautifully curated Harvest Table showcasing the wares of the 30-plus nominees. 'The Irish kitchen table is a symbol of trust, care, and resilience,' said Irish Examiner food writer and Goldie head chef Aishling Moore, who is also Head of the Euro-Toques Food Council. 'It is where we learn the fundamentals of food – not just how to cook, but how to value what we eat and who we share it with.' Conor Halpenny of Square Dundalk, Chair of Euro-Toques Ireland, added: 'We are honouring those who have kept Irish food grounded – producers and craftspeople who quietly shape our national identity through their work every single day.'
Irish Times
26-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Artisan salt, eggs, butter and leaves producers among winners at Ireland food awards
Ireland's premier artisan food producers have been honoured by leading chefs at the 2025 Euro-Toques food awards . Winners across a range of categories included: Dingle Sea Salt, Coole Farm, Moy Hill Farm, Salt Rock Dairy and Ballylisk. The awards ceremony, held on Monday afternoon at Ashford Castle, recognised products nominated by chefs who use them in their restaurants and voted for by members of the Euro-Toques Ireland Food Council. More than 100 chefs, producers and Euro-Toques members gathered for a celebratory lunch featuring a harvest table of more than 30 Irish producers, including this year's winners and nominees. The annual awards, now in their 39th year were first established in 1996 by the late Myrtle Allen of Ballymaloe House in Co Cork. This year's theme, honouring Ireland's kitchen table, paid tribute to the place where food meets tradition, memory and storytelling and honoured seven champions, all makers of key cookery ingredients. READ MORE The Euro-Toques Ireland Food Council is a European community of chefs and cooks that champion local food integrity, craftsmanship and community-led gastronomy. The 2025 awards celebrated seven winners chosen across the categories of Water, Land, Farm, Dairy, Artisan Produce and Craft/Traditional Skills. The 2025 Awards winners Water Husband and wife Brian Farrell and Marie Holden are owners of West of Dingle sea Salt. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien/The Irish Times Dingle Sea Salt for its innovative and sustainable solar-evaporated, Atlantic-harvested sea salt that uses a fully off-grid, low-carbon process. Land Coole Farm for its cultivation of organic salad leaves using a regenerative approach that restores soil health and supports biodiversity. Farm Moy Hill Farm, Fergal Smith of Moy Hill Farm in Co Clare. Photograph: Paul Sherwood Moy Hill Farm for its ethical, regenerative egg production, its education programmes, community-supported agricultural boxes and on-farm transparency. Dairy (cultured butter) Salt Rock Dairy for handcrafted cultured butter using milk from its own herd and Wexford sea salt, a method that revives traditional butter-making. Dairy (soft cheese) Ballylisk Triple Rose cheese. Photograph: Paul Sherwood Ballylisk for The Triple Rose, a rich triple cream cheese, a luxurious product with depth and distinction, made from a single pedigree herd in Armagh. Artisan produce Wild Irish Foragers for helping to preserve Ireland's edible heritage, keeping forgotten flavours alive with its handcrafted syrups, shrubs and jellies made from foraged botanicals. Traditional craft/skill Seagull Bakery for the championing of bread made from Irish-grown grains and bold fermentation, reimagining traditional baking with creativity and skill. Lunch at the Ashford Castle event was prepared by chefs Liam Finnegan and Jonathan Keane, whose menus served local ingredients. Conor Halpenny of Square Dundalk and chair of Euro-Toques Ireland, said: 'We are honouring those who have kept Irish food grounded – producers and craftspeople who quietly shape our national identity through their work every single day. 'The Irish kitchen table is a symbol of trust, care and resilience,' said Aishling Moore of Goldie in Cork, head of the Euro-Toques Food Council. 'It is where we learn the fundamentals of food – not just how to cook, but how to value what we eat and who we share it with.' Each award category considered a fundamental element of the Irish food story, from ocean-harvested salt and nutrient-rich seaweeds to soil-nurturing salad leaves, pasture-raised eggs, and hand-churned butter.
