Sunday fog lifting from Dingle harbour
Dingle is a very special place. Magical, some might even say. I’d take any excuse to visit, and last weekend I had the wonderful opportunity of being a judge at the Blas na hEireann food awards at the Dingle Food Festival.
The Dingle Food Festival is easily the best food festival I’ve been to in Ireland, from the perspective of a punter going down to graze on local foods. It’s not just the locality’s natural beauty that helps, but it’s also the community present in the town that boosts the atmosphere at this festival. It’s as if you’re only allowed to live in Dingle if you’re a really lovely and inspiring person. Who also makes amazing cheese.
Myself and Niall stayed in the beautifully elegant Emlagh House. We ate our way around Dingle, taking in Out Of The Blue and An Canteen. We visited the Dingle Brewing Company and supped the delicious Tom Crean’s lager. We nibbled our way through the town by way of the often mouth-watering (and consistently excellent value) Taste Trail. We had a masterclass with Kieran Murphy of Murphy’s Ice-Cream and tried his outrageous Extreme Cocoa drink.
We met Sharon from Foodie Fancies and ate too many of her ah-mazing cupcakes. We went on a fishing trip out on the sea in the Sunday morning fog, caught heaps of mackerel and pollock, and then had it cooked for us two hours later in The Marina Inn. Niall finally got to meet his black pudding hero Jack McCarthy at the For Food’s Sake talks, which also featured the truly inspiring Gianna Ferguson among others.
Perhaps not so much a Dingle Invasion as a happy visit, a few bloggers made the trip all the more enjoyable. Thanks to Bill, Sharon, Lily and family, Ollie, Keith and family, Kelly and Geoff (and Liv, of course) for the wonderful company throughout the weekend.
And a huge thank you to the organisers who looked after our group of bloggers so very well.
Have a look over here for a full list of the Blas na hEireann winners and keep reading for a few pics from the weekend.
Masterclass with Kieran Murphy of Murphy’s Ice-cream
Food stuff about town
Beautiful jams, pickles and chutneys from The Scullery
Kangaroo Skewers
Little Miss Cupcakes’ (aka Foodie Fancies) glorious treats
Paella at O’Flaherty’s
Tasters from The Chart House
Roast pork burgers at The Waterside
Crab Toastie at the Waterside
Salmon Teriyaki at Fish at the Marina
Ollie Moore and the giant pollock he caught within 2 minutes of getting his rod in the water…
Myself and my more modest sized pollock. Hah! My face. Excited and a bit freaked out at the same time.
Our skipper Paul filleted our catch and we brought it to the Marina Inn…
…where they served us mussels…
…and our own freshly-caught fish was served up to us in three different and delicious ways.
Dingle being awesome…
See you soon, Dingle!
Categories: Blog Trips Tags: Dingle Food Festival
October 4, 2011 at 2:33 am
Sounds and looks like a wonderful weekend. Congrats on the new job by the way
October 4, 2011 at 3:03 pm
Hi Ali, it was a great weekend! Thanks a mill for the congrats
October 4, 2011 at 6:19 am
Absolutely gutted that I missed this – everything looks and sounds amazing. At least I can live vicariously through your photos. Next year, count me in!
October 4, 2011 at 3:04 pm
Sorry you couldn’t join us Kristin – we’ll have to get an even bigger group together for next year. It was amazing! So much fun. (Not to rub it in. Sorry.)
October 4, 2011 at 8:36 am
Looks stunning Aoife!
October 4, 2011 at 3:04 pm
Thanks Donal, it was loads of fun.
October 4, 2011 at 8:43 am
Oh my, i’m now starving and want to go to Dingle. It’s an odd mix of emotions for a Tuesday morning. Great photos!
October 4, 2011 at 3:05 pm
Hi Ciara, sorry for contributing to your confusing Tuesday morning! It was a lovely weekend, as if any weekend spent in Dingle. What a spot!
October 4, 2011 at 9:52 am
Great pix! We had a fantastic time and thanks for organizing!
October 4, 2011 at 3:05 pm
It was my pleasure! Thanks so much to you and Sharon for being a part of it
October 5, 2011 at 12:36 pm
Ouf, look at all that fish! I was mad jealous reading your tweets from the fog on Sunday. Looks like a cracking weekend and Emlagh House is only dreamy. Next year, for sure!
October 5, 2011 at 10:05 pm
Hey Catherine, definitely add it to your 2012 calendar, you’d have loved it. See you there next year!
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October 9, 2011 at 10:54 am
All your photos look so amazing I just want to make my way to Dingle right now! Must keep it in mind for next year. I love the pic with all the old bottles. Is that a pub?
October 9, 2011 at 5:46 pm
Hi Nessa, it was a great trip. Definitely keep it in mind for next year! A really fantastic food festival. And yup, the photo with the old bottles is in a pub called Cashes if I remember correctly, one of those amazing old pubs that doubles up as a hardware store! So you can buy a light bulb and have a pint in the same spot. So cool!
October 10, 2011 at 12:25 pm
Great pics Aoife! Am absolutely green with envy as it sounds like you had an amazing weekend.
October 10, 2011 at 12:54 pm
It was fab, Sheila! Definitely the best food fest I’ve been to in Ireland. Dingle is a great spot, and fabulous to visit at any time of the year
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October 14, 2011 at 3:41 pm
Looks megamazing! Lovely pics.
October 14, 2011 at 3:56 pm
It was megamazing! So much fun.
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