Festival of Forgotten Skills

Slow Food Ireland is once again celebrating the inherited wisdom and forgotten skills of elderly generations, with their fourth annual Grandmothers’ Day on Sunday April 22. This knowledge will be the focus of convivia events across the country as well as a special event hosted by Slow Food Ireland at Sandbrook House, Ballon, including a local producer’s market, a children’s festival, a Gala Dinner and workshops and demonstrations showcasing those forgotten culinary skills.

The Festival of Forgotten Skills will bring together families to enjoy traditional local foods, listen to gastronomic stories and to watch and learn new (old) Irish skills. In particular it is a day for grandparents and their grandchildren, and grandmothers are invited to contribute one of their favorite recipes to a special Slow Food recipe book.

The event will be opened by Ballymaloe Cookery School’s Darina Allen, Slow Food pioneer and President of Slow Food Ireland, who will give the keynote speech at midday and will later do a cookery demonstration of some of her most cherished recipes that are on the brink of being forgotten.

Other demonstrations and workshops will include butter, cheese, sausage and chocolate making, chicken keeping, wild food foraging, lace making, willow weaving, bee keeping, candle making, throwing pottery and various cooking demonstrations.

There will also be a café stall and a bustling farmer’s market, showcasing good, clean and fair food from local farmers, artisan producers and chefs including, organic meats, farmhouse cheeses, vegetables and salads, handmade pasta, breads, wood fired pizzas, local honey and chocolate truffles.

Slow Food Ireland’s Grandmothers’ Day festival at Sandbrook House runs from 11am to 6pm on Sunday 22 April. Admission is €15 with free entry to all children with one adult, free car parking and free entry to all workshops and demos on a first come, first served basis.

If you’re not in Ireland, you may like to try our recipe for Grandma’s Ginger Beer, passed to us by Irish convivium leader Hermione Winters, who says: “My grandmother taught me this as a child and I thought it was great fun and a tasty treat for the summer school holidays. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this recipe also taught me patience, how to nurture and how to share.”

For further details contact: [email protected]
Website: www.slowfoodireland.com