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Wild and Slow Food Festival: A meaty affair in Ireland

With more than eight months of planning and harvesting, the Wild and Slow Food Festival is a meaty affair, says Avril-Ann Braganza

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Wild Sika deer, wild hare, wild teal, wild Irish salmon, a sorbet of wild bilberry, wild berry soda... these were just some of the dishes included in our 11-course meal during the Wild and Slow Food Festival at Brooklodge Hotel in County Wicklow. I’m not sure if I feel hungry or stuffed thinking about that night all over again! One huge hall, three long tables and approximately 200 people—all gathered for the much-awaited Wild Foods Harvest Dinner at the hotel's Brookhall.

But let’s start at the beginning. Set in the stunning Wicklow Valley, south of Dublin at the Brooklodge and Wells Spa, the festival is a two-day celebration for which months of planning, teaching, harvesting and foraging is done. Soon after we arrive, we set out for a walk down the street market—a European-winter-festival-styled one with hens strutting around, rows of wooden stalls on both sides and hundreds of home-made foods on display. Different kinds of breads, gingerbread houses, pies, wild nettle soup, warm elderberry syrup with cloves, wild salmon, wild boar burgers, wild mint-infused chocolate, honey, venison hot-dogs and burgers, wild venison sausage and wild mallard crepes, a variety of jelly, jams and sauces, cheeses… the list of delicacies offered by the stalls is endless. It’s almost lunch time, so we opt for the wild boar burger, the wild venison sausage and wild mallard crepes! It’s a cold day and just as I start thinking that my fingers may fall off, the hot venison crepe is ready and I wrap my hands around it. While the wild boar burger was delicious, I could smell the wild venison sausage in the crepe before I even took a bite. Too gamey for my palate at first, I slowly got used to the taste of venison.


Blackberry and mint vinegar at the street market

Post lunch we attend a few workshops—at 'In the Net' by Mick Murphy (a licensed traditional wild salmon snap-net fisherman), explore snap-net fishing with an overview of the current Irish fresh and tidal fisheries. 'Wild Food Dissected 1', a workshop with Tim Daly, James Kavanagh and Evan Doyle focuses on eight months of preserving Ireland’s wild foods for tonight’s Wild Foods Dinner. In 'Wild Food Dissected 2', Ed Hick, Mick Healy and Evan Doyle focus on Ireland's recently lost skills on how to break down venison, pluck game birds and hang them. I am speechless as I watch Ed Hick, fourth-generation master butcher, break the wild venison down in a matter of minutes with just his hands and knife as he explains the different joints of deer meat.     


Wild game birds laid  at the entrance during the 11-course dinner

Soon it’s time for the eleven-course dinner, the ingredients for which have been harvested and preserved throughout the year. After sipping on wild berry cocktails at 7 pm,  we move to Brookhall for dinner. The venison, teal and hare has a strong gamey flavour, while the wild salmon is just perfect; not fatty and not greasy. At first I find the food a bit bland and I miss my (Indian) curries, but it’s not long before I’m enjoying what's put before me. It’s a welcome change. With no overpowering masalas, I can actually taste the flavours of the meat and fish. We still have the wild bilberry sorbet, a wild penny bun mushroom consommé and an autumnal wild berry soda to go before dessert. And then it’s finally here—Anna’s Dessert Pot with Macreddin Village Wild Honey Cream Cheese, Wild Woodruff Ice Cream, Wild Hazlenut and Wild Blackberry Compote! I take the first bite, it’s the perfect blend and my only thought is, “Why couldn’t they serve dessert before everything else? If only I hadn’t eaten so much and had more”. By the time we’re done with Macreddin Village wild beech bark booze, coffee and cheese, it’s past 11 pm.


Anna's delicious Desset Pot

The next day we set out foraging with Mary White, food forager, walking guide and flora and fauna specialist. The very first plant we spot is Angelica. “You don't eat the flowers, but you eat the stalks. It's very popular with bakers and confectioners and used in wedding cakes,”  Mary informs us. Next on the list is Meadowsweet. Robert, Mary's husband, tells us that it normally flowers in July. It has a strong pungent smell and is used for a soft drink that you offer kids and is almost sugar free. As Mary shares, it also has amazing medicinal properties (one of Aspirin's main ingredient comes from it).


Look at what we found while foraging? Wild Hazelnuts!

We taste a bit of fresh wild sorrel and then the couple bring out a box of wild sorrel tabbouleh. It's simply yummy! And for a Mumbaikar, who ensures all veggies are washed thoroughly, eating something freshly plucked is new and exciting. We also see some holly, rosehips, blackberries, Herb Robert and much more. After walking a bit, we stop to taste some sloe gin, apple jelly, crackers and wild pesto that Mary and Robert have carried with them. They also educate us about plants and fungi that are safe to eat and others that will cause your liver to pack up. I've never been foraging before, but I thoroughly enjoy it. One and half hour passes by quickly and before we know it, we're walking back to the car. Back at Brooklodge, we attend Ed Hick's workshop on curing and smoking. After a quick lunch at the street market, we attend our last workshop–The Sweetest Thing, where Willie O'Byrne, of the Native Irish Honey Bee Society, outlines our total dependence on the honey bee, production of wild honey and the state of the honeybee not just in Ireland, but internationally. Soon we're on the road again! It's time to bid adieu to beautiful Wicklow and head back to Dublin!
 

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