WILD&SLOW 2012
Slow Food Ireland is delighted to announce that for the second year running Wild&Slow, its unique international Wild Food Festival will take place again in Wicklow, this November 10th and 11th
Wild&Slow2012 celebrates everything that is good about Irish food: fresh, local, traditional and wild, and because of its profusion of wild foods, Slow Food Ireland has once more chosen Wicklow, the Garden of Ireland for this event and Macreddin Village in the heart of Wicklow as the host location. The winter-themed festival will run from afternoon into crisp dark evening, with plenty of wood-burning braziers, mulled wine and roasted chestnuts to keep visitors warm.
Globally, Wild&Slow is also unique as a Festival given that our Irish countryside has such an abundance of wild foods and Wild&Slow2012 is dedicated to them. Wild berries, fruits, flowers, mushrooms, game, fish and our traditional methods of preserving them, whether pickling, preserving, smoking or salting and curing …Wild&Slow2012 will, showcase these foods. From fish to pheasant, from the deep dark flavour of venison to the sticky sweetness of wild blackberry jam, a contented reliance on nature’s gifts is as Slow as it gets!
Last Year...Wild&Slow2011
If you weren’t one of the 1,100 guests that signed up for the Wild&Slow2011 WorkShops last year, or one of the 2,800 that attended The Wild&Slow2011 Street Market or one of the 200 people that enjoyed Irelands first ever; complete Wild Foods Dinner (well all, except for the potatoes!)…Well, then shame on you!
This Year...Wild&Slow2012
However, here is your opportunity to reprieve yourself. Wild&Slow2012 takes place Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th November from 12pm - 8pm at Macreddin Village, Co. Wicklow. With more Wild&Slow WorkShops, a bigger Wild&Slow Street Market, and the best of Wild&Slow Dinners…
So…check out the Wild&Slow2012 WorkShops below, go straight onto www.wildandslow.com, to find out what it’s all about…then, just talk ‘all Wild&Slow knowledgeable’ to your friends and invite them to Wild&Slow2012…now, that’s just so simple.
If you haven’t recorded your interest in finding out more about Wild&Slow, now is your time to do it.
Send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with your email, name and address and we’ll keep you up to speed when we release the finalised Work Shop Timetable on Wednesday November 1st for pre-registrations, the Wild Food Dinner (already nearly full) and the Wild Foods Street Market Stalls
As with all Slow Food Events, this is all about access to Food Education and Food Protection through Food Promotion…
Looking forward to seeing you at Wild&Slow2012
Swest regards,
The Wild&Slow Crew
For more information checkout www.wildandslow.com
WorkShops @ Wild&Slow2012
Wild&Slow2012 is all about education; The Festival will centre round a series of twenty WorkShops available over the weekend to both the public and participants including the following:
Photo-stalking in The National Park This will involve hiking several miles in and around Wicklow, to stalk and photograph the resident wild deer herd and feathered game with photographer, Frank Doyle. Photo competition of participants work, with judging on Sunday.
Blackberries and beyond. Ireland has 327,258 km of common Irish grass verges and hedgerows. In this workshop, Evan Doyle, Ed Hick and Biddy White Lennon will concentrate on what is available there for free, where to look for it, and when it is best harvested, using the Wild&Slow templates to bring participants through each season.
In The Pantry. A guided visit and insight workshop on Macreddin Villages unique Wild Foods Pantry, by Evan Doyle, Tim Daly and Clothilde Walenne. An understanding, that keeping what you have foraged is at least as important as collecting it, with tips on how to best keep your harvest into the following season allowing us to “cheat” nature!
Furred Game Tasting Workshop. Of our native game. A tasting of rabbit, hare and venison. Three classic game meats, prepared for evaluation. Derry Clarke, l’Ecrivain, leads the attendees through this workshop, highlighting their differences in taste and texture.
Black and Blue. And Red all over. Matching game with wines workshop. Gregory Alken, Director of Febvre Wines, serves tastes of Irish Game, accompanied by some of the worlds “gamiest” wines.
Connecting with Wild Plants. Presentation by Herbal medicine academic, Judith Hoad, member of the IAMMH, (Irish Association of Master Medical Herbalists). This workshop will explore information gathered and used in mainstream medicine and holistic medicine concerning human relationships with plants and plants relationships with us!
The Low Tide. Enda Conneely, South Aran House & Fisherman's Cottage, Inishere, just beside Ireland! Enda introduces a workshop on the sustainable harvesting and preserving of our native seaweeds and seaplants and their uses.
A Sip on the Wild Side. Oisin Davis from Damson Diner, South William Street, Dublin. Mixing and infusing Wild Irish foraged ingredients into seasonal cocktails and how to pair them with food.
Back to the Basics A workshop where Darina Allen, Ballymaloe, will focus in depth on the traditional methods of preserving, as used by our grandparents. Pickling, drying and potting that gave them tastes of summery fruit in jams well after the trees were bare, cured meats and fish in the darker months, and allowed them have vitamins and minerals while nature slept.
Holy Smoke. In this workshop, Ed Hick, Hicks Pork Butchers, will outline the principles of curing and smoking. With the focus on wild Irish venison, preserving it by this traditional method and an organoleptic tasting of 3 month dry cured and beech wood smoked Wicklow venison.
A Bird in the Hand. Pheasant, woodcock, widgeon, teal, mallard, woodpigeon, grouse, and the fabulous snipe all discussed and their merits debated by Ross Lewis, Chapter One. Pheasant cooked for parallel tasting with wild duck and winter game.
In The Net. Exploring, wild fish seasonality, its sustainability and our fisheries management. This workshop will also give an overview of the current Irish fresh and tidal fisheries. Presentation by Mick Murphy, licensed traditional wild salmon, snap-net fisherman.
The Sweetest Thing. Three generations of bee keeping, production of wild honey and the state of the honeybee not just in Ireland, but internationally, outlined by Philip McCabe, President of the Apimondia European Commission, with tastings of honeys both from home and abroad and an insight into its traditional medicinal properties.
The Tide Is Out. Sally McKenna, Bridgestone Guide author and journalist discusses how to cook with seaweed, its merits and especially its health benefits. An overview of how it grows, zones and tidal influences combined with a hands on demonstration
I am the pheasant plucker. Game handling master class given by Mick Healy, of Wild Irish Game and Licensed Game Dealer. The workshop will centre round the vast variety of wild game that Ireland has to offer. With examples of feathered and furred, the workshop will explain how this precious resource can be harvested with a sustainable approach.
A Gamekeeper’s Story Retired Head Gamekeeper, Keith Wooldridge, from Ballinacor Estate, outlines his lifetime work, with preparations in spring through to winter shoots, emphasis on habitat, and environmental management. This will aim to inform attendees on the multi annual cycles involved with managing an estate.
Much about Mushrooms. Guiding through six months of annual mushroom harvesting, Bill O’Dea, informs the workshop on the Top Ten Irish edible wild mushrooms, when to look for them and most importantly…where to find them.