Ireland July 29 – August 8

Explore.Experience.Discover: The Food Culture of Ireland

A 10-day immersion to explore, experience and discover the beauty of the country and the passion of the people that creates the unique food culture of southwest Ireland. Based in Cork, the food and culinary capital of Ireland, the program begins on the historic University College Cork (UCC) campus in engaging discussions with UCC faculty Colin Sage, food geographer and author of Environment and Food and Regina Sexton, food and culinary historian and author of A Little History of Irish Food, setting the stage for the tours, tastings and experiences ahead. Colin and Regina will be our guides as we explore Cork’s renowned English Market and Butter Museum, travel to the nearby village of Midleton for the Saturday market and a tour of the Jameson whiskey distillery, and spend a day in and around Skibbereen seaweed foraging and at the farm of a seed saver. End your time with us in Ireland for an afternoon at the internationally acclaimed Ballymaloe Cookery School where you will work with the culinary staff to prepare a garden to table dinner. The program provides a perfect mix of scheduled activities and meals and the opportunity to discover and visit local sites and restaurants on your own.

JUNE 18 – 29, 2017 CORK, IRELAND

PROGRAM

SUN., JULY 29 WELCOME DINNER: GREENES RESTAURANT

Head chef Bryan McCarthy, Restaurant Association of Ireland Best Chef award. Organic, locally sourced food, “cooked with flair and imagination.”

MON., JULY 30 UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK

Colin Sage, PhD and Regina Sexton, MS

AM/PM Welcome, campus tour and program overview

Free evening. Enjoy Cork

TUES., JULY 31 GLOBAL FOOD PRODUCTION AND CHALLENGES

Colin Sage, PhD

AM CHALLENGES FOR THE GLOBAL FOOD SYSTEM

What we eat has a significant impact on the global environment. The challenges today are on creating a sustainable food system achieved through both technology-based changes to agricultural practices and consumer-food-choice changes that represent sustainable eating.

PM COMPETING VISIONS FOR FEEDING THE WORLD

An engaging discussion about food and nutritional security concerns around the world that put agriculture at a crossroads. How we will feed the world is an arena with competing visions of

technological solutions and sustainable development principles.

Free evening. Enjoy Cork

WED., AUGUST 1 HISTORY OF FOOD IN IRELAND

Regina Sexton, MS

AM THE EVOLUTION OF FOOD, CULINARY AND DIETARY PATTERNS IN IRELAND

Ireland has a rich agriculture and related food history. Today, the growth of artisan food producers, well-known chefs and regional food markets are sustaining Cork’s culinary culture and its continued claim to be the food capital of Ireland.

PM THE GREAT IRISH FAMINE

The second half of the 18th century was the high point for the potato in Ireland. On the eve of the Great Famine, however, only one variety, the Lumper was almost the universal food of the poor. Their dangerous reliance not simply on one food, but on one variety of potato which was highly susceptible to potato blight made inevitable the dire consequences of this fungal disease in 1845.

Depart Cork on the 3:00 pm train to Cobh, the emigration port for hundreds of thousands of Irish emigrants and the last port of call for the Titanic. Visit the Heritage Center (www.cobhheritage.com). Enjoy the views from the hills of Cobh of the Cork harbor, the second largest natural harbor after Sydney, Australia.

Dinner on your own in Cobh.

THURS., AUGUST 2 FOOD HISTORY: CONNECTING TRADITIONS

Regina Sexton, MS

AM THE ENGLISH MARKET IN CORK

Tour and tasting through Ireland’s most renowned covered market. Opened in 1788, it is one of the oldest local markets in the world and remains a bastion of Cork’s food traditions.

Lunch: The Farmgate Café

“Centuries old traditional, seasonal, regional, even ‘forgotten’ foods are at the core of the Farmgate ethos, and also form a visible link between the menu and the wonderful array of produce downstairs”.

PM CORK BUTTER MUSEUM

Guided visit and demonstration at the museum celebrating one of Ireland’s great success storied – butter. Discover its heritage, growth in the 19th century and growth in international trade.

 

Free evening. Enjoy Cork

FRI., AUGUST 3 SKIBBEREEN and WEST CORK

Regina Sexton, MS

Visit Skibbereen West Cork Art Center special exhibit – Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger

(https://www.rte.ie/culture/2018/0222/942688-in-the-picture-art-and-the-great-hunger/ )

 

Lunch at Good Things restaurant and cookery school

 

ROARING WATER SEA VEGETABLE

Explore the pristine waters west of Cork, foraging for seaweed with Sally and John McKenna.

John McKenna has been described by The Wall Street Journal as “Ireland’s most authoritative food writer”. He is the curator of the annual The 100 Best Restaurants in Ireland, and has been writing

about Irish food for almost 30 years. Sally McKenna is the author of Extreme Greens: Understanding Seaweed, which has been described by BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme as “a new bible for seaweed cookery”. Sally is the administrator behind McKenna’s Guide, a food resource for Ireland that includes a blog, restaurant reviews, a video channel and a series of podcasts.

 

BROWN ENVELOPE SEEDS FARM

Seed saver Madeline McKeever established Brown Envelope Seeds in 1987 with a mission to enable people to grow their own food. Plants grown from these old varieties of seeds can adapt to climate change, particular landscapes and environmental conditions.

Free evening. Enjoy Cork

SAT., AUGUST 4 LOCAL MARKETS, LOCAL FOOD

Colin Sage, PhD and Regina Sexton, MS

Our visits today provide a window into local food cultures beginning at the Midleton Saturday Market to observe and experience the direct connections with food growers and producers.

A tour and tasting at the Midleton Jameson Distillery continues the focus on local production.

Our lunch will be at Sage Restaurant, an award-winning restaurant that specializes in a 12-mile food- sourcing policy. Chef Kevin Aherne will join us after lunch to answer questions about the

joys and challenges associated with sourcing local ingredients. We finish with a visit to meet Frank Hederman at Belvelly Smokehouse, one of the few traditional smokehouses remaining in

the world where, for more than 25 years, Frank has smoked fish using a technique where fish is smoked hung over beachwood chips.

SUN., AUGUST 5 FREE DAY

Relax on your own or take a day trip on a tour bus to beautiful West Ireland sites like the Ring of Kerry, Dingle Bay, Cliffs of Moher, Blarney Castle.

MON., AUGUST 6 MAKING AND UNMAKING MEAT

Colin Sage, PhD

Colin Sage will start our day with a discussion about the climate impact of producing animal protein and plant protein. Then we are off to see how a vegetable grower and restauranteur are working

together to provide a de-meatification culinary experience Travel by bus to the farm of Ultan Walsh, an organic vegetable grower who will provide a tour of his high tunnels during which he

and Denis Cotter, award-winning author and proprietor of Café Paradiso, Cork, award-winning vegetarian restaurant, will explain their collaboration between the vegetable grower and

restaurant owner. Lunch at Ultan Walsh Farm prepared with vegetables from the gardens will include a conversation with Denis Cotter.

Dinner at Café Paradiso

An iconic institution in the Cork dining scene and the wider Irish food culture featuring the innovative and groundbreaking vegetable cuisine of Denis Cotter.

TUES., AUGUST 7 HUNTING LODGE, KITCHEN GARDENS & COOKERY SCHOOL

AM FOTA HOUSE

A guided tour of Fota House, its arboretum and Frameyard Kitchen Gardens. Fota House, originally a modest two-story hunting lodge belonging to the Smith-Barry family, was expanded in the 1820s into an elegant Regency style country house with over 70 rooms. The development of Fota’s internationally recognized arboretum in the 1840s coincided with the great plant hunting expeditions around the world bringing back wonderful specimens from places such as the Orient, South America and the Pacific coast of northwest America. “Fota” is derived from the Irish “Fód te” meaning warm soil – perfect for the growing and cultivation of rare trees and exotic plants.

 

Lunch on your own: The Cafe at Fota House Dine al fresco and enjoy the views over Fota’s parklands. A variety of food prepared on a daily basis often using organic produce from

Fota’s kitchen garden.

PM BALLYMALOE COOKERY SCHOOL

Tour of the organic farm and gardens. Cooking demonstration followed by hands on culinary experience and dinner.

WED., AUGUST 8 DEPART FOR AIRPORT

 

University College Cork faculty

COLIN SAGE, PhD

Dr Sage is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Geography, School of the Human Environment at University College Cork. His research interests are food systems, environmental policy and civic initiatives for social change. He is the author of Environment and Food (Routledge, 2012) and the co-editor of Food Transgressions: Making sense of contemporary food politics (Ashgate, 2014). Dr Sage has published more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and delivered more than 70 keynote lectures and conference papers. He is also chair of the Cork Food Policy Council.

REGINA SEXTON, MS

Regina Sexton is a Lecturer on food history at University College Cork. She is a food historian, food writer, broadcaster and cook. Her research interests include food and identity, food and tradition and food in the Irish country house. For over 25 years, she has conducted research and published widely at academic and popular levels in the area of Irish food and culinary history. Regina holds a certificate in Food and Wine from the Ballymaloe Cookery School. She has worked as a food history consultant with Bord Bia, Teagasc, Fáilte Ireland, RTÉ and the Irish Heritage Trust and as an historical food stylist for a number of television productions. Regina is also a member of the judging panel for Food and Wine’s annual food and wine awards.

 

ANN COHEN, MS, RD

Ann Cohen is a Registered Dietitian and innovative nutrition educator with a passion for experiential learning. Over the past ten years, Ann has developed and led 20 immersion programs for more than 400 nutrition professionals and students interested in learning about food, culture and history in Ireland and about the food and culture of the Mediterranean diet and lifestyle in Italy. Her extensive networks and contacts in these countries have resulted in engaging immersive learning experiences from program arrival to departure.