On Saturday 30th June, we met to discuss the way forward for Slow Food Ireland Presidia Items
At a meeting in The Dock, Carrick on Shannon, Co Leitrim, hosted by the Erne-Garavogue Convivium, there was an exploration of how Slow Food Presidia items should move forward. (Full Minutes, are listed below)
What emerged was details of the most wonderful food traditions, that Slow Food Ireland can work with, both by cataloguing them in the Ark, and by the formation of new Presidia. Pictured above is one of these in action - so to speak...BOXTY!
What Follows are all of the Presentations we saw on that day, about proposed possible new Presidia.
Some of these items have already been accepted in to the Ark.
Slow Food Ireland Ark and Presidia Items- The Way Forward
Schedule of the Discussion / Meeting
Ollie Moore welcomed us, and introduced all the speakers, as well as providing a background to the event.
Each item had a 10 minutes presentation and up to 15 minutes discussion on how to move it forward as a Presidia or Ark item.
The Discussion was Chaired by Dr Prannie Rhatigan
Speakers & Topics
The Ark, presented by Aveen Henry
Blood puddings, presented by Rob Doyle
Dillisk and Irish Seaweed, presented by Sarah Hotchkiss
Kiln roasted oatmeal, update from Prannie
Mills and millers, presented by Stephanie Bourke
Boxty, update from Prannie
Honey - the Native Black Bee, presented by Aoife Nicgillicoda
Moiled cattle, presented by Sean McGloin
Sharing of learning process from Presidia
ISWAS, Letter from Italy for discussion
Raw Milk Cheese, presented by Kevin Sheridan
BOXTY
download microsoft_powerpoint__boxty1.pdf
FRESH BLOOD PUDDINGS
download fresh_blood_puddings.pdf
IRISH SEAWEED
download irish_seaweed_presidia_pdf.pdf
IRISH WILD FLOWER HONEY
download irish_wild_flower_honey.pdf
KILN TOASTED IRISH OATMEAL
download kiln_toasted_irish_oatmeal_presidia.pdf
Full Minutes of Meeting, Distributed 15th July 2007
Slow Food 30 June 2007
Carrick on Shannon
Erne Garvaogue Convivia hosted Presidia Meeting
Chair: Dr Prannie Rhatigan
A synopsis of each presentation will be on the Slow Food Ireland website very shortly.
This is a summary of additional notes and comments from the floor, and key actions required to progress each item.
In Attendance: Giana Ferguson, Darina Allen, Aveen Henry, Rob Doyle, Sarah Hotchkiss, Aoife Nicgillicoda, Stephanie Bourke, Sean Mc Gloin, Peter Dunn, Kevin Sheridan, Siobhan Morris, Ollie Moore, Donal Lehane, Elisabeth Ryan, Members of Erne Garavogue Convivium, Members of the Public.
Apologies: Colin Sage, Jeffa Gill, Anthony Creswell, Sally Barnes, Myrtle Allen
Blood Puddings - Rob Doyle
Synopsis of presentation on Slow Food Website
Summary of major challenges noted by RD:
- Hygiene regulations
- Use of fresh blood
- Consumer perceptions
- Aseptic harvesting of blood
Key questions as raised by RD:
- Do blood puddings and their makers need or want Presidia status?
- Who, hypothetically, will set the terms of the protocol?
• News reported by Darina Allen that the issues around blood puddings were raised at recent FSAI Artisan Food Forum meetings. FSAI did work on sourcing ‘vampire knife’ (required for aseptic harvesting of blood), and will now make it possible for any butcher to produce and confirmed that they will pass the info and encouragement to FSAI reps/EHO on the ground. Definite change in attitude in FSAI and Dept, promised to be eager to facilitate.
• Craft Butchers Association of Ireland to be encouraged to run competition for black pudding made with fresh blood (they already run best sausage competition etc). White pudding should also be looked at.
• Proposed that any Blood Pudding Protocol should insist on use of natural casings.
• Different recipes in each region in danger of being lost forever.
• Training of butchers/slaughterhouses in harvesting and making of puddings important. Awareness raising and perception changing with consumers also of importance.
• Other issues raised included: shelf life issues, that premium should be charged for such a product, and if there could be grants available, eg through on farm diversification subsidies.
ACTIONS/key notes:
Identify persons/group to drive Presidia goal and draw up protocol etc…a Champion from the Craft Butchers of Ireland ideally to work with an academic. Action: who?
(Rob will help with the academic side of the protocol)
Audit: Identify who the current producers are and where they are based and where their recipe came from …?.family tradition/local tradition. Action: who?
Make contact with producers Action: who?
Audit (eg through Assoc of Craft Butchers, Eurotoques) who is interested in getting back into production or who else is interested in both making (butchers, producers) and using (chefs) blood pudding……
Draft simple guide (one shop stop pack) to producing blood puddings, what you need to know (practical and marketplace), how to make, where to source equipment, the market overview, , regulations, shelf life, commercial realities, i.e. an easy to understand guide, also made available on website. Action: Siobhan will assist-who will take the lead?
Liaise with organisations to invite recipes…. Action: who?
Slow Food website to call for recipes/anecdotes so public/members/producers can submit recipes either through SF website or other means. Action: could Elisabeth set this up?
• There is an urgent need for a producer to Champion this and drive this process forward.
Dillisk – Sarah Hotchkiss
Synopsis of Presentation on Slow Food Website
Additional notes:
• Setting of standards for harvesting required, currently harvesting on instinct as experienced. Need licence for collecting commercially (technically need licence for any collecting).
• Global race to develop standards. Soil Association certification by 2009, IOFGA also looking at seaweeds. All organic standards welcomed as will encourage standards to be put in place.
• Demand for dillisk/dulse far outstrips supply, so harvesters/processors no desire to gain benefit of increased sales/promotion eg through Presidia status. However, small businesses are dying out, setting standards eg through Presidia would help protect smaller operations. BIM do not see it as a product that needs support.
• Suggestion that more chefs serving seaweed would be beneficial, particularly with new research confirming health benefits (anti-cancer, anti-viral properties, lowers cholesterol, high in fibre etc). These health benefits mean that major food companies may soon catch on to its use as a functional food. Seaweed sector should be prepared for this and impact of massive demand – who supplies it and how. Presidia could act as protection mechanism.
• Local knowledge to be identified – audit of who harvesting what, and where, around the entire coast.
• Proposed that not simply dillisk put forward for Presidia, but all three major seaweeds, ie dillisk, slough/nori and carragheen.
• SH agreed happy to continue to be involved on the science side, and will have the support of ISIO of which SH a member.
• Call for recipes from wider public, for Carragheen, and other seaweeds.
• Important to get proposal together asap
ACTIONS/key points
All three seaweeds to be proposed together, not just dillisk
Develop scientific proposal so as to protect what needs protecting. Action: Sarah
Audit of local harvesters-who and where are the harvesters. Action: ISIO or Sarah?
Invitation of recipe contributions through Slow Food website. Action: Elizabeth
Urgency of proposal
Prannie can help with a wide variety of seaweed recipes and also identifying harvesters
Macroom Oatmeal
Synopsis of presentation by Prannie on Website.
Stephanie Bourke, co-editor of the newsletter of the Mills and Millers of Ireland “Grist to the Mill” spoke about their experiences to date. The Society was launched in 2001 to encourage and assist the preservation and appreciation of mills as part of our industrial, architectural and landscape heritage. Their interest lies in all mills, not just food mills and they often visit mills in other countries. There are hundreds of mills and mill sites across this country. Recently they have looked at ways to encourage local county Councils to adopt a mill and support its conservation.
After hearing about the significance of the Mill in Macroom Stephanie proposes to visit and see how the Mills and Miller of Ireland can become involved. She offered to lead on this and link back to see how we can progress it together
ACTIONS/key points
Bring the information from this meeting to the Mills and Millers of Ireland to discuss how they can be involved. Action: Stephanie
Contact Donal Creedon and arrange to visit –(invitation to visit had been arranged by Prannie). Action: Stephanie
Stephanie and Prannie will keep in touch to see how this potential presidia can be progressed
Wild Flower Honey – Aoife Nicgillicoda
Synopsis of Presentation on website
• Inclusion of wild flower honey would encourage and support bee keepers who produce wild flower honey, but also would give protection to the native black bee. Native black bee considered to be one of the reasons why Irish section honey so good.
• Producers tend to be small and come to bee keeping through passionate hobby rather than as commercial venture, often in later years. Presidia would help encourage new and younger bee-keepers.
• Ireland renowned for quality of its honey, little awareness of this within Ireland.
• 3000 bee-keepers in Ireland (32 counties), only 90 using native black bee.
• Major threat to reputation of Irish honey is imported honey falsely labelled as “Irish honey”, and misuse of terms such as ‘blend’ where it is not clear the blend uses imported honey. Additional threats to the sector include lack of commercial bee-keepers and new entrants, improper use of pesticides, diseases such as Varoha. Little support for bee-keepers – not taken as seriously as other food/agriculture sectors.
• Presidia could help:
- Encourage and support small scale honey producers
- Encourage those who produce native wild-flower honeys
- Emphasis on less common honeys
- Emphasis on Irish section honey
• Protocol could include biodiversity (of bee and flowers, wild flowers not just commercial), breeding from native Irish bee, conservation, quality of the honey itself (no imported allowed – this could be regulated/authenticated de facto by membership of FIBKA). Only native Irish bee honey eligible.
• Protocol all there in effect, Aoife’s work commended. Point made about what honey could do for Slow Food Ireland, not just what SFI can do for honey.
ACTION/Key points
Next step – so much of it is already there, including almost a protocol
Go back to the Galtee Beekeepers as the starting point for the protocol. Action: Aoife
Complete the Protocol for submission. Action: Aoife
Parallel piece of work is for the submission to go before the Ark for the Ark Committee to look at the work to date. Action: Aveen
.
SF could be involved in involving new people in beekeeping – most are over 50. Information on SF Ireland Web. Action: Elisabeth
Aoife to look up SF protocols in relation to other Presidia Honey-they are listed in the Presidia Book (note – we should do this with all possible presidia products!). Action: Aoife and everybody looking at protocols
Moile – Sean McGloin
Synopsis of Presentation on website
• Moile one of oldest European breeds, pre-date Vikings in Ireland. Dual purpose – beef and milk.
• Demand for rare breed beef/meat sky rocketing abroad.
• Problem - massive shortage of stock, and now market value of stock extremely high. Sean has difficulties sourcing the cattle.
• Embryo transfer as way of encouraging/conserving? Questions exist as to whether this would work.
ACTIONS/Key points
Sean will continue the work -which has been Slow in every sense
Slow Food very keen to work with Sean to develop a protocol.
Action : Siobhan to liase with Sean to help develop this.
Needs to become an Ark Item- Ark needs to know how long they have been in Ireland. Submission to go before the Ark. Action: Aveen
Boxty
Synopsis of update given by PR which is on website
Discussion: Is boxty old enough to be a Presidia item given that it probably came in on Spanish ships around 1587? The group agreed that it was adopted by the Irish and holds very strong and emotive food memories.
Discussion around the seasonality of the product and the point made that if it traditionally was a seasonal product (3-6 months of the year) than it is probably best kept seasonal.
ACTIONS/Key points
Need to locate recipes from around the country- not just south Ulster/North Connaught recipes.
This request to go on the Slow food website Action: Elisabeth
Contact to be re made with the 2 producers in the north west and the educator on Boxty in the North west as a starting point. Action: Prannie
Links to be made with the potato growers so that the traditional potato –Kerrs pinks or Dublin Queens (Rush Queens) are used by the boxty producers
A champion is needed to move boxty on by making these links between grower and producers and getting them on board to write a protocol. Development since meeting …see note below
Mention was made of an Irish potato expert –David Langford-who was uncontactable prior to the meeting and will be followed up. Action Prannie
ISWAS:
Letter from Italy presented and discussed by Prannie and Peter Dunn.
E mail responses from ISWAS members
• Some hope because of the new Irish regulations, and the letter from Italy post this regulation
• Main action point: 1-3 year wait to see what level the stocks are at.
• The provenance of ‘Irish’ fish needs to be interrogated/emphasised. SF should dialogue with FSAI on this
Action :Darina
Cheese:
• Protocol on website
• Kevin took us through the protocol
• The focus on the development of the new, positive, raw label is something to be applauded
• Key points were:
– peer-review choosing of ambassadors to represent all in the category, the
product not the person gets categorised.
- Tastings are vital to the success of a Presidia item.
- Presidia development is a continuum ..a process.
- The sense of community and support within a presidium is very important.
Addition from Prannie:
Re Development on Boxty
Prannie made contact with David Langford the following Monday. He had been on vacation and was sorry to have missed the meeting. David is certainly the expert in potatoes we hoped to meet. He has 162 varieties growing and 32 breeding. He is on the Committee for the International Year of the Potato which will be held throughout 2008. He has many old recipes which sound fascinating…perhaps another Presidia item in the making.
David is happy to progress Boxty and to have a look at writing a protocol. We plan to progress this by meeting with Myra and the two producers if they are agreeable. Also perhaps the two ladies from the Heritage Centre in N.Ireland if they are willing.
We also need to match the potato growers with the producers. Discussed this with Bord Bia (bord Glas) on Davids advice. Their potato advisor will be in touch next week.
It would be wonderful to have boxty launched as an Irish Presidia item in conjunction with the International year of the potato 2008 Action: Prannie to set up meetings and assist Dave in progressing this.
I would like to say how delighted I am to welcome Dave to Slow Food and to work with him in progressing boxty. He already champions the potato and I hope he will continue to do so with us to make it a Presidia item.
Addition: 3 bullet points from Ollie
• overall, I’d say we need a bribe for submissions of recipes in general - e.g. signed cookbooks from SF ppl is an obvious one. Sheilide and newspaper articles could be used to draw ppl into the site, where the recipes could be submitted, with prizes of signed cookbooks for lucky winners.
• Ark section of the site needs to be foregrounded
• Honey issues: (fromOllie and Donal chatting) : Donal suggested it could be diff to avoid, in practical terms, what Aoife referred to as commercial crop honey. Esp in some regions. Black Bee would be fine/correct, but the plants/crops the bees fly to will be hard to regulate/legislate for inSlow Food terms. I suggested to him that it prob is poss to at least partially regulate, and that the regulation would not be overly prescriptive: c.f. Aoife’s suggestion that native crops like Apples, even commercially grown, were fine anyway.
Irish Smoked Wild Atlantic Salmon - Proposed New Presidia - Irish Raw Cow's Milk Cheese