Wexford Food Festival 2015

This “Wexford Food Festival” provides a platform for local farmers and food producers to showcase their products and allow the public to sample the quality first hand.

The old Viking town of Wexford is on the banks of the River Slaney at the estuary where this beautiful river meets the wild Irish Sea. It is known for its narrow streets and the tall buildings that line them. A perfect venue for the Buskers as the music travels along the street echoing off the walls in an almost acoustic perfect effect. The main street runs parallel to the river in a east west direction and is the main shopping street.

It is on this street that the food festival is held every year around the end of May. Parts of the street are closed to vehicles and marquee tents erected, clustered in the south end of the main street and the west end in the small Selskar Square.

My experience in the South end was interesting as there were a number of Welsh farmers and food producers showing off their wares. The first thing to catch my eye was the hand made “Welsh Steak and Ale” pasties, produced by Little Welsh Deli, an award winning artisan company based in Swansea, South Wales. Bought six to try out. 20 minutes in the oven at 180º smells good, add some fresh salad and enjoyed with a offee. Robert Vaughan, a Long Horn Beef farmer based in Carmarthenshire, Wales, had samples of his fine beef. Beautiful lean meat and I cooked up a steak on the BBQ. Most enjoyable. There was “Samosaco” sampling Indian vegetarian snacks and preserves, a boar farmer with his amazing boar sausages and where would you be without the ice cream.

Sit and have a coffee, a sandwich, a crêpe or a dinky doughnut.

I moved on to the north end where the action was in Selskar Square. The whole area had been taken over with marquee tents and stalls of all kinds. A great buzz. I started at the top of the square. The “Bad Boys BBQ” were producing beef burgers as fast as they could. Walking around the perimeter of the square, “Taste with Gusto” were showing off their olive oils and condiments all the way from Puglia on the tip of Italy, on to “Green Acres” a restaurand and wine importer renowned for their top quality foods, a couple of fellers sampling the craft beer from Denmark and the most tasty of condiments, cheeses and cake. “Wicklow Rapeseed Oil” had their healthy rapeseed cooking oils, then towards the bottom of the square, more BBQs. “The Yard” restaurant from Georges Street were BBQing monk fish burgers (really looked and tasted good),”Furlongs” Meat were making burgers and “Thai Food Company”, Wexford had a huge range of Thai dressings and sauces. Back up the square on the other side was “Cappuccinos” coffee bas with their delicious selection of cakes and pastries, a place to stop for a good coffee. “Zaeire Wexford Chocolates” so tempting, “Crepe Cuisine” was successfully tempting passersby to try their chocolate and fresh Wexford strawberry filled crêpes that absolutely delighted the kids and the adults alike. “Ballyhach Smokehouse” had their wild smoked salmon on display and were giving out samples; nothing like smoked salmon.