SPECIAL EVENTS AT THE WORLD-RENOWNED WOODCOCK SMOKERY IN WEST CORK

Busy-bee chef ANTHONY O’TOOLE explains how he’s getting together with the legendary SALLY BARNES to host a Producer x Chef event series in West Cork over the next few months – with more events to be announced for 2025.  

Ain't I lucky to be able to say that Sally Barnes is a close friend of mine? We’ve been pals for many years, meeting in the early days of Theatre of Food at Electric Picnic. Worried about food security and climate change long before it became an essential topic on every government list, we’ve since travelled the world together as Slow Food activists, participating in different events and educating people and politicians on what is happening to our global food systems and ways to counteract it.

I learned about Sally before we became friends, through reading cookery books and my Culinary Arts degree course at DIT Cathal Brugha Street (now TU Dublin), as she is one of the key figures in Ireland's food renaissance of the last forty-plus years. Alongside other pioneering women in the Irish food community, like Myrtle and Darina Allen (Ballymaloe), Veronica Steele (Milleens Cheese), Jeffa Gill (Durrus Cheese), Iris Diebrok (Orla Cheese), Giana Ferguson (Gubbeen Cheese), Madeline McKeever (Brown Envelope Seeds) and Danette Milne (Danette's Feast), Sally has made it her business to ensure that Ireland's indigenous food culture is celebrated and experienced by locals, visitors, and international tourists.

From the moment we met, we got along so well, ranting about everything that’s wrong with the world of food. And for twelve years now, I've retreated to West Cork to Sally's a few times a year to help with smoking and packing fish, organise events, and soak up some fresh air. It’s a place where I get to switch off, think, and breathe. Anyone who has visited Sally's home knows what I mean. She is the essence of hospitality.

Among many things, Sally and I have been talking for some time about hosting an event series at her new fish-smoking school called The Keep (https://www.woodcocksmokery.com/). She designed this space a few years ago to exchange knowledge and traditional skills of wild food preservation. Sally is the only fish smoker left in Ireland who only smokes wild fish. Many chefs, producers, writers and other activists admire her determination to educate regulators on what is happening to our rivers and oceans, particularly why wild Atlantic salmon is becoming a rare treat. Anyone interested in learning more, can listen to a recent Podcast with Michael Kelly of GIY here (https://giy.ie/episode-7-sally-barnes-irelands-wild-salmon-warrior/)

After 44 years of working through the ups and downs of running a small artisanal business, Sally took a sabbatical early this year to write her first book. During this time, she told me she wanted to do more events and courses, educating people on what is happening to wild fish instead of returning to full-time production. Sourcing pristine wild fish is becoming harder for Sally, along with jumping through the many obstacles our food regulatory bodies put in front of small artisan producers.

Being stronger together, we invited other like-minded culinary creatives to use the space, deciding to organise an event series with some of our favourite chefs in Ireland and further afield alongside brilliant producers. Anyone we have asked said YES, so it is now all about finding the right time to host a magnificent event.

We are hosting a few special Sunday Lunches for the first round of the Series. A few weeks ago, we kicked off with Con McLoughlin and Karen Austin of the Lettercollum Kitchen Project (https://lettercollum.ie/) , with a Wild Salmon feast alongside delicious vegetables from their walled garden. Like Sally, Con and Karen are legends in West Cork, known for their cooking and celebrating their travels through their delicious ingredients.

Another event was with one of Ireland's most exciting young chefs, Aishling Moore of Goldie in Cork City (https://goldie.ie/), who cooked a delectable lunch with three of her team. What a lunch! We were treated to some of their famous snacks featuring Rossmore native oysters, alongside a beast of a Halibut from Ballycotton, potatoes from the Churchfield community trust gardens, and vegetables from Singing Frog in West Cork.

Next up is the Bean Queen Ali Honour (https://www.ali-honour.com/about) on Sunday, 22nd September, which promises to be an event to attend, with lots of organic vegetables, a few beans of course, and Sally's smoked fish. Ali is heavily involved with the United Nations' Chefs Manifesto community, working on the 'Beans is How' campaign, an ambitious campaign mobilised by the SDG2 Advocacy Hub to double the consumption of beans by 2028.

Tickets for the Sunday lunch are €100, which includes a welcome drink and snacks before a three-course lunch. See www.woodcocksmokery.com for booking details.

More dates will be announced for the rest of the year, with chefs like Caitlin Ruth and Mark Jennings with something special for the Christmas period. I will also cook a feast myself, featuring produce from my Fat Tomato horticulture project (https://www.anthonyotoole.com/edible-garden) Sally and I are also working on a three-day West Cork retreat, bringing in some other food and drink experts and storytellers, details to be revealed very soon.

Keep an eye out on Instagram @WoodcockSmokery and @AnthonyOToole_