Food & Drink

Your local Slimming World Consultants in Enniscorthy Happy Christmas from your local Enniscorthy consultants providing you with a huge choice of sessions throughout the week.

Tuesdays @ 6.30pm The Salt n Pepper Pot Restaurant, Community Workshop Call Tony on 087 1785384 Wednesdays @ 9.30am, 11.00am, 5.30pm and 7.00pm Enniscorthy Rugby Club Call Trish on 087 3607615

Saturdays @ 9.00am and 10.30am The Salt n Pepper Pot Restaurant, Community Workshop Call Tony on 087 1785384

Enniscorthy’s Country Market

Enniscorthy’s Country Market is back up and running every Friday morning in the IFA Centre, Millpark Road, run by a dedicated group of local ladies.

The advice is to get there early (from 8.30am) for the best selection and freshest home baking, breads, scones, vegetables, flowers, eggs, etc.

Right: Some of the fine fare on offer at Enniscorthy Country Market. n

Coffee time at Toffee & Thyme

Enniscorthy’s popular Toffee & Thyme restaurant may no longer be visible on Enniscorthy’s Rafter Street, but it now has an impressive presence on the Old Dublin Road, next door to the NCT Centre, with loads of free parking, and open 6 days a week from 7.30am to 5pm. Enjoy a visit there soon! n

Alba –new contact number –same great service!

Owner-Chef Angelo – ready to take your call on 089-2649417

Alba Restaurant in Enniscorthy can now be contacted on 089-2649417 for queries, bookings and take-away orders. The ideal venue for Christmas nights out. www.albarestaurant.ie

Wild about ‘Wild About’

In a year like no other, Blas na hÉireann recently announced their award winners for 2021, with 18 winners from County Wexford, including the Blas na hÉireann Supreme Champion 2021, Wild About for their So Sloe Jelly. Wild About is a multi award-winning Irish artisan producer and local food hero. Working from their small sustainable permaculture farm in Co. Wexford, they grow and forage a range of produce to create deliciously low carbon, low sugar, sustainable, handmade artisan dressings, syrups, chutneys and snacks directly from seasonal harvests.

The Falconer family created Wild About products through a huge lifestyle change — they swapped living in London and careers in product design and documentary film-making for the good life in the Wexford countryside. Fiona was originally from Dublin and Malcolm grew up on a smallholding in South Wales, and now with their family they specialise in handcrafting seasonal products using native wild ingredients, Ireland’s own superfoods. Home to Ireland’s first commercial nettle farm, along with a traditional vegetable garden and polytunnel, Wild About’s products are also based on foraged wild foods like sloes, haws, rosehips, crab apples, wild pears, quince and an array of other exceptional seasonal ingredients. Their Blas na hÉireann 2021 Supreme Champion win is for their So Sloe Jelly, where wild sloe berries from the native Blackthorn are made into a gorgeous seasonal fruit jelly conserve with a hint of star anise, perfect with duck, game and venison and delicious with soft cheese or even just on hot buttered toast.

“We are absolutely dumbfounded to be awarded Supreme Champion at the Blas na hÉireann Irish Food Awards,” says Fiona Falconer of Wild About. “We are a tiny, family-run company that believes passionately in the benefits of simple, sustainable plant-based foods. We grow ingredients for our products, ethically and sustainably on our biodiversity farm here in Co. Wexford. We work seasonally so the range changes with the harvests and we specialise in native wild ingredients. Malcolm makes everything by hand in small batches – pure artisan. But it's just the two of us, we are tiny!” n

Pictured above is Fiona Falconer (centre) from Wild About who won Supreme Champion, Best in Leinster, Best in Wexford, gold and bronze at this year’s Blas na hÉireann – the Irish Food Awards 2021 (the food equivalent of the Oscars!) Also in the photo are Paula Ronan (CEO Wexford Food Family, left) and Sara Doran (Wexford Food Family, right). Photo: Mary Browne.

Enniscorthy chef Justin wins gold

Congrats to Enniscorthy chef Justin Moorehouse who was awarded a Chef Ireland 2021 gold medal in the Vegan Class at the RDS last month at the Chef Ireland 2021 Culinary Competitions.

Killowen wins again

Courtnacuddy-based Killowen Farm has just won gold for its multi-award-winning Killowen Farm Natural Cream Cheese at the Irish Quality Food Awards. All Killowen products use milk from its own family farm and special herd of cows. So if you’re in your local shop and you don’t see Killowen stocked, ask the manager to check out their range of locally produced products. n

Hot meals for additional schools

Five schools in Co. Wexford were added to the Hot Meals Programme last month, benefiting 1,624 students, according to local TD Paul Kehoe.

Deputy Kehoe has welcomed the move for the five schools which are currently availing of the cold lunch option under the School Meals Programme. The schools are: Clonroche N.S. St Senan’s National School, Enniscorthy Scoil Náisiúnta Bhantiarna Lourdes, Bunclody Convent of Mercy, Wexford Scoil Réalt na Mara, Kilmore

Welcoming the announcement, Deputy Kehoe stated: “Receiving a hot meal in the middle of the day is so important for nutrition but also for a child’s mental and physical wellbeing. It also leads to better educational outcomes and an improvement in the overall wellbeing of our children. I am continuing to work with my colleagues in Government to push for further progress in the coming months that will result in future expansions of this really important programme.” n

Wexford Libraries release Healthy Eating video

10 Tips for Healthy Eating with Leona Courtney. Click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQpdM5m8biw

Leona Courtney is a Registered Dietitian from Co. Monaghan. She originally obtained a first-class honours degree in BSc. Human Nutrition from University of Ulster, Coleraine, in 2013. She qualified as a dietitian from Glasgow Caledonian University with a master’s degree. Leona’s range of clinical experience includes; weight management, diabetes and endocrinology, heart disease, IBS and coeliac disease. This event is now online and is in conjunction with 'Healthy Ireland at your Library'. #HealthyIreland #HealthyIrelandAtYourLibrary n

Taste Wexford’s new online shop

Taste Wexford recently launched their brand-new online shop just in time for the gifting season. The shop features a wide range of products including food and drink hampers, Christmas gifting bundles and all-new exclusive Taste Wexford merchandise and apparel.

The Taste Wexford gift boxes bestow a sense of place and give a gift of cheerful joy any time of the year – particularly at Christmas. They are available in a range of sizes, each packed in a reusable rustic burnt finish wooden crate to symbolise the rich agricultural significance of County Wexford.

Filled with flavours from Wexford’s diverse landscapes and some wooden craft and pottery, each item has been carefully selected to represent many of the food, drink and craft experiences you can visit in Wexford.

The food hampers feature many of County Wexford's award-winning producers, so the lucky recipient is sure to cherish the delicious offering in each box. Choose from The After Dinner Box, The Cracker Box, The Sweet & Sticky Box or The Sweet & Craft Box. The Taste Wexford gifting bundles make the ideal Christmas gift. It wouldn't be Christmas without socks and chocolate, making the Christmas Bundle the ultimate stocking filler. Prefer cheese over chocolate? The Cheesy Bundle has everything you need to create the tastiest cheese board to enjoy after a festive feast.

An all-new collection of Taste Wexford branded merchandise is also now available on the online shop just in time for Christmas. The merchandise is of the highest quality and because one of Taste Wexford's founding principles is a focus on sustainability, all items are made sustainably so they don't cost the earth. All items feature the Taste Wexford illustrations that represent Wexford's food story. Browse the range of merchandise including stationery, kitchen equipment and apparel.

Sign up to the Taste Wexford mailing list to receive 10% OFF your first order! You'll also be the first to hear about new products, upcoming events and news from Wexford's vibrant food and drink industry. FREE nationwide delivery is available on all orders over €100.

Visit www.TasteWexford.ie to view/order items and learn more about County Wexford's food story. n

Left: Taste Wexford Christmas Bundle.