Chewing the Fat with GastroGays!

THE amazing produce which hails from our own Boyne valley region will feature in the brand new weekly podcast from Russell Alford and Patrick Hanlon, the duo behind GastroGays, which shines a light on the most fascinating, colourful and intriguing personalities in the food world (and beyond) that you need to know.

“Chew the Fat” which aired last Friday, featured three inspiring local women who are the faces, voices and backbone of their food producing businesses in the Boyne Valley region (Drummond House Garlic, Ballymakenny Farm, Listoke Distillery and Gin School).

“Just like all things GastroGays, the slant is unique, authentic and incredibly engaging, whilst the approach is a little more grown-up and journalistic, yet still light-hearted and fun,” explains Patrick, one half of the duo, who hails from the Hill of Rath, near Drogheda.

“Eschewing the confines and stuffiness of a studio, each episode will see us heading out into the field, simply armed with a microphone, a million questions and a voracious appetite to get to know fascinating people in food a little bit better.”

Well-known in the both the digital sphere and the food and travel industries, the pair have spent five years building an award-winning online brand from the seed of a single hashtag and Chew The Fat marks their first publishing offshoot, produced and presented by the pair.

“Although we love food from all over Ireland and the world, we are particularly passionate about produce from our own Boyne Valley region, and will feature many local artisan producers as much as we can,” explains Russell, who also lives in Drogheda.

“This region is becoming more and more noted for its incredible food and drinks producers. Every few months, we’re beaming with joy to discover a new product is on the shelves and has been produced only up the road from us, so we wanted to know more about some of the most fabulous produce that’s grown minutes from where we live.”

With Chew The Fat, each episode features a new angle, a new location and new interviewees. A peek into the first couple of episodes – the pair visit: Ballyvolane House in north Cork to peer into the production of one of Ireland’s premier gins, Bertha’s Revenge; Belfast, being led around town pointing out the best places to eat by Caroline Wilson, owner and operator of Taste and Tour NI; the Boyne Valley, in the series debut the pair visit three enterprising women who are the backbone of some of the Boyne Valley’s premier food producers – Marita Collier of Drummond House Garlic, Maria Flynn of Ballymakenny Farm and Blánaid O’Hare of Listoke Distillery.

Having cut their teeth in BBC Radio 1, RTÉ, ITV and PR respectively, producing and presenting a podcast always felt like a natural fit… though when the time was right. Chew The Fat pools together Patrick and Russell’s respective industry experience and skills paired with an unwavering desire to learn more. Having met so many fascinating people since beginning GastroGays in 2013, Chew The Fat takes a step further in sharing their stories.

Episodes are available on iTunes whilst all details and content are also available on GastroGays.com.