Brussels tastes flavour of Sligo
“IT was an opportunity that does not come around and it was great to get it, we grabbed the chance with both hands and were very excited.”
The words of Sligo chef Gary Stafford who was invited by MEP Marian Harkin to cater for the Volunteering/Sligo Cultural Exhibition in the European Parliament in Brussels.
So what exactly did that involve? The stipulation was simple - most if not all of the ingredients had to be sourced in Sligo.
I caught up with Gary following the banquet he served up to up to 200 invited guests at the Sligo exhibition. He was positively beaming. As he entered the room guests gave him and his fellow chef Francois Boshoff from Lyons Cafe a rapturous round of applause.
Gary said: “There was a strong emphasis on Sligo food as the ingredients were sourced locally. We prepared the food at the weekend and shipped it over. We got access to the kitchen this afternoon (last Tuesday) at 3pm. Fifty percent of the work was done in Sligo. We cooked the lamb in Sligo, pulled it off the bone and vacuum packed it. We sourced our meat in Clarke’s Butchers and the venison in Coopers Hill. We used white hag brewery stout for the lamb and Knocknarea Honey for the beetroot salad.”
And the Sligo spread certainly got the thumbs up. In fact, a parliament employee assured me that generally speaking the food at functions here does not keep the crowd. No one left this one until the desserts were well and truly served up.