Taste of Dublin is back with a bang, and starting from tomorrow you'll be introduced to some of the best and highest quality food in town.
Taking place in Iveagh Gardens from Thursday, June 13 until Sunday, June 16 (AKA Father's Day, bring him back some goodies); It's a three day immersion in Dublin's nourishing and delicious tastes.
Organisers are describing this year's event as celebrating "the chefs that are taking culinary risks, fusing Irish and international cuisine and creating revolutionary Irish menus". Yes please.
What are we most excited for, you ask? Without a doubt it's got to be foodie Anna Barnett's collaboration with Ketel One Botanical vodka.
Anna is the London-based author of Eat the Week and The Reluctant Vegetarian, and also does stylist work because she's just that cool.
Obsessed with all things tasty, Anna is delighted to be working with Ketel One Botanical this year at Taste of Dublin.
Ketel One is a family-made vodka brand which makes the spirit with no artificial flavours and distilled with botanicals and infused with natural fruit essences.
Anna currently writes for The Evening Standard in her spare time, when she's not running her own website. How does she find the time?
Thankfully, she's curated a stunning menu of canapés to complement Ketel One's three different Botanical Spritz flavours; Grapefruit & Rose, Cucumber & Mint and Peach & Orange Blossom.
We've chosen three of our favourite recipes for you to gorge over, but why not join the other 32,000 people expected to attend the Taste of Dublin over the four days?
1. Peach and marmalade galettes with whipped lemon cream
Works best with: Ketel One Botanical Peach & Orange Blossom Spritz
Cooking time: 12 – 15 minutes
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Feeds: 6-8
Ingredients: Pre-rolled shortcrust pastry cut into 5cm rounds, one whisked egg, 3 sprigs of oregano with leaves picked and roughly chopped, sprinkle of sea salt flakes, 3 tbsp of marmalade jam, one tin of peaches in syrup cut into thin segments.
Lemon cream: 200ml of double cream, whipped until thick, zest of one lemon, one heaped tbsp of icing sugar.
Instructions: Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. For the pastry, lightly flour a work surface or roll out pastry onto parchment paper. Scatter over chopped or whole oregano leaves and gently roll into the pastry. Turn the pastry over so oregano leaves are on outside and roll into rounds.
Spoon one-quarter of a teaspoon of marmalade onto middle of each round, add finely sliced peaches on top, and turn up the edges. Transfer onto baking tray, gently brush with eggwash and place in oven for 12-15 mins.
Allow to cool on rack. Pipe or spoon the lemon cream onto the tarts after whipping the cream and folding in the icing sugar and zest.
2. Bruschetta with grapefruit, charred red peppers, garlic and mint
Best served with: Ketel One Botanical Grapefruit & Rose Spritz
Preparation time: 15 – 20 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Resting time: 15 minutes
Feeds: 6 – 8
Ingredients: One French style loaf thinly sliced diagonally, two cloves of garlic to rub bread with, three red peppers, two grapefruits with skins removed and cut into segments, two cloves of garlic finely diced, generous sprinkle of sea salt flakes, one tsp of freshly ground black pepper, four sprigs of mint, generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Instructions: Begin by prepping the peppers. Place them directly over a gas flame, charred until the skin turns black and blistered. Turn the peppers until they're entirely black, then transfer to a bowl and cover for 20 minutes before peeling off the charred skins. Next, finely slice the peppers by removing any pith. Be sure to retain their juices as this is packed with flavour and can be used by drizzle.
For the bruschetta, heat a griddle pan until almost smoking then in batches char your slices of bread on both sides until you can get those great, dark stripes. You can also grill or toast the bread if you don't have a griddle pan. Cut the garlic cloves in half and rub into the charred breads.
Prep all remaining ingredients. Combine with the red peppers then arrange the bruschettas on your platters, just before serving spoons the mixture generously onto the breads and finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil or the juice retained from red peppers.
3. Irish salmon toasts with lovage mayonnaise and mint and pea shoot topping
Best served with: Ketel One Botanical Cucumber & Mint
Preparation time: 15 – 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 5 – 10 minutes
Feeds: 6- 8
Ingredients: Irish soda bread, 200-300g good quality smoked salmon, drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, zest of half a lemon, ground black pepper, 3-4 tbsp cress/pea shoots/radish tops to garnish
Lovage mayonnaise: 150g mayonnaise, 5-6 sprigs of lovage, several turns of black pepper, one-quarter tsp lemon zest, extra virgin olive oil
Instructions: Heat a griddle pan until almost smoking, then char your slices of bread on both sides until you get great, dark stripes.
For the lovage mayonnaise, combine the leaves, mayonnaise, seasoning and zest and blitz until combined. Cut salmon into even stripes.
To serve simply add a generous dollop of lovage mayonnaise to the charred bread, add on the smoked salmon and finish with drizzle of oil, a pinch of cress and lemon zest.
Anyone who attends the masterclasses in Ketel One Kitchen at Taste of Dublin will sample Anna's gorgeous canapés on Thursday and Friday, and meet the woman herself.
Anna will co-host the cocktail masterclasses with world class bartenders while offering tips to her guests.
Anna commented:
"I hope that everyone is as excited about tasting the canapé pairings as I was about making them and that they’re inspired to create them over the summer, when they’re entertaining at home."
Tickets for the Taste of Dublin are priced from €15, on sale online now.
Feature image: Instagram/@tastedublin
