Fáilte Ireland Hosts ‘Taste Of Place’ Training Programme

Fáilte Ireland held a two-day “Taste of Place” training programme at Cork Institute of Technology on Tuesday October 22 and Wednesday October 23 for chefs and cooks from Cork, Kerry, Tipperary, Wexford, Limerick, Waterford and Carlow.

Chef Gary O’Hanlon gave cookery demonstrations and insights to the group at the two day event.

Fáilte Ireland developed the “Taste of Place” programme to help chefs and culinary teams to leverage the growing trend of tourists seeking out locally sourced dishes and the stories behind them by providing stand out local and seasonal cuisine.

The programme armed chefs with insights into how food motivates the tourist, provided them with the latest tourism trends and culinary concepts, and underlined the business benefits of sourcing locally.

Chefs and cooks responsible for food preparation, presentation and menu development also saw a variety of dishes demonstrated first-hand using local ingredients.

Ensuring “Visitors To Ireland Enjoy A Real Taste Of Place”

Fáilte Ireland food tourism manager Tracey Coughlan stated, “This new programme has been developed by Fáilte Ireland to ensure that visitors to Ireland enjoy a real taste of place and to support the latest three-year food and drink initiative, ‘Taste the Island’, by equipping chefs across Ireland with the knowledge on the power and benefits of using local produce to deliver an unforgettable visitor experience.”

“Thrilled”

Meanwhile, O’Hanlon commented, “I was thrilled to help deliver Fáilte Ireland’s ‘Taste of Place’ programme, and I commend their vision and drive in promoting local produce through the ‘Taste the Island’ programme. It was a pleasure to work with other like-minded chefs and culinary teams to reinforce the message how using quality locally sourced food and beverage can benefit their business and the overall tourist experience.”