Fáilte Ireland Presents the Flavours of Ireland’s Ancient East with Acclaimed Chef Catherine Fulvio

Ireland is known for its quality food produce which is exported worldwide.

The east coast in particular is awash with highly acclaimed food suppliers who are known for their ingredients and flavours.

Renowned for her many cookery TV series, her five cookbooks, and her very-own Ballyknocken House & Cookery School, Fáilte Ireland and In The Company of Huskies teamed up with Catherine Fulvio to create a recipe video series inspired by the east coast and its talented food producers.

Born and raised at Ballyknocken in the heart of County Wicklow, Catherine cherishes the land and its produce. She was tasked with going on a journey, where she met farmers, growers and producers. Using their foods, she created mouth-watering dishes which were captured on film for a very special Ireland’s Ancient East video series.

Along the way, she discovered some of the best experiences the region has to offer. She met some interesting characters behind the food. Ireland’s Ancient East is the land of storytellers, and these producers have a unique story to tell about their ingredients.

Some of suppliers included, Comeragh Mountain Lamb run by William Drohan who is currently farming in Comeragh, Co Waterford where he lives with his wife Bridget and young family. He is the sixth generation of his family to herd sheep in the Comeragh Mountains. From the age of ten, William had a passion for shepherding sheep. This interest was developed and nurtured by his family who passed on their tradition, skill and experience to him, that they in turn had learned from their ancestors. They supply mountain lamb fresh straight from dry aging, direct to restaurants and chefs.

Highbank Organic Farm is based in Kilkenny.  The first apple orchards were planted by the family, in 1969, to compliment the hop gardens. The fertile Kilkenny limestone soils are uniquely suited to produce delicious apples and apple juice organically. The varieties of apples are specially chosen for their juicing properties which are uniquely complex and full of health giving vitamins and minerals.

Catherine Fulvio and In The Company of Huskies worked with these suppliers and others* to create a short film showcasing the best ingredients the region has to offer which will feature online over the coming weeks.

In The Company of Huskies, a creative agency based in Dublin, created the recipe series. Huskies is a creative agency with deep digital DNA that creates compelling brand campaigns and communications for Ireland's top brands. They do this through a combination of art and science, creative and digital, or as they refer to it, magic & machines. This thinking lends itself to creating beautiful, captivating content for Fáilte Ireland.

Speaking about the video Daragh Anglim, Head of Marketing and Digital in Fáilte Ireland said; “Ireland’s Ancient East constantly inspires us through its amazing landscape and people. This video series is a celebration of what this landscape and people produce all year round. We are privileged to work on such a vibrant part of the country and we’re very proud of the creative content we made to showcase what Ireland’s Ancient East has to offer.”

Fáilte Ireland has identified a number of strategic objectives and priorities for Ireland’s Ancient East which are specific to using storytelling interpretation to create brilliant experiences and in turn to deliver economic benefits.

These objectives are to:

• Deliver engaging world class visitor experiences that make Ireland’s living and historical culture accessible through the use of authentic stories as a differentiator;

• Create and deliver unique visitor experiences based on “living” the history;

• Provide the visitor with interpretation in the first language of the target audience, i.e. in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian;

• Increase the length of time visitors spend in Ireland’s Ancient East and the amount of money they spend there;

• Encourage overseas visitors to stay beyond the traditional tourism season and to visit longer