Clodagh McKenna, Guest Chef 2009
Chef and author Clodagh McKenna was our special guest chef at the 2009 Féile Bia na Mara. After the event she wrote the following message:
"Féile Bia Na Mara was such an inspiring festival, I was so happy to be part of it. I am not sure if it was the magical scenery or the freshly caught fish or indeed the warmth of the people from Achill Island that made it such a unforgetable weekend. The people running this festival thought of everything from talent competitions to island walks and of course fish cookery demonstrations and fish feasts, most definitely a weekend for every foodies calendar, my car was packed with fresh Achill shrimps when I left the island. I for one will be back in 2010!"
Clodagh can be seen enjoying the 2009 Féile Bia na Mara Gala Seafood Buffet in our gallery of photos.
About Clodagh McKenna:
Clodagh McKenna trained as a chef at Ballymaloe Cookery School and then went on to work as a chef in Ballymaloe House for 3 years. After an inspiring visit to the Midleton Market, Clodagh decided to leave the kitchen and set up her own stall at the local market. Soon after, Clodagh was developing other farmers markets around Ireland.
Currently, she has her own weekly column for the Irish Examiner and a monthly column for RSVP Magazine. In addition to her regular columns, Clodagh has also a written for the Irish Times, The Sunday Tribune, Aer Lingus Magazine, Delicious Magazine, Image Interiors and she is also the editor of the Slow Food Ireland Guide to Producers. Clodagh has appeared as a cook and promoter of local produce on RTE's, Out of The Blue; Rick Stein's Food Heroes, (BBC2); TV3's Ireland AM Show; RTE’s The Late Late Show, Saturday Cooks (ITV), Saturday Kitchen (BBC1), The Today Show (NBC in USA), RTE's The Afternoon Show and is a regular chef presenter for UKTV's Market Kitchen and BBC’s Food Poker. Her first book The Irish Farmers' Market Cookbook was published by Harper Collins in November 2006 and she has filmed a TV series to accompany the book which is titled Fresh from the Farmers Markets which debuted on RTE 1 in 2007. Part two of the series was broadcasted over the summer of 2008 and was also picked up by media outlets throughout Europe & New Zealand.
The third series, Fresh From the Sea, aired in June and July 2009 on RTE 1. Clodagh's second book, Fresh From the Sea, was released in May 2009 to coincide with her TV series.
