The music line-up for this year’s Electric Picnic is epic (especially with the recent addition of legend Bonnie Tyler) but the selection of food is a very close second when it comes to our priorities for the weekend.
The festival today confirmed that a host of celebrity and Michelin-star chefs will create stunning dishes in their wellies, with TV favourite Neven Maguire showcasing the best of ‘modern Irish’ cooking and award-winning Sunil Ghai demonstrating ‘Indian’ as you’ve never seen it before.
Outlier JP McMahon of Aniar will demo the perfect home-cooked fish and chips, while street food pioneer Kevin Pyke of Pyke’n’Pomme’s food truck will bring the nomadic dining experience to life.
TV chefs Paul Flynn, Martin Shanahan and best-selling cookery author and photographer Lilly Higgins will also be on-hand to offer some pro tips, while in the spirit of the Mindfield’s 2014 theme Africa, A Rising Continent, Kevin Thornton will give a demo on the foods of the Lalibela region in North Ethiopia.
The demo will include injera bread from that region and a recipe from the Hamar Tribe of the Omo Valley in Southern Ethiopia, using ingredients that have been brought to Ireland especially for the demo at Electric Picnic. Thornton will also present a very special exhibition of his stunning photography from his journey in Ethiopia.
This year, Theatre of Food will also host groundbreaking cocktail demos, with champion mixologists Darren Geraghty and Oisín Davis showing blends including artisanal distilling and foraged mixers. Top showbiz mixologist Alan Kavanagh will reveal the fascinating history and heritage of Bacardi, with guests getting the chance to taste the aromatic cocktails produced by Paul Lambert from Kinara Kitchen.
Alan Kavanagh will also present delicious creations at the first Music is the Food of Love show. On Saturday evening, food writer and former Hot Press journalist, John McKenna will talk music with food industry legends Paul Flynn (The Tannery), Kevin Thornton (Thornton’s), Declan Maxwell (Chapter One), Joe Macken (Jo’Burger et al) and Hot Press editor Niall Stokes, all set to the best sounds of the 60s, 70s, 80s and now.
All weekend, the tent will be staging Theatre of Food Tastes, treating the audience to delicious tastings of exciting foods almost every hour. The Theatre of Food Kitchen will be orchestrated by award-winning chef Caitlin Ruth from Deasy’s Harbour Bar in West Cork, and the audience will hear from the innovative producers, chefs and bakers behind the tastings, such as cocktails with Newgrange Gold, a ‘Taste of Nepal ’from Lina Gautam of Monty’s of Kathmandu, delectable cakes from Eunice Power, frozen delights from Chilly Moo and African curry from Michael Quinn.
In addition, there will be a number of side shows, which will include a full Ethiopian coffee ceremony, the icing of a magnificent wedding cake by Diva Boutique Bakery and ice cream beers in a very alternative afternoon tea.
The return of the Electric Picnic Food Awards will see picnickers invited to tweet a photograph of their favourite meal at the Picnic and the winning food photograph will be judged during a special food photography talk.
Theatre of Food will host a series of debates and talks, including a quiz The Missing Ingredient hosted by Ross-Golden Bannon and some very special guests, including singer Brian Kennedy and style icon Sonya Lennon. A Manifesto for Irish Food will be debated by Galway’s ground-breaking chef Jess Murphy, whose Kai Restaurant is one of the hottest tickets in the West.
Electric Picnic takes place in Stradbally from August 29th to 31th. Tickets are now sold out but but if you’ve already got yours, full information is available from www.electricpicnic.ie.
