The sixth annual Galway Food Festival will take place over the Easter Bank Holiday Weekend from the 13–17 April 2017. This year’s festival theme will celebrate the relationship between ‘Food and the Community’ through an innovative food programme of over 100 events, focusing on Galway’s 21st Century cultural identity through food. One such event will see the Festival collaborate with Slow Food Galway to present the ‘Grandmother’s Day Competition’, which takes place on Good Friday during the Festival.
The event is a combination of Slow Food Galway’s annual ‘Grandmother’s Day’ competition and the’ Recipe Swap’ event, which was a big hit at last year’s Galway Food Festival. Grandmother’s Day was initiated by chef, Darina Allen to ensure traditional family recipes were preserved and passed down through the generations.
Slow Food Galway has continued this initiative as education is a key role of Slow Food and it has also become a popular event with teachers and the students who participate. The Competition is open to fourth and fifth class students who are being asked to have a conversation with, and explore food recipes with their grandmother (or grandfather, aunt, uncle, parent ) and ask them the following questions:
What they liked to eat when they were young
Historical family food stories they may have
Traditional recipes that have been passed down through family generations
Each student is asked to record a food story, cook one of the recipes shared with them and submit as part of the ‘Grandmother’s Day Competition’. Schoolchildren are asked to submit their project on A3 pages illustrating their particular food story, a family recipe, and a drawing or photograph of the children cooking the dish with their Grandmother or family member.
The project can be presented through a mixture of words, images and any other preferred media. Slow Food Galway will select the 10 best projects and chosen dishes, which will be showcased in The Kitchen Restaurant at Galway City Museum on Good Friday, April 14, as part of Galway Food Festival.
The four best entries will be selected to talk about their food stories and chosen recipes, while the winner and runner-up will win a cookery demonstration with one of Galway’s top chefs for their class. All dishes will be tasted and shared at the event.
One overall winner from every school who enters the competition will win a Slow Food Galway apron for their Grandmother or family member, and for themselves. All entrants will receive a Slow Food Galway certificate.
The closing date for the ‘Grandmother’s Day Competition’ is Wednesday, March 29. Entrants must write their name, age, address, class and school on the back of the project.
Post entries to Michelle Smyth, Claddagh Primary School, Claddagh, Galway or Kate O’ Dwyer, Ballycasey, Kilcoona, Headford, Co. Galway. For further information and news from Slow Food Galway visit: www.slowfoodgalway.com and for further details on Galway Food Festival visit: www.galwayfoodfestival.com
