Sally Ferns Barnes, an artisan fish smoker based in West Cork who works exclusively with wild fish, is the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the Irish Food Writers’ Guild (IFWG). The Guild’s 2022 Food Awards are being presented in Dublin on Tuesday, to food and drink producers, retailers, and environmental and community activists.
Ferns Barnes, who has been smoking wild fish for more than 40 years, previously won a supreme championship at the Guild of Fine Food’s Great Taste awards for Britain and Ireland, taking the title in 2006 for her smoked wild Irish salmon. She also conducts masterclasses in curing and smoking wild fish at her base near Castletownshend, and is a collaborator with the Slow Food University of Gastronomy in Piedmont.
Food awards for outstanding produce are being awarded to Eoin Cluskey’s Dublin bakery, Bread 41; to the Calvey family’s Achill Mount Lamb in Co Mayo, and to Teresa Roche for Alpine-style Coolfin cheese, made on her family’s farm in east Galway. The drink award goes to another Galway product, All About Kombucha, made by Emmett Kerrigan and Keith Loftus, who first discovered the fermented sparkling tea while working in Vancouver on completion of their business degrees at NUIG. Since starting the business in 2017, they now have three premises in Galway.
Galway fishmonger Stefan Griesbach is the recipient of an award for making a notable contribution to Irish food. His Gannet Fishmongers has grown from supplying restaurants and chefs, to embrace market stalls, a retail shop and online sales with nationwide delivery, through his website eatmorefish.ie.
The environmental award is being presented to Carina and Alex Conyngham for their endeavours at Rock Farm in Slane, where they combine organic farming and eco-tourism. Dexter cattle, Tamworth cross pigs and Bronze turkeys graze the pasture and a variety of vegetables are grown under the stewardship of farm manager Lucho Diez, while visitors stay in a variety of eco-glamping yurts, tents and huts.
Our Table, winner of the Community Food award is a community-based social enterprise that uses food to initiate conversation and highlight the realities for those living in Direct Provision. Its founders, cafe owner and food writer Michelle Darmody and former asylum seeker Ellie Kisyombe, met while volunteering for the Irish Refugee Council.
The IFWG awards have been running since 1993, and are judged by members of the Guild, who purchase the products anonymously. The winning products must be produced in Ireland and the main ingredient must be Irish grown or produced. The awards are sponsored by Bord Bia.
“Many of our 2022 winners are traditional products, but with a twist. From fishmonger to baker, cheese maker to the Galway duo who have played with the traditional Irish love of tea, innovative producers are putting their own stamp on things, creating something unique and something quite delicious,” said Caroline Hennessy, chairwoman of the IFWG.
Winners of the 2022 Irish Food Writers’ Guild Food Awards:
Food Award: Bread 41, Dublin
Food Award: Calvey's Achill Mountain Lamb, Mayo
Food Award: Coolfin cheese, Galway
Irish Drink Award: All About Kombucha, Galway
Notable contribution to Irish Food Award: Stefan Griesbach of Gannet Fishmongers, Galway]
Environmental Award: Rock Farm Slane, Meath
Community Food Award: Our Table, Dublin
Lifetime Achievement Award: Sally Ferns Barnes, Cork
