The Irish descended on Barcelona yesterday for the launch of chef JP McMahon’s Food On The Edge 2018, the two day food symposium which has taken place in Galway for the past four years, and attracts food obsessives from around the world.
With talks given predominantly by chefs, and the audience mostly consisting of them too, this is one for the serious food geeks (*waves*) who want to debate, discuss and listen to deep and far-reaching conversations about our food systems, the current state of the planet, and the impact chefs can have on every aspect of the global food chain.
Also at the launch were fellow (and legendary) Spanish chefs Albert Adrià (of the el Barri group and brother of the infamous Ferran), Quique Dacosta (of three Michelin-starred Quique Dacosta in Dénia Alicante), and Eduard Xatruch (of two Michelin-starred Disfrutar in Barcelona). They each prepared a canapé that was served at the launch, including crispy seaweed envelopes, tarte of foie gras & corn, and dehydrated tomato slices filled with an unspeakably lovely cream filling.
The launch took place in Adria's Mexican restaurant Hoja Santa, and when asked why they chose to hold the launch of an Irish festival in another country, JP said that to get the Irish to take notice of anything you have to get out of Ireland. He also talked about how one of the key aims of the festival is to show off Irish produce to a global audience.
Food On The Edge has become internationally recognised over the past few years, attracting chefs from across the globe to give 15 minute talks. Previous speakers have included Massimo Bottura, Magnus Nilsson, Anna Ros, Elena Arzak and Albert Adriá, and this year's line up includes Enrique Olvera from Mexico's Pujol, Skye Gyngell from Spring in London, and Leonor Espinosa from Colombia's 'Leo', who was voted best female chef in Latin America last year. You can see the speakers confirmed so far here.
If you’re wondering if this is an event for you, ask yourself these questions: Do you get abnormally excited when a new season of Chef’s Table comes out? Do you plan holidays based on where you want to eat? Do you obsessively read All The Food because of your deeply felt desire to know the best places to eat? If the answer to these is yes, we advise taking time off work, road-tripping to Galway and spending two days completely geeking out around some of the biggest legends in food.
Early-bird tickets for Food On The Edge are on sale now for €300 (€250 for students) which includes all talks, lunch on both days and entry to the closing party on Tuesday night. You can get tickets here.
Food On The Edge
Mon 22nd & Tue 23rd October 2018
Bailey Allen Hall, National University Galway
