Limerick, Riverfeast The Chefs Challenge

www.riverfeast.ieThe Irish Barbecue Associations annual Complete Cuisine World of Food is now in its fifth year and this one has to be best ever I have been to. This year the weather obliged with temperatures reaching 25 degrees and even more in the BBQ area of Howleys Key in Limerick with the backdrop of the historic St.Mary's Cathedral and the majestic River Shannon .Last year I failed miserably to capture the occasion on video with the inclement weather and ended up constantly wiping the drops of rain from the lens, (a nightmare for a video/camera enthusiast).The sun duly obliged this time.This event is fast becoming a must go to event on the social calendar for Limerick and the Mid West Region. Since it's inception five years ago founded by Pat O Sullivan Chairman of the Irish BBQ Association it has grown in status. It is now acknowledged as the worlds largest international BBQ Competition.The winners for Saturday included the Limerick Filipino Community for the Salmon and hygiene category, Limerick City Fire Brigade in the Chicken, lamb category winner was The Thai Gourmet Chef representing Thailand, and Jonathan Philips from the Limerick Institute of Technology won the award for the best sauce. The Congo team won first place in the chicken .Transylvania won the first place award for best costume and the Congo for the happy home. The buzz and the excitement for Saturday was incredible the different musical sounds from the African Conga Drums, The Brazilian Samba sounds and accompanying dancers , to the English Team accompanied with their IPOD and speakers playing the sounds of the Kinks "Waterloo Sunset". To witness the different culinary skills was a joy to behold; tips were picked up along the way to use at home. BBQ is now on the up and up in almost every household now in Ireland something that was non existent a decade ago, the evidence of this can be seen from all the BBQ units for sale in the different retail outlets.Sunday's event was the chef's challenge and this is a serious competition with some of the leading chefs involved so much so that the Michelin Star Chefs participated. The sight of a full pig on spit barbecued caught my eye on the day so much so that I could resist to sample and was not let down. The taste was exquisite, it had been cooking since 6 am that morning,The Swiss team surrounded with their display of fresh lavender in pots was eye catching .It was busy busy with each team giving their all to try and win the coveted weekend prize. Some of the displays I saw were brilliant tough call on the judges to decide the winners. Patrick Punches Hotel/ Edward Blackwell won the fish prize category, The Azur Café and Kenneth Stembridge the 2nd in the Chicken and 3Rd in the Pork Ribs, Tom Flavin for the Hilton Hotel won the best Fish Dish. The Polish team showed their delight in dancing raising their large Red and White flag in celebration ,the team from the Congo danced with delight all the way to the stage and on it also on winning, from the home of Barbecuing the USA was well represented on the winning podium ,the star spangled banner could be seen on the top of the caps of the team from Texas making their victorious walk to the stein the fish category the Tennessee chefs were victorious .One of the organisers of the World Famous Jack Daniels Lynchburg Invitational BBQ in Tennessee has offered to bring over 40 teams from all over the world to Limerick next year to raise the bar and make it even bigger. Roll on next year I say.Andrze Walus from the saxaphone and accordion sounds and the humour he created over the BBQ weekend.

Channel: Travel & Events
Uploaded: May 11, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Author: tippryan

Length: 09:04
Rating: 5.00
Views: 762

Tags: 2008  alternative  bbq  blues  classical  country  electronic  folk  hip-hop  indie  ireland  jazz  limerick  munster  music  poland  pop  r&b  rap  religious  riverfeast  riverfest  rock  soul  world  

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