artisanal food

Having too much or too little salt can make or break a dish, and as chefs know all too well, even the variety of salt used can dramatically impact flavors. Salt is a seasoning that we consume every day and is necessary for life, but how much do we know about its contemporary production? Although typically associated with warmer climates, Dingle Sea Salt co-founders Tom Leach & Moe McKeown have created a small batch Irish sea salt that not only rivals their Mediterranean competition, but is made in the most environmentally sound way possible.

For our first episode of 2024, we speak with Tom & Moe about their love of surfing and its relationship to salt production; how it’s possible to use solar evaporation to make salt in an Irish climate; and why it’s important to grow their business thoughtfully, with intention and care for the natural world.

Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.

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David Harrison, co-founder of Seggiano, tells us how he came to start the company, and about the farmers and artisanal producers in Italy that he works with to produce the most outstanding range of pestos, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, honeys, and more.

The diversity of Irish whiskey today is in a new league compared to just 20 years ago when a few big brands dominated the market. One of the things that defines a modern Irish whiskey is the story behind it, and few have as compelling a story as Slane Irish Whiskey. Distilled on the grounds of Slane Castle—a site famous in part for hosting huge outdoor rock concerts since the 1980s—the brand uses water from the mythologically important River Boyne and homegrown grain, prioritizes measurable sustainability practices, and weaves the legacy of its rock-n-roll history into their finished products.

We are thrilled to be joined this week by Slane Irish Whiskey co-founder and global brand ambassador Alex Conyngham. We speak with Alex about growing up at Slane Castle, his family’s environmental legacy, and what it was like to build a competitive global brand in a competitive spirits marketplace. We also discuss what it means to be truly sustainable in the distilling world, as well as how artisan food and drink producers collaborate to support one another in the Boyne Valley.

Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.

Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast.

It’s an exciting time in the food world in Ireland, so it should come as no surprise that, like restaurant pop-ups and artisanal producers, the landscape is ripe for new approaches to food writing too. Enter Jane Gleeson and Guzzle magazine, a new publication focused on the intersection of art and food, poised to make a splash with its unique perspectives. 

On this episode of Dyed Green, we speak to Guzzle editor Jane Gleeson about her inspiration for starting the magazine, and how using food and art as a lens to discuss political and cultural issues in Ireland allows for more open, inclusive, and creative conversations. We also talk about childhood food nostalgia; how fruitcake is generally pretty terrible; and how, stereotypes aside, Guinness and potatoes are never not ridiculously delicious.

Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.

Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast.

Brian Smith and Jackie Cuscuna are the co-founders of the delicious, creative and playful ice cream company, Ample Hills. They both have past careers as teachers, Brian later went on to become a screenwriter and director before founding Ample Hills. Ample Hills are known for their chunky ice creams and wacky names but did you know they make every single ingredient from scratch? Brian gives us a basic guide on how to deconstruct a food and recreate it as ice cream and we get Ample Hill's opinion on the artisanal ice cream scene and where they draw their inspirations from.

On this week's episode of Eat Your Words, host Cathy Erway is joined by Los Angeles Magazine food critic Patric Kuh, author of the James Beard award-winning Last Days of Haute Cuisine, a history of the American restaurant business. The magazine’s chief restaurant critic since 2000, he was the recipient of the 2006 James Beard Foundation award for best magazine restaurant critic in America.

Kuh's latest book is titled Finding the Flavors We Lost: From Bread to Bourbon, How Artisans Reclaimed American Food, and profiles major figures in the so-called “artisanal” food movement.

This week on A Taste of the Past, host Linda Pelaccio is joined via phone by Patric Kuh, the multiple-James Beard Award–winning restaurant critic for Los Angeles Magazine and author of Finding the Flavors We Lost: From Bread to Bourbon, How Artisans Reclaimed American Food.

Industrialization and mass production stripped many foods of their original flavors, but there's been a growing movement over the past 50+ years to get back to those flavors and restore the natural goodness of our food. In Finding the Flavors We Lost, Kuh profiles major figures in the so-called “artisanal” food movement who brought exceptional taste back to food and inspired chefs and restaurateurs to redefine and rethink the way we eat.