During the live coverage of the State Visit of the British royals in May 2011, the Burren Smokehouse and our smoked salmon were mentioned when the correspondent listed the Irish produce that was to be served at the State Dinner.
The whole evening of the State Dinner was televised live on RTE, our national TV station. While the correspondents waited for the cavalcade to appear in front of Dublin Castle, they talked about the food that was being served. They got as far as “Burren Smoked Salmon” and the second starter, when the first cars came into view and they excitedly dropped the subject.
The State Dinner took place on the 18th May 2011 at St. Patrick’s Hall in Dublin Castle which was filled to capacity with the 172 attending guests. The main guests were Queen Elizabeth II, her late husband, Prince Philip, and the then English Prime Minister David Cameron. They were joined by then President of Ireland, Mary McAleese and her husband.
This was the first official visit of an English king or queen in the Republic of Ireland in a hundred years. It is an immensely important and welcomed step in the healing process between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.
Birgitta herself delivered the smoked salmon to the chefs in Dublin who had the honour to cook for the dinner during the State Visit.
Garrett Duff (on left) from With Taste, Dublin, and Ross Lewis (on right) from Chapter One, the award-winning restaurant in Dublin, were the wizards on duty.
Bord Bía did a great job providing Irish top-class produce from about 15 counties for this dinner which highlighted the importance and the high level of quality of Ireland as a food producing country.
Birgitta: “It’s an absolute delight and outstanding compliment to have been selected to provide the smoked fish that was served at this pivotal state event.
This was the menu for what was probably the most memorable state dinner to ever be held in this country – to be selected to provide our Burren smoked salmon delicacies for Her Majesty brings amazing kudos and underlines our brand as being one of the country’s most esteemed and celebrated artisan food products.”
This is the first starter on the menu:
Cured salmon with Burren smoked salmon cream and lemon balm jelly, horseradish and wild watercress, Kilkenny organic cold pressed rapeseed oil […]