Trish Deseine is a household name to Irish foodies, but for anyone requiring an introduction, Trish, born in Belfast, is a bestselling author in France and has presented two TV programmes for RTÉ, Trish’s Mediterranean Kitchen and Trish’s Paris Kitchen. So imagine our surprise and delight when Trish got in touch with us to say she’d been following the #inishfood hype on Twitter and was trying to make it over from Paris to Donegal for the weekend.

Unfortunately, in the end it didn’t work out, but she sent this heartfelt note to Donal Doherty at Harrys Restaurant, which he read out at the start of the day. We’d like to share her words with all of you.

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A big bonjour from Paris to all you lucky food lovers. Forgive the ranting tone but I’ve had about 4 espressos already.

I’ve watched this event grow and grow over the past few weeks infected by the drive and enthusiasm of Donal, Caroline, Kristin and Imen and, terribly homesick, would so very much have liked to join you all.

Trends and movements are the fodder of my work, my books, my recipes for ELLE and the work I do for my partners and sponsors.

It struck me, when looking at the programme here, how on trend, in worldwide terms, were the activities and themes of the festival. All over the world localism, sustainability, foraging, better pizza and coffee making, home buttermaking, pork curing are going on, relayed and explained through the most up-to-date publications, intellectualised by the world’s most influential food, political and economical writers. Read by a mostly urbane, middle class elite.

I’m not criticising this, it is part of the reality of evolving public opinion, but from where I sit in Paris, food capital of the world – and I mean ALL food, from the most humble markets to the 3 star restaurants – it seemed to me that at Inishfood, these are a natural reality, not just elitist whims or experiments.

The uniqueness of all this happening naturally in Ireland’s countryside, in its fabulous terroir, is plain to see and very, very exciting.

For the Irish terroir, population and rural way of life mean that these activities and attitudes can be embraced so easily and so quickly. That their relevance and use to people NOT like us – ie not obsessing 24/7 about food and restaurants! – can be easily understood and put into practice in a country where economically also, they immediately find their value.

I guess what I wanted to say most, and perhaps this does not need repeating at all, is PLEASE believe in just how unique Ireland is, in terms of quality of food, produce and the people who make and sell it. In these areas we really can be proud and stand up there amongst the best in world.

However, we must do things our own way. I heard recently about how “Ireland was the new France”. This is seems to me to be the wrong road to take. I find it a little defensive and reductive.

We do not have to compare ourselves to anyone.

We need to identify clearly and simply and celebrate what it is that makes us *us*. Hang on to it fiercely and brand it confidently again, using existing avenues, of course; but also all the fantastic new technologies and global online networks now open to us.

Congrats to Donal, the Irish Food Bloggers Association and all involved in the planning of Inishfood. Have a fabulous, greedy time, you lucky people!

Much love
Trish

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