BrookLodge & Macreddin Village ZeroKM - One Night, One Dinner
Manor House Hotels are proud to inform you about an exciting event brought to you by BrookLodge & Macreddin Village. The ZeroKM Dinner takes place on Thursday 5th October. BrookLodge are doing a lottery system for the dinner for 100 lucky guests and some farmers and friends which will be announced in the coming weeks. See the end of the page for details on how to sign up.
The growing public desire for more knowledge as to the provenance of the food they consume has been answered by many restaurants worldwide with innovative concepts such as Fifty Mile Foods or Ten Mile Meals.
However, there have always been niggling questions about these Food Stories. Questions such as; did the milk really come directly from a farm within a ten mile radius, what about the flour for the bread, where did the oil or vinegar used in the kitchen come from, even the wine served at the dinner; was that grown, pressed and fermented within ten miles?
This got us thinking here in Macreddin Village, would it be possible to actually produce a totally complete Dinner here from within a ten mile radius and we agreed that we thought we could.
And then while we were discussing all the ingredients required for such a Dinner, we realised that with a little help from our producer and farmer friends we could actually rear, grow and harvest all the produce and ingredients required for one Dinner on one Night within less than one Kilometre from Macreddin Village…the world’s first ZER0KM Dinner!
So what exactly is required to produce a ZER0KM Dinner? Well we have done our homework and here is the recipe:
- 20 Months of Preparation
- 6 months of ZER0KM Farming
- 12 Months of ZER0KM Harvesting
- 2.5 ZER0KM Acres of Land
- 1 ZER0KM Local Dairy Farmer
- 1 ZER0KM Local Sheep Farmer
- 2 Small Abattoirs
- 10 Farmers to assist with ZER0KM
- 1 Dedicated ZER0KM Macreddin Kitchen Brigade
- 1 Full Commitment to ZER0KM by All Macreddin Crew
Never being shy with a challenge…the concept of producing the World’s first ZER0KM Dinner was first introduced and discussed here in Macreddin last February 2016 and is now fully underway here in Macreddin since last August.
When we visit a supermarket, we all take for granted that the kilo of flour will be there, the litre of oil will be there and the lamb and all our dairy requirements will be there. Not for one moment do we consider the amount of land or labour that goes into producing this food for us. The overriding concern currently is how cheap can we purchase these foods and by our purchases we are telling these multi-national supermarkets to squeeze more out of the farmers and producers that provide us with the food that we require. Such practice possibly waters down the significance and the importance that our ancestors placed on the foods that we eat. ZER0KM sets out to remind all of us as to the value and the preciousness of the food that we purchase, consume and indeed waste every day.
Every day in through our Kitchen doors here in Macreddin we receive foods directly from our Farmers and Producers. It is of vital importance for us that we have a direct relationship with the producers of the food that we serve at the table, not just because we like having a coffee with them but also because we continually find out from them what is coming and going throughout the seasons and our menus are totally based on this knowledge. These friendships are strong and go back decades.
It is this innate knowledge of the land that will prove paramount to the success of the ZER0KM project. So for the first time ever we are asking twelve of our Farmers and Producers, to come here to Macreddin through the year to assist and advise us towards achieving the best harvest for this unique ZER0KM Dinner. These friends are:
David Llewellyn's - fruit farm and vineyard in Lusk, County Dublin. David grows a range of fruits and grapevines. He produces a selection of premium ciders, juices and vinegars and of course wine from his vineyard.
Rod and Julie Calder-Potts - Highbank Organic Farm is in County Kilkenny. Rod and Julie run their own micro distillery and their orchard farm provides exceptional ciders and apple syrup.
Silke Cropp - Corleggy Cheeses County Cavan have been making award winning Irish Artisan Farmhouse cheeses, handmade from wholly natural ingredients; in the traditional time-honoured way, since 1985. Denis Healy's - farm in Kiltegan County Wicklow was one of the first liscenced Organic Farms in Ireland and Denis has been supplying discerning Kitchens and Markets with Organic fresh fruit, herbs and vegetable produce ever since.
Dan Whelehan - is a second generation organic farmer and runs Garden County Organics out of Redcross County Wicklow. Whilst Dan trained under the tuition of our good friend Richard Mee, he was also fully converting a derelict nursery in Redcross to the exacting standards that he requires for his Organic Licence.
Mary Regan- Regan’s Organic Farm is just outside of Enniscorthy in County Wexford. Their business is also unique in that they still operate their own small poultry abattoir.
Pat Lalor's - organic Farm is in Ballard in County Westmeath. Pat’s understanding of grain farming is phenomenal with his award winning single farm Kilbeggan Porridge Oatlets. These are not just a requirement here in Macreddin, but now also decorate the shelves in Macey’s New York and Harrods in London.
The Farrelly Brothers - are award winning butchers based in Delgany, County Wicklow who also operate their own abattoir. Founded in 1958 by Anthony Farrelly Snr. and run today by his sons Anthony Jnr. and Padraig.
Freda Wolfe - is founder of Wild Irish Foods and since 2014 she is on a mission to produce wild, natural and indigenous Irish foods. Whilst we previously dabbled with beehives, it is only with Freda learning the complex process of bee keeping that we now share seven working hives here in Macreddin Village.
Michael Stapleton's - farm is just up the road and being right beside us within the ZER0KM parameters is a perfect example of how we all network here as neighbours in Macreddin. Michael is a sheep farmer and engages in best practice with his flock.
Kitty Colchester - is a second generation organic farmer in Drumeen in County Kilkenny. When Ben converted the farm, it became one of the first licenced organic farms in Ireland. His daughter Kitty has also secured the Colchester name for the table with her award winning Irish Organic extra virgin rapeseed oil which she grows, cold presses and bottles.
Liam Fanning's farm is just down the road and being right beside us within the ZER0KM parameters and once again is a perfect example of how we all network here as neighbours in Macreddin. Liam is a dairy farmer and engages in best practice with his medium sized dairy herd.
There is a full appreciation from all, that the ZER0KM Project is indeed in the lap of the Gods…there will be weather influences, but more importantly because all the ingredients need to arrive at the exact same time into the Kitchens here in Macreddin for this one ZER0KM Dinner for one Night, there will be a total dependence on the ZER0KM Harvest!