Grandmothers Day Competition

Pictures from the Good Friday event in The Kitchen Cafe and the winners on the night.

The three winners and one granny!

Its that time of year again and Slow Food Galway are delighted to be working with The Kitchen Cafe/Restaurant and The Galway Food Festival for this years Grandmother's Day.

We invite you to explore food with your Grandmother (Grandfather, Aunt , Uncle or Parent).We would like you to talk to your Grandmother about food ie. What she(he )liked to eat when she(he) was small, Any food stories she(he) has from your family, Any traditional recipes she(he) has that have been passed down in your family.We would like you to record any stories you share and cook one of her recipes on Grandmother’s Day and tell us why you chose that recipe.

This year we are picking the 10 best entries to come and show their project and their dish at The Kitchen Restaurant at the Museum on Good Friday 14th April the start of The Galway Food Festival weekend. The four best entries will talk about their story and recipe and the winner chosen at the end of the evening. We will taste and share all the dishes. Grannies welcome!
The winner and runner-up will win a cookery demo with one of Galway’s top chefs for themselves and their school class. All entrants will receive a Slow Food Galway certificate of entry.

Grandmother’s day is on –19/03/17

Closing date for competition – 29/03/17

Please present your entry on a page no bigger than A3. On your entry we would like to see your food story... a recipe and drawing or photograph of you making the recipe with your grandmother.You can present these items any way you like through word or picture, using any media you like.You can be as colourful as you like. Have fun!!
It is very important to put your name, age, address and school name on back of your entry.Competition open to children in 3rd and 4th class Primary school.

Please send entries to Kate O Dwyer ,Slow Food Galway, Ballycasey, Kilcoona, Headford Co Galway

or

Michelle Smyth, 24 Maunsells Park, Maunsells Rd ,Galway

Grandmother's Day 2016

Seven primary schools from Galway city and county took up the challenge and they loved the experience. In one school the teacher cooked up a butternut squash stew as an intro to the project. In other schools pupils, teachers and parents loved the conversations the subject brought up. Some of our schools have a very diverse pupil population so we got recipes from all over the globe.

All participants received a certificate of participation, every school had a winner with a prize of Slow Food Galway apron for child and grandparent.Both winning schools won a cookery demonstration at either "Loam”  www.loamgalway.com/or 

“Kai”  www.kaicaferestaurant.com

The winners were Leigha Farragher 3rd Class Tirellan NS Galway

and

Skye Kelly 3rd Class Carnaun NS Co Galway

This was so exciting for both schools. 3rd Class from Carnaun primary school in Athenry took a bus into “Loam” on a Monday morning in April.

Enda Mcevoy and his wife Sinead were so hospitable to the 26 pupils who were welcomed with open arms into a Michelin star resturant. Enda wowwed them with his demo of brown bread and baked beans, He also gave them a copy of the recipes. Pupils got a chance to take part in the demo and move around this great kitchen.

They watched attentively and asked lots of interesting questions of Enda. After the demo the pupils were invited to sit at a table and eat the spoils. Every one had a ball especially the prize winning pupil who had presented a lovely meatloaf recipe that her grandmother got from a friend whilst and immigrant in New York in the 70’s.
The following day a very excited group arrived in “Kai” from Tirellan primary school in the city. The prize winning pupil had written some lovely memories of her grandmother’s from her childhood on a small farm in Co Galway. They never wasted anything on the farm in those days – I think its called “Nose to Tail” nowadays. One of things this grandmother loved to do as a child was make butter so she and her granddaughter made butter and the little girl documented the experience through word and photo. On hearing the prize winners story Jess Murphy of Kai invited the class to a butter making demo with her own hand glass butter churn and some machine churning on the side. 

The pupils loved it and both Jess and Dave were very generous with their time and experience. The pupils were treated to a cracker with their butter on top, some local milk and a cookie for desert. Every one loved and learned a lot from the experience.

I truly value this project as I think there is learning and connection for child, parent, teacher, grandparent and chef.

Michelle Smyth Slow Food Galway member, project leader and teacher

More stories from teachers

Here in Carnaun N.S. we have been taking part in the Galway Slow Food Competition for the last seven years. It is always a much anticipated event in our school calendar as the children eagerly look forward to a chance to bake or cook with their grandmothers. The brief for the competition is quite simple; all the children need to do is chat to their grandparents/parents about cooking and create a dish together. This Grandmother’s Day project provokes thought and promotes discussion in the classroom from early January each year. We discuss how methods of food preparation have changed over the years. We investigate local and traditional recipes for dinners and desserts. This year we found treacle bread to be particularly popular with Grandparents in the Athenry area!! We compare and contrast how cooking methods have changed due to busy lifestyles now. Due to the fact that we are a country school with our own organic vegetable garden the children are well used to sowing and harvesting a wide variety of fruit and vegetables and have a natural interest in food. The children begin the projects by chatting to their grandmothers about what dishes were popular in their families when they were growing up and in particular any recipes that have been handed down through the generations. They agree on a particular dish to cook together on a given day. As the cooking is taking place the children write notes and take photographs in to assist them when writing up the projects. When all the projects are complete we display them in a prominent area in the school, which further prolongs the conversations among the children. This year we were very fortunate to have a prize winner in our school and all the boys and girls in the class were treated to an unforgettable cookery demonstration in the prestigious Loam restaurant in Galway. Without doubt, the Grandmother’s Day project is the most enjoyable competition we take part in throughout the school year. Deirdre Murphy teacher Carnaun NS




GRandmother's Day 2017