EURO-TOQUES IRELAND FOOD AWARDS 2025 - HONOURING IRELAND'S KITCHEN TABLE

Ashford Castle Estate made a wonderful setting for this year's Euro-Toques Ireland Food Awards a heartfelt celebration of Ireland's food producers and craftspeople. Founded in 1986 by Myrtle Allen and a small group of likeminded commissioners, Euro-Toques Ireland, as long championed local food integrity, craftsmanship, and community-led gastronomy. The 2025 Awards continued this mission with the theme: "Honouring Ireland's Kitchen Table", paying tribute to a place where for generations food meets tradition, memory and storytelling.

Held on Monday 26th May 2025, the event brought together chefs, producers, and advocates of Irish food culture to honour the people behind the country's most exceptional ingredients. Seven awards were presented across the categories of Water, Land, Farm, Dairy, Artisan Produce, and Traditional Craft.

The 2025 Awards winners are:

WATER: Dingle Sea Salt 

For producing Ireland's first solar-evaporated sea salt using a fully off-grid, low-carbon process. Their product, harvested from the Atlantic, reflects innovation, sustainability, and a strong sense of place.

LAND: Coole Farm 

For cultivating vibrant, organic salad leaves with care and intention. Their regenerative approach restores soil health, supports biodiversity, and strengthens their local community food system.

FARM: Moy Hill Farm 

For their ethical, regenerative egg production and their holistic approach to farming that nourishes both land and people. Through education, CSA boxes, and on-farm transparency, they foster a resilient, community-rooted food culture.

DAIRY (Cultured Butter): Salt Rock Dairy 

For handcrafting cultured butter using milk from their own herd and Wexford sea salt. Their work revives traditional butter-making and redefines local dairy with transparency, flavour, and integrity.

DAIRY (Soft Cheese): Ballylisk – The Triple Rose 

For their rich, triple cream cheese made from a single pedigree herd in Armagh. Their commitment to artisan craftsmanship and traceability results in a luxurious product with depth and distinction.

ARTISAN PRODUCE: Wild Irish Foragers

For preserving Ireland's edible wild heritage through handcrafted syrups, shrubs, and jellies made from foraged botanicals. Their deep connection to the land and traditional methods keeps forgotten flavours alive.

TRADITIONAL CRAFT/SKILL: Seagull Bakery 

For championing real bread made from Irish-grown grains and bold fermentation. Their Waterford bakery supports local farmers and reimagines traditional baking with creativity, skill, and sustainability.

"The Irish kitchen table is a symbol of trust, care, and resilience," said Aishling Moore  of Goldie in Cork, Head of the Euro-Toques Food Council. "It is where we learn the fundamentals of food – not just how to cook, but how to value what we eat and who we share it with." Conor Halpenny of Square Dundalk, Chair of Euro-Toques Ireland, added: "We are honouring those who have kept Irish food grounded – producers and craftspeople who quietly shape our national identity through their work every single day."

 This year's Euro-Toques Ireland Food Awards once again underline a deep, collective commitment to sustainable, small-scale, and traditional food production across Ireland. Each award category reflects a fundamental element of the Irish food story – from ocean-harvested salt and nutrient-rich seaweeds to soil-nurturing salad leaves, pasture-raised eggs, and hand-churned butter. The 2025 awards particularly celebrate: producers who channel the purity of Ireland's marine environment into seasonings that elevate flavour while protecting biodiversity; salad growers who regenerate land and community through hyper-local, small-scale farming; free-range egg farmers who build food systems rooted in animal welfare, microbial life, and old-fashioned trust; and butter and cheese makers whose deep respect for the land and traditional methods results in products that express a strong sense of place. They honour foragers and preservers of Ireland's wild larder, who transform hedgerow bounty into syrups, jellies and shrubs with heritage recipes, and independent bakers who revive real bread craft with Irish-grown grains and time-honoured techniques. Together, these producers are shaping a resilient, flavour-rich future for Irish food – one built on care, creativity, and connection to the land.

Following the awards, guests gathered for a celebratory lunch that brought together over 100 chefs, producers, and Euro-Toques members. The meal was accompanied by a beautifully curated Harvest Table, showcasing the exceptional work of more than 30 Irish producers, including this year's winners and nominees. Designed by the Euro-Toques Food Council, the table offered a visual and tasting journey through Ireland's seasonal bounty. Lunch was prepared by celebrated chefs Liam Finnegan and Jonathan Keane, whose menus captured the essence of the Irish kitchen – honest, rooted in place, and led by the finest local ingredients.

Attending Euro-Toques Ireland Food Awards at Ashford Castle Estate 26th MAY 2025, L to R: Jonathan Keane, Executive Head Chef, Lodge at Ashford Castle; Gregory Brossard, GM Ashford Castle; Niall Rochford MD, Ashford Castle Estate.

Images of winners courtesy of Lorraine Teevan https://lorraineteevan.com/
Further information & media queries:
Manuela Spinelli
Euro-Toques Ireland Head of Community
manuela@euro-toques.ie | office@euro-toques.ie | 086-0485802
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