Episodios
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This week on Dyed Green, we speak to Shane Neary, the co-owner of NearyNógs Stoneground Chocolate in the Mourne Mountains outside Newry, County Down. NearyNógs was the first bean-to-bar chocolate factory in the north of Ireland when the Neary family opened in 2011. Originally a passion project created to help pay the medical bills of Shane and Dorothy’s daughter, the high demand for the Nearys’ incredible chocolate caused a career pivot and changed their lives forever.
Today, the Nearys run their solar-powered chocolate factory with about ten employees, and ship around the world. On this episode, we talk to Shane about his commitment to sourcing ethically and paying farmers a living wage; tasting notes & terroir in chocolate; and the difference between craft chocolate makers & “melters.”
Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katemccabe.substack.com -
After a bit of a break, Dyed Green is back with a conversation with Paula McIntyre, a chef, writer, and broadcaster and the director of Slow Food Northern Ireland, based in Portstewart in County Derry. Paula’s passion for cooking began at the age of 8, when she visited an Italian deli in Edinburgh, where she had a formative experience with parmesan cheese and Parma ham. As luck would have it, Kate met Paula at a market in Rome while crying and eating pizza.
Chef Paula McIntyre thinks chefs waste too much time trying to make something fancy that would taste better if it were more simply prepared: “You're not going to end up with anything in three hours that you wouldn't have ended up with in two minutes.” On today’s episode, we discuss Paula’s enduring love affair with turnip tops and Red Cow parmesan, attending culinary school in the United States, and following the food journey of Ulster Scots immigrants along the Appalachian trail.
Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katemccabe.substack.com -
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Rose Greene began her culinary career on a rapidly ascending yet predictable trajectory—a four year culinary arts course followed by many years working in Michelin starred kitchens around the world—before realizing that the nightly slog just wasn’t for her. The never-ending long hours, shady sourcing of produce, and restaurants whose models rely on unpaid labor made her rethink her approach to food and a life in the industry. Then she met her partner Margaux, discovered the wonders of fermentation, and decided to slow down and move forward on her own terms. Together they started 4 Hands Food Studio and haven't looked back.
We spoke with Rose about the importance of a work/life balance; food as nourishment; building her own home; and growing a business that fits your life instead of the other way around.
Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.
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Ireland, like many places around the world, is in the grips of a housing crisis. Many young people are living with their parents far into adulthood and being told that home ownership may not be within their financial reach. What if there was an alternative to meeting the salary requirements for a bank loan and incurring a huge debt to pay for a mortgage? Our guest on this week’s show, Harrison Gardner, may just have some ideas for you. Harrison is the author of Build Your Own: Use what you have to create what you need, and a co-founder of the Clare-based Common Knowledge, a social enterprise focused on teaching people the skills they need to build sustainable housing from the ground up.
On this episode, we speak with Harrison about empowering people to use tools for the first time; the importance of making mistakes; the integral role of food in community projects; and how joy, hope, & possibility are key ingredients in any and all efforts to build toward our common future. Tune in for this truly inspiring and motivational conversation and be prepared to want to put on a hard hat when it’s done!
Photo courtesy of Erin McClure.
Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.
Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katemccabe.substack.com -
While Ireland’s rolling green hills are lovely to look at, they reflect a country whose landscape has been dramatically changed over many years. You may not even know that Ireland is the most deforested country in Europe. But what is Ireland’s “natural” landscape, and what does that even mean? For this week’s show, we spoke with Matt Smith, the manager of Hometree, a dynamic organization based in Ennistymon, County Clare, dedicated to planting more native trees into the Irish landscape. Hometree is not your average reforestation program, however! Built on a solid foundation of environmental science, they eschew carbon credit schemes, and their work incorporates community involvement, education & outreach—and even a healthy dose of Irish culture.
In this conversation with Matt, we discuss the need for speed in our cultural shift towards thoughtful tree-planting schemes; the concept of rewilding as applied to the landscape; how Hometree has grown from a community garden project to the force of nature it is today; and the role that hope can play in the face of the unfolding climate crisis.
Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.
Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katemccabe.substack.com -
Having too much or too little salt can make or break a dish, and as chefs know all too well, even the variety of salt used can dramatically impact flavors. Salt is a seasoning that we consume every day and is necessary for life, but how much do we know about its contemporary production? Although typically associated with warmer climates, Dingle Sea Salt co-founders Tom Leach & Moe McKeown have created a small batch Irish sea salt that not only rivals their Mediterranean competition, but is made in the most environmentally sound way possible.
For our first episode of 2024, we speak with Tom & Moe about their love of surfing and its relationship to salt production; how it’s possible to use solar evaporation to make salt in an Irish climate; and why it’s important to grow their business thoughtfully, with intention and care for the natural world.
Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.
Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katemccabe.substack.com -
As the impact of the climate crisis unfolds all around us, the reality of what’s at stake changes our relationships with each other and the natural world. More and more of us are finding ourselves drawn to reconnect with the land and to build community—to “rewild,” in a sense. But what does it mean to live a wilder life? Is it even attainable or realistic for most of the globe, especially if you live in a densely populated urban area?
Our guest on today’s show is Lucy O’Hagan, a teacher, forest school leader, wildlife tracker, bushcraft instructor, and the founder of Wild Awake Ireland. Through Wild Awake, Lucy guides people through rites of passage, teaches ancestral skills, and helps people to distill what it means to rewild on a personal and practical level, regardless of where you live.
On this episode, we speak with Lucy about the Wild Biome project and what it’s like to eat exclusively wild, foraged food for three months; honoring age transitions through nature-based, participatory rituals outside of traditional religious practice; using ancestral skills to understand the role of power and privilege in our modern day lives; and the importance of collaboration and building community in our efforts to reconnect and reengage.
Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.
Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katemccabe.substack.com -
Social media has been abuzz these past few weeks as the world tries to come to terms with the abundance of creative talent bursting forth from Ireland, from literary greats like Paul Lynch, whose Prophet Song just won the Booker, to actors like Cillian Murphy, Paul Mescal, and Barry Keoghan, who continue to dominate the silver screen. As the pundits continue to pontificate, we’re here to tell you that Ireland’s verdant climate, political history, and nourishment of the arts creates the conditions where bards can grow in every corner of society.
Case in point: Our guest this week is a poet who might not even know it: Pat Whelan, of James Whelan Butchers, is a man whose passion for farming, the craft of butchery, and using the whole animal has led him to become Ireland’s foremost butcher, and the co-author of the best-selling Irish Beef Book, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.
On this week’s episode, we speak with Pat about growing up on a family farm and being inspired by his hard-working parents; how important the role of a local butcher is to connecting stewardship for the land to our tables; how the food industry should take lessons from the wine world with regard to cherishing and promoting meat; and much, much more.
Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.
Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katemccabe.substack.com -
Katie Holten is an Irish artist and activist based in New York City whose work is inspired by the relationship between humans and the natural world. She’s spent the last several years working on a tree alphabet to translate the world in a way that might connect us more intimately with nature, where each letter corresponds with an indigenous tree species (there’s even a downloadable font). Earlier this year, Holten published a gorgeous book called "The Language of Trees: A Rewilding of Literature and Landscape." The book, which includes contributions from people like Winona LaDuke, Camille Dungy, and Ross Gay, is both an offering, a conversation, and a call to action.
On this week’s episode, we speak with Katie about the ways in which people can rebuild their connection with the land, repairing our broken language through nature and story, the Rights of Nature, the process of creating the language of trees, and the importance of art as a tool for social and political action.Photo courtesy of Katie Holten.
Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.
Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katemccabe.substack.com -
Chef Paul Cunningham, based in Dundrum, County Down, walks the walk like no chef we’ve ever met before. The owner of “slow food fast food” Scopers in Dundrum Village and the upscale pop-up Mourne Larder, Cunningham sources all of his food from within a 15 mile radius and never sets foot in a grocery store. His business model puts his ethos into practice in a way we’ve never seen, and he’s successfully bridging the gap between consumers and thoughtfully grown, regenerative food at affordable price points—all while shining a spotlight on the Mournes where he was raised and creating insanely delicious, Michelin quality cuisine.
We spoke to Paul about what ethical sourcing looks like in practice; making local, sustainable food approachable & affordable food for the average diner; how chefs have a responsibility to be stewards of the land; secret dining; and the limits of growth for a successful business.
Photo courtesy of Paul Cunningham.
Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.
Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katemccabe.substack.com -
A special broadcast of Autumn and Adrienne Maree Brown's interview with Claire Davey, an apothecarist, distiller, and spiritual leader from County Galway: We found Claire Davey on the summer solstice and bring her to you this Samhain week. Claire shares sacred Celtic Cosmology teachings about moving into the sacred delicious darkness of this phase of our (northern hemisphere) year.
Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.
Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast.
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Victory Nwabu-Ekeoma is the founding editor of Bia! Zine, a magazine that celebrates the voices, food, and stories of immigrant communities in Ireland. Unlike most other food-related publications, Bia! doesn’t concern itself with the hottest new chefs or trends in food and restaurants. Rather, the zine is a place to highlight and share the stories behind food—ones which emphasize how immigrants live their identity, cultural heritage, and celebrate in their new homes through the medium of food. Even the title is multicultural, reflecting the zine’s community-oriented focus: the word bia in Irish means “food”; in Igbo, bia means “come”.
On this week’s episode, we talk to Victory about how food stories can highlight the immigrant experience beyond the “lunchbox” cliché; the limitations of using food as a way to bring people together; whether defining “Irish food” is a useful practice; and how young people are using food as a way to express pride in themselves and where they come from.
Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.
Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katemccabe.substack.com -
Garry Hughes is the chef at The Shelbourne, one of Dublins’ finest and also oldest hotels, celebrating their 200th year in 2024. While the phrase hotel restaurant doesn’t always conjure excitement, the Shelbourne under Gary’s leadership has developed a culinary program that is exciting, creative, locally sourced, and most important—delicious.
On this week’s episode, we speak with Garry about the importance of work/life balance and the power of an eclair to change someone’s life. We also talk to Gary about his own personal and professional journey and what it takes to run an operation as sprawling as The Shelbourne. The number of scones they bake every day will shock you!
Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.
Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katemccabe.substack.com -
Passing through Ballycastle, a charming seaside town on the Causeway Coast in Ireland’s northeast corner, one wouldn’t necessarily expect to find a world-class bakery serving sourdough breads and creative, beautiful pastries. But after spending time learning and traveling abroad, this is exactly what Ciara O’hArtlaighle and her husband, Dara, created when they opened Ursa Minor. Not only does Ursa Minor have fantastic breads and pastries, but it’s also a cafe, serving a really important role as a gathering space around food in a small town without many options. Inspired by sourdough and their travels around the world—New Zealand in particular—they returned home, started baking, and haven’t stopped since.
We spoke to Ciara about bringing sourdough to Ballycastle; the importance of community cafés; the difference between the food culture in the north versus the south; sourcing Irish flour and grains; and what it’s like to be a mother and small business owner.
Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.
Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katemccabe.substack.com -
Niall Sabongi fell in love with seafood as a child living on the east coast of Ireland, where his father would bring him to the beach to find cockles and mussels to eat for dinner. Today, Niall is at the forefront of the conversation around Irish seafood. As a chef, he founded fish-centric favorite spots like Klaw, Saltwater Grocery, and most recently, The Seafood Cafe. While the stereotypical Irish ocean-based meal might be fish and chips or chowder, at Niall's restaurants, the incredibly wide range of Irish seafood is on display. Everything from oysters to crab to day boat scallops, as well as less common preparations like ceviche and cod collar, is prepared with expert attention and respect for the product.
Niall also founded Sustainable Seafood Ireland, a wholesaler focusing on wild-caught Irish seafood. SSI supplies his restaurants and others, making sure that the freshest fish from Ireland’s coasts gets on the plate at some of Ireland's best restaurants. During the pandemic, SSI pivoted and made their products available to individuals rather than restaurants, which helped increase general awareness of the truly incredible bounty of Irish wild seafood (something that historically has not been so widespread as it is today).
We spoke to Niall about what drove him to focus on seafood, his evolution from chef to entrepreneur, why it’s important to directly support independent, small boat fishermen, the seasonality of fish, and using oysters for water reclamation projects.
Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katemccabe.substack.com -
We often talk about how Irish food is not just Guinness and potatoes…and yet! A real Irish culinary experience would not be complete without a pint of the good stuff and some delicious spuds! Eunice Power is exactly what her name implies—a powerhouse as a chef and small business owner. In addition to being the director of the West Waterford Festival of Food, Eunice is a caterer and the owner of And Chips, a gourmet takeaway featuring fresh, sustainable food and—you guessed it—chips!
On today’s episode, we talk to Eunice about the quest to find the perfect potato for the best chip and the many varietals available in Ireland, responsible sourcing at reasonable prices, what it’s like to be a female entrepreneur with a family, and how life only gets better after the age of 50.
Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.
Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast.
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Our guest this week is Kevin Burke of Library Street, a newcomer on the Dublin restaurant scene that was recently named Best Newcomer at the Irish Restaurant Awards. Kevin spent some time working at the two Michelin-star Patrick Guillbaud early in his career before heading to London where he lived and worked for 8 years before returning home to Ireland.
We talk to Kevin about the inspiration behind Library Street, his time in London, and when he knew it was time to come home. We also chat about what goes into making a restaurant that will last, and relatedly, how important (and difficult) it is to keep staff happy. And, Max introduces the concept of the Bog & Thunder EGOT. Tune in to find out more!
Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.
Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katemccabe.substack.com -
When you walk in the doors of Pota Café in the Connemara Gaeltacht there’s a buzz in the air. Pota’s atmosphere is filled with community spirit and the sweet scent of freshly baked bread, while the melody of people conversing in Irish fills the air. It’s this community spirit, as well as their prolific use of local produce and seafood, that led the cafe to win the award for best café in the country from Food & Wine Ireland this year.
Opened by chef Diarmuid Ó Mathúna in 2021, Pota is a bilingual daytime café and community hub located just over half an hour outside of Galway city on Ireland’s west coast. Irish is the primary language spoken at Pota, so it plays an important role as a cultural and educational resource for the local community. Diarmuid, who trained as a chef at Ballymaloe Cookery School, has a plethora of producers to choose from in Connemara’s burgeoning artisanal scene. From crab that’s fresh off the day boat to greens picked just across the street, it’s a locavore’s dream.
On this week’s episode, we speak with Diarmuid about the secrets of the Connemara soil, how restaurants can give back to local producers, and the importance of Irish language spaces for building community.
Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katemccabe.substack.com -
Have you ever wondered how much blood sausage a person can eat in one sitting? If so, you’ve come to the right place. Artie Clifford and Fallon Moore are the founders of Blas na hÉireann, the Irish Food Awards. Blas, which means ‘taste’ in Irish, was born in Dingle in 2007, and has organized an annual celebration of the best in Irish food and drink every year since. With some help from University College Cork, they’ve developed a blind tasting process that’s become the international standard in food competitions.
The work of Blas na hÉireann goes well beyond an annual judging competition. They’re champions of local food networks; a networking organization for producers, and a source of invaluable feedback for food startups. They also run a mentorship and educational training program for small businesses.
On this week’s episode, we speak with Artie and Fallon about how the food landscape is changing in Ireland; new trends in Irish food & drink; the rebirth of boxty and the renewed interest in traditional foods; and find out whether their judges ever get sick of eating blood sausage.
Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katemccabe.substack.com -
Is there anything Kwanghi Chan can’t do?! The Dublin-based chef and cookbook author owns two restaurants, a food truck, a retail sauce company, and regularly appears on TV. Born in Hong Kong, Kwanghi moved to Donegal when he was eight and grew up cooking in his uncle’s Chinese takeaway. As an adult, he chose a culinary education over art school and went on to work in a number of Michelin-starred restaurants before going out on his own. Kwanghi’s first book, Wok, came out last year and is the first Irish-Chinese cookbook to be published in Ireland.
We’re so excited to have Kwanghi Chan help us to kick off the second season of Dyed Green. On this episode, we speak with Kwanghi about his career trajectory, what Chinese food in Ireland is like, white people cooking Asian food, and the future of the food industry in the face of all of today’s challenges.
Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.
Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast.
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