Celebrating Local Excellence: Giant Taste of Causeway Coast and Glens

A Giant Taste of the Causeway Coast and Glens celebrates our multi award winning  food and drink and the amazing people – the producers, the hospitality and the experience providers, behind it. Our local produce is inspired by our iconic landscape  and our heritage and traditions going back centuries.

A Giant Taste of the Causeway Coast and Glens programme of events runs to the February 2023.   The varied programme includes food festivals, food tours, visits to food producers, distillers and coffee roasters, food tours,  participation in traditional skills, opportunities to forage and fish or just sit back and enjoy our local food and drink in traditional pubs, cafés and restaurants. 

Collaboration is at the heart of everything we do with producers, farmers, restaurants, distillers and accommodation businesses all working together to showcase our fresh, local food and drink.  Taste Causeway is part of the international Slow Food Movement and the only  recognised Slow Food Destination in Northern Ireland.  Taste Causeway member companies won a record breaking number of awards in this year’s Blas Na H’Eireann Irish Food. Awards and UK Great Taste Awards. Giant Taste programme celebrates the quality, innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship within our local food and drink industry.  

A Giant Taste of the Causeway Coast and Glens is sponsored by Tourism NI

These brand new Giant Taste experiences will add to add to our incredible range of food and drink experiences. 

For full details on all the Giant Taste events and experiences go to https://www.tastecauseway.com/gianttaste

Fidela Experience - A Columbian Lunch and Coffee Tasting Tour

Fidela Coffee Roasters, launched The Fidela Experience, in January 2023.  The Fidela Experience tells the story of founders Frank and Rachel from the remote  coffee growing farms in deepest Colombia to the stunning roastery and coffee shop on the North Coast.

Begin with a Latino light lunch, inspired by Frank's Colombian & Ecuadorian roots. After lunch, explore Fidela’s coffee making process and its journey from the farms in Columbia to your cup!  Learn about the people working on the farms and Fidela coffee is making a real difference to their lives. This is the story of coffee with a conscience. From farm to cup, their coffee is ethically sourced with 100% traceability.

Finish off the afternoon with a coffee tasting experience featuring Fidela’s highest quality roasts. Guided by Fidela’s highly trained baristas you will be introduced to  a range of  different tasting profiles, guaranteed to improve your knowledge and challenge your taste buds.

This experience is perfect if you’ve ever wondered where the coffee in your cup comes from!

https://www.tastecauseway.com/gianttaste

Portrush Tasty

Portrush Tasty is Causeway Coast Foodie Tours’ brand new tour for 2023.

This  is a guided walking food tour celebrating iconic local produce where fun is the dish of the day! Wendy will introduce you to the local people and flavours of the wonderful seaside town of Portrush.

This “Giant Taste” tour starts with an exclusive behind-the-scenes visit to Portrush's only craft brewery Lacada Brewery and a  private tasting of Lacada’s multi award winning range of pale ales and stouts. Then it on to the  Portrush Atlantic Hotel for a delicious main course showcasing local seasonal produce, followed by a mouth-watering desert from world famous Italian Morellis Ice Cream.  After dinner, it is off to Kiwis Brew Bar to finish your evening with some good old Norn Irish craic, music and a cool new cocktail featuring The Shore Born Gin from Dunluce Distillery.

There really is no better way to explore the heart of Portrush than through its local food and drink and the company of the locals behind it.

https://www.tastecauseway.com/gianttaste 

Traditional Sausage Making  and Home Curing Masterclass

Corndale Farm, near Limavady, has been producing multi-award winning charcuterie since ???  Founder Alastair Crown has launched two new experiences to share his vast knowledge of the traditional techniques and heritage of this age-old process.

The Corndale Sausage Making Class is a hands-on experience where you will learn some light butchery skills and more about where your meat comes from.  Alastair will introduce you the selection of meat cuts for sausages, the knife skills and equipment you will need to make your own sausages at home. He will help you select ingredients and sausage casings and teach you how to prepare the sausage mix and stuffing and linking. Tea, coffee on arrival and a light lunch will be provided and you will be able to take your handmade sausages home with you to enjoy for dinner later!

https://www.tastecauseway.com/gianttaste

The Corndale Charcuterie and Home Curing Masterclass

Spend the day at Corndale Farm and learn the art of meat curing and charcuterie.  Under Alastair’s expert tuition you will learn the fundamentals of charcuterie and meat curing.

Start the day with fresh coffee and a Corndale bacon sandwich.  Get hands on with some basic butchery and learn the intricate process of making bacon, salami, chorizo, coppa and pancetta.

Finish off the day with a tasting experience showcasing the Corndale’s handmade award winning charcuterie.

https://www.tastecauseway.com/gianttaste

Valentine’s Night at Drenagh

The Orangery at Drenagh Gardens in Limavady hosted an amazing four course Valentine’s Night Dinner on Tuesday 14^th February. 

The highlight of the event was the launch of a brand new gin cocktail made in collaboration with Dunluce Distillery. The “Drenagh Sloegasm” is made from sloe berries  from the Drenagh Gardens and The Shore Born Gin made in Portballintrae. Served on arrival by your dinner hosts as an aperitif before a romantic dinner menu featuring a choice of delicious starters, mains and desserts made from the freshest local produce. Finish off the evening with a selection of cheeses served with Drenagh’s very own garden pickle.

https://www.tastecauseway.com/gianttaste

A Taste of Castlerock

For the first time ever the artisan producers and chefs of Castlerock  have come  together to curate an exquisite dining experience, that will showcase the very finest local produce and culinary talent that hail from the picturesque village. Guests will , experience a feast of local dishes, and meet the artisan producer or chef who have prepared each dish using locally sourced ingredients.

Guests gather in Castlerock Golf Club Guests for cocktails on arrival, followed by a menu featuring canapes from Crusoes and Mussenden Sea Salt, Meatbox sliders and Chilli cheese fries, indulgent pie from Old School House Dinners, Costello’s fine dining seafood, locally made ice cream from Braemar Farm paired with cake from local artisan bakery Giggling Goose and chocolates and coffee from The Chocolate Manor and The Coffee Hut.

https://www.tastecauseway.com/gianttaste

Sweet North Winter

Anna Higham, renowned pastry chef and best-selling cookbook author collaborated with Ursa Minor Bakery in Ballycastle to curate an evening of sweet bakes using beautiful local produce.

Anna former Head Pastry Chef at Lyle’s and Executive Pastry Chef at the famous  River Café in London. Her beautiful book, The Last Bite, was published this year to huge critical acclaim and focuses on Anna's love for seasonal ingredients.

Anna  joined Ciara in the bakery for an exclusive evening savouring high end desserts full of interesting tastes and textures using local produce and foraged ingredients.

https://www.tastecauseway.com/gianttaste

 An Evening of Local Produce at The Fullerton Arms

The Fullerton Arms, in the scenic village of Ballintoy, hosted a wonderful Evening of Local Produce. Guests were welcomed with locally produced Shore Gin cocktails. The evening celebrated our fantastic local produce and suppliers with a delicious 5 course menu featuring lots of our Taste Causeway food and drink producers including Ballyeamon Eggs, Jam at the Doostep, Bushmills Whiskey, Lacada beer, Fullerton’s own classic moules mariniere.

https://www.tastecauseway.com/gianttaste

Check out the latest events around the Causeway Coast & Glens by clicking here.