Beautiful Belly of Pork lunch at Bord Bia Irish Foodies Meet-up

Nearly two weeks ago,  a bevvy of food bloggers were brought together by the lovely Donal Skehan and Bord Bia for a day of food-blogging talks, food styling, some veggie miso pasta and a whole lotta pork.

Not only was it a chance for us foodies to meet face to face, but it was a chance for Bord Bia to tell us a little more about their Quality Assurance Campaign, with an emphasis on how we bloggers could help promote Irish Pork.

Some other wonderful bloggers have great pics and details of the event itself, check them out.

The week before the event, the non-veggies and pork-friendly among us were sent out an incredible rack of pork from a farm in Limerick that holds the Quality Assurance Mark.

This gift of pork has brought me even closer to an idea that I’ve been toying with for the last month or so, with regard to the meat that I eat.

Meat has always been a guilty pleasure of mine.  There’s a rather large part of me that wants to become vegetarian, for ethical reasons mainly.  But I can’t bring myself to give up meat.  And there’s only one reason/justification for this stubborness.  It is this: I selfishly love the taste of meat.

Soooo…how can I come to a compromise?

With thanks in part to Bord Bia, I’m going to make a very conscious effort to only buy, cook and eat meat wherein I know the origins and can have  confidence in the quality of the life of the animal.

I’ve also decided to only buy Irish meat, as I feel this is not only economically sound but has a hugely positive impact environmentally.  In our house, we probably eat meat once, maybe twice a week, and I’m going to commit to this decision by spending those extra few pennies to get a really good cut of meat, the source of  which is easily traceable.

The Bord Bia Quality Assurance Mark doesn’t mean the meat is organic, but it does tell us where the meat comes from, as well as insuring a certain standard of production.  Have a look at the Bord Bia website to learn more about what the mark actually stands for.

And I won’t have to feel guilty about eating the cute animals anymore!  Yay!

But, seriously.  Irish meat is flipping gorgeous.  I cooked the Rack of Pork for my parents and a family friend a few weeks back.  It was, without a doubt, the best cut of pork I’ve ever tasted EVER.  Anywhere.  It was incredible.  And I’m not even that great of a cook.

I used this  Herb-Crusted Rack of Pork recipe and it worked a treat.  With a 2kg rack, we had a few chops leftover, which I reheated (and over-cooked) the following night.

Get to the butcher and find yourself a Rack of Irish of Pork.  You’ll never look back.

Categories: Dinner