Our first season of Beár Bia has been one hell of an adventure. We have recorded in 12 different locations across 6 counties. Along the way, we have showcased 24 different Irish food producers, 22 Irish drinks producers as well as 13 hospitality or retail businesses.

It's been extremely inspiring getting to know all the remarkable makers of some of Ireland's most beloved culinary offerings. Bringing them together and pairing them at the same table for each episode has not just been a great privilege but it's allowed us to shine a light on what a more complete experience of Irish cuisine can look like.

When we saw that our final two episodes would land in late December, we knew we had to go festive! So we called upon a few friends to see if they could share their favourite Irish Christmas and Irish New Year's Day meals and we would pair some Irish drinks with them. Each pairing falls into a different episode but they both feature the same guests and each episode was recorded in Row Wines on Coppinger Row in Dublin.

Our very special guests were social media star and musician Garron Noone and freelance content creator and food writer, Sian Conway.

Part 01 went a little something like this...

EPISODE 11 - THE PEPPERPOT CAFÉ CHRISTMAS SANDWICH PAIRED WITH THE "HOLY IRISH TRINITY" COCKTAIL

Garron Noone has amassed a colossal social media following that is into the millions. The proud Mayo man is an incredibly talented musician and songwriter but is also hugely loved for his skills as a comedian. His videos cover a multitude of Irish cultural topics - from mullets to Met Éireann!
But he will very often talk all about Irish food and has professed his love for Irish Christmas dinners and hatred of the effects of shrinkflation on Christmas sweets and snacks. So, we asked him if he would like to get stuck into one of the nation's finest Christmas sandwiches and he kindly obliged.

It was made by The Pepperpot Cafe in Dublin city's Powerscourt Centre and features their house-baked focaccia bread, Irish turkey & ham, chestnut stuffing, Brussel sprouts, cranberry sauce and mustard mayo.

We paired it with one of Oisin's cocktails, the Holy Irish Trinity - so-called as it features three Irish ingredients that go perfectly with each other, Irish whiskey, cider & elderflower. This particular one was mixed with 35 ml of Powers Irish Whiskey, 2 teaspoons of Richmount Elderflower Cordial and 120 ml of MacIvor's Dry Irish Cider. It is the kind of pairing that is very complimentary as the cocktail is light but spicy and enhances the richness of the sandwich.

Our second guest Sian Conway was on hand to share the wonderful Yuletide bounty, which also included the house Connemara oysters from Row Wines that are dressed in a chilli & ginger vinaigrette and for a sweet finish, some stunning mince pies courtesy of The Cupcake Bloke, Graham Herterich.

We really hope you enjoy this festive episode and thank you for listening throughout the year - wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Oisín and Dee

The county of Kildare is renowned the world over for its thriving equine industry but more recently, its food & drink producers have taken a bigger share of the spotlight. At the invitation of Kildare Local Enterprise Office, we were thrilled to pop down and check out a couple of leading lights from the county's ever-burgeoning culinary scene.

It is well documented that St Brigid of Kildare was quite the fan of beer so as a mark of respect to the great lady herself, we decided to focus on the current breweries in her home county especially as some of Ireland's best independent breweries are situated there!

So we recorded the episode in Farrington's Brewery in Rathcoffey where they also have a superb bar and restaurant with an adjoining event space. A brilliant, all-in-one business where they can even host a wedding overlooking the brewery area.

For our first pairing, their head chef Kuba Wlodarski took three different beers to make a dish with the local Feighcullen Farm free-range chicken. It was brined overnight in their IPA before he made a beer batter with their stout to deep fry the chicken in and served it alongside their Auger's Twist light lager as an excellent accompaniment. This was truly a symphony of flavours and such an exciting way to celebrate their in-house beers.

Head brewer Phil Bizzell was on hand to talk us through their portfolio and tell us more about their beer philosophy there.

Our second pairing came courtesy of another two excellent Kildare businesses. Bill Laukitis from Rye River Brewing Co in Celbridge joined us. He is their head brewer and shared details of his own personal work journey from the USA and the incredible accomplishments of the whole Rye River Brewing team, now made up of 65 employees.

Ryan Lally of Grá Pizza from Celbridge popped down with a pizza that the Michelin-starred chef JP McMahon of Aniar collaborated with him on. It's made with Garryhinch mushrooms, roasted potatoes from Ballymakenny, Toonsbridge mozzarella, smoked provola from Barbavilla dairy, Achill Island sea salt, brown bread crumb and buttermilk gel. This all-Irish piece of pizza perfection was paired with the rich, smoky Nocturne Stout from Rye River Brewing. The contrast and the intensity of flavours bounced off each other so well.

Kildare has such an incredible array of food & drink producers there now. You can read more about them here in this link.

To join the Flavours of Kildare Network, hit this link here.

The wonderful Smithwick's is one of Ireland's most iconic brands. It is deeply connected to its hometown of Kilkenny and is particularly well celebrated by the local hospitality community there. Kilkenny also boasts a highly active festival circuit so we wanted to tick a couple of boxes while down there. A fantastic trip was had where we hung out in The Smithwick's Experience to learn more about their beers, sampled some excellent food pairings and got the inside scoop for this week's hugely popular Kilkenomics Festival.

Upon arrival to The Smithwick's Experience we were given a tour by their beer expert Simon Walsh. After familiarizing ourselves with the incredible legacy of the Smithwick's family and their brewery that goes back to 1710, Simon opened up the podcast recording by sharing even more of his beer and history knowledge.

We were then joined by Kilkenomics Festival co-founder and Kilkenny native Naoise Nunn. He detailed not only what the very unique festival is all about but also gave us his recommendations for must see shows that are taking place across the city from November 7th to 10th.

If you're one of the thousands heading to the festival this week, we strongly suggest you pay a visit to The Smithwick's Experience and while you're in the city - enjoy some Smithwick's food pairings served up in two of Kilkenny's best bars & restaurants. We were lucky enough to taste them and they are superb!

The first pairing came courtesy of Paris, Texas - the wildly successful bar and smokehouse on 92 High St.

Their in house flavour fanatic and head mixologist, Chris Hennessy came along and brought with him some southeast pork ribs that were abundantly spiced and smoked in house for 8 hours with wood chips from Highbank Orchard just outside of Kilkenny. They were the perfect accompaniment to a cold glass of Smithwick's Pale Ale, cutting through the richness of the meat.

Our second pairing was focused on the classic Smithwick's Red Ale and was brought in by Emma Teesdale, head chef of Langton's Bar & Restaurant, a Kilkenny institution and a major hub for the Kilkenomics Festival. Her dish was locally reared feather blade beef that was not only marinated overnight in Smithwick's Red Ale but it is also slow cooked in it too. She served it with a Smitwick's Red Ale sauce, colcannon and root vegetables. Needless to say, sipping the same ale alongside it was tremendously exciting. It is a remarkable Kilkenny dish and hugely popular in Langton's.

The Smithwick's Experience runs tours 7 days a week and the Kilkenomics Festivalis on from Nov 7th to 10th. So now's the perfect time to visit Kilkenny for some festival action with some great beers & food.