On the 15th March, the Office of the Northern Ireland Executive in Brussels kicked off St Patrick’s weekend with the annual Ulster Fry for St Patrick’s Day. 150 guests enjoyed the quintessential taste of Northern Ireland, tucking into an Ulster Fry featuring products sourced by FoodNI.
This year we were pleased to be joined by Minister Andrew Muir, Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, as well as the Executive Office Junior Ministers, Pam Cameron and Aisling Reilly. ONIEB Director Aodhán Connolly opened the event and welcomed guests and Ministers to the breakfast, followed by a short address from each of the Ministers.
This year’s menu featured pork and beef sausages, as well as white and black pudding supplied by Lisburn-based Carnbrooke meats. This was served alongside the unique feature of an Ulster Fry; potato bread, soda bread and wheaten bread produced by Armagh-based Irwin’s bakery. This year’s bread was supplied by Stonemanor British shop outside Brussels, where you can find several of Irwin’s products for those looking for a taste of Northern Ireland in Belgium. The finishing touch to every Ulster Fry, this year featured balsamic tomato ketchup from Armagh-based Burren Balsamics. Guests also enjoyed apple juice from Armagh based Longmeadow Cider, as well as tea and coffee from Belfast’s finest Thompson’s tea and Baillie’s Coffee Roasters.
After clearing their plates, guests had a chance to network and left with gift bags sponsored by Invest Northern Ireland, including snoods and beanies from Bangor-based outdoors accessories brand TrueNorthLife.
This year’s Ulster Fry was a great success, and the ONIEB team once again thoroughly enjoyed sharing this Northern Irish culinary traditional with our Brussels friends to celebrate St Patrick’s Day, with special thanks to FoodNI and Stonemanor for sourcing the excellent Northern Irish produce that made it all possible!
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@Food_NI @carnbrookemeats @bailiescoffee @BurrenBalsamics @LongMeadowCider @PunjanaTea
@IrwinsBakery