Sr. Genevieve’s Chocolate Kitchen and The Kylemore Kitchen in Kylemore Abbey are still beaming after taking home one silver and two bronze medals in this year’s Blás na hÉireann Awards in Dingle last week.
Represented at the awards by Head Chef and Catering Manager, John O’Toole, Kylemore was delighted to have three finalists in different categories at this year’s awards and having all three of their finalists’ place was a real thrill for the small production teams.
The Caramel Sauce from Sr. Genevieve’s Chocolate Kitchen was a new creation from Head Chocolatier, Veronica Davin, last Christmas, and due to its popularity was made a year-round offering. This medal comes as a boost to Veronica as she embarks on some of the busiest months in the chocolate kitchen in the run up to Christmas. After her appearance on Neven Maguire’s Christmas Special last year, where Veronica got to show Neven some tricks of the chocolate making trade, there has been a newfound interest in Kylemore’s Chocolate Kitchen which has been run by Sr. Genevieve, one of the Benedictine nuns at Kylemore, since its foundation in 2010.
Embracing new flavours has always been important to the success of all of the food offerings at Kylemore Abbey but so has honouring tradition. This past Winter, the Kitchen Team at Kylemore undertook the brave task of once again producing the famous Kylemore Abbey Jam in-house, and they have been duly awarded with two bronze medals at this years’ awards. Both the Victorian Breakfast Marmalade and Walled Garden Raspberry Jam have been favourites among Kylemore’s visitors since their launch early in the year, and the staff, who took advantage of the “shoulder-period” in Kylemore to produce them are delighted to see their work recognised.
This wasn’t Kylemore Abbey’s first win at the Blás na hÉireann awards, previously they have taken home awards for their honeycomb chocolate, scone mix, bread mix, and other Kylemore favourites.
The Kylemore products, including this year’s Blás na hÉireann winners and the soon to be launched Christmas range are sold onsite in the Kylemore Abbey Craft & Design Shop and online at www.kylemoreabbey.com