My Pandan Roulade on Powerscourt Hotel Afternoon Tea menu

 In April 14 my Pandan Roulade recipe was launched on the Afternoon Tea menu of Powerscourt 5 star Hotel in Co. Wicklow as part of my prize for winning the EasyFood Home-Cook Hero Awards 2013. 

Powerscourt Hotel is one of my favourite places to visit in Ireland as you immediately feel removed from the hustle and bustle of everyday life when you arrive there. It's located in County Wicklow and next to the well-known Powerscourt Estate. 

My family and I had a really enjoyable day at Powerscourt wandering around admiring the amazing views and of course sampling my dessert alongside Dee Laffan and Caroline Gray from Easy Food magazine. If you haven't visited Powerscourt Hotel you should include it on your list of places to visit this summer.

 

The EasyFood Home-Cook Hero Awards 2014 is now open for entries so if you think you have a winner recipe that you cook at home you should apply. I really enjoyed the whole experience last year from participating in the cook-off in Cooks Academy cookery school in Dublin to attending the Awards ceremony in the Shelbourne hotel.   

Notes:
The copyright of the photos used in the post belongs to Fiona Uyema. Please ask for permission if you'd like to use them.

Bloom in the Park 2014 - Fiona Uyema's demo

One of the biggest highlights for me this year was the opportunity to give a Japanese cooking demonstration on the Bord Bia Quality Food Stage at Bloom alongside well-known chefs such as Neven McGuire, Donal Skehan and Catherine Fulvio. 

My demo was scheduled after Catherine Fulvio so I was delighted to get a chance to catch up with her after meeting at Ballymaloe Lit Fest in May.

The large crowds were intimidating but once my demo started my nerves turned into excitement and I really enjoyed giving the demonstration to such a great audience. Although I was demonstrating Japanese dishes most of the ingredients I used were from local Irish producers. Since Ireland is an island nation like Japan we are fortunate to have an abundance of ingredients used in Japanese cooking such as fresh fish and seaweed.

During the day I got a chance to wander around, I would recommend arriving early and giving yourself most of the day to go around to the different areas because there's so much to see. I really enjoyed checking out all the Irish artisan producer stalls and sampling their amazing products.

The following day I started to work in my own garden after being inspired by all the beautiful gardens at Bloom.

If you haven't been to Bloom you should definitely include it in the top of your events to go to next year. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Notes:
The copyright of the photos used in the post belongs to Fiona Uyema. Please ask for permission if you'd like to use them.