Blanca Valencia

08/10/2026

What a privilege to attend the Blas media pre-launch of her book Dinner. There was an addictive spring onion flavor bomb, quick couscous, peri peri roast chicken and many of her recipes from her upcoming book!

Lunch was served with gorgeous chilled . Dessert was a cookie with marshmallow fluff -a product I can’t wait to get my hands on. Congratulations Erica!

Thanks for the invite ❤️.

05/10/2026

Three days in Di**le for the Blas na hÉireann Awards, and my heart, stomach and mind are full 🇮🇪

It was a joy to meet so many of the producers behind the products we love, and to celebrate this year’s award winners.

I was very honored to judge some categories of the awards this year.
You could feel the passion and pride coming from every single product and producer. Congratulations to all winners, so well deserved!

The talks were full of insight and great conversations about where Irish and international food is heading.

What struck me most was the high standards of food production entrepreneurship in Ireland and how much support is available from local enterprise offices to food networks. So many producers, many whom are foreigners are building brilliant products with real creativity, grit, innovation and care for quality. It’s inspiring to see.

From Supreme champions Arán Kilkenny to producers champion Graham Herterich | The Cupcake Bloke, to all the interviewers Ali Dunworth | Food, Drink & Travel Writer D E E | Food-Drink-Travel☘️ Caroline Hennessy | Award-winning food writer .kennedy Anthony O'Toole | Food & Tourism Specialist it was an unforgettable experience of the power of food to bring communities together.

Thanks Blas na hÉireann

**le

23/09/2026

Paella is never just rice. It’s a contested recipe, a playful emoji, a family recipe or a TV ad.
Thank you to everyone who came to Instituto Cervantes Dublín for Culture Night last Friday to talk about the cultural life of paella with me. We went from the rice fields around Valencia’s Albufera, to the Sunday lunches where the pan sits at the centre of the family, to the endless (and very passionate) arguments about what does and doesn’t belong in it. In 2022 three academics answered the question of the key ten ingredients by interviewing people in over 256 towns in the area.

What I love about paella is that it’s a dish about people as much as ingredients. Valencians feel it’s their most important gastronomic expression.
It’s cooked outdoors, often over orange wood in the spring and summer.

Your questions and stories made the evening fun. Huge thanks Cervantes and Culture Night Dublin for having me.
The evening ended fittingly with a paella Valenciana cooked by Don Canizales Catering | Carlos Canizales .

And fittingly, Sunday was World Paella Day. I hope a few of you celebrated with a paella of your own. 🧡
¿Y tú? What’s your paella non-negotiable? Tell me below!

23/09/2026

15/09/2026

For Culture Night Dublin National Gallery of Ireland I will be hosting a tour of French food in art. There are many events happening in the gallery from drop in classes to talks and guided tours of the collection.

Free no need to book.
September 18
6:30 pm
Meet in Gallery patio.

Explore the world of French gastronomy through art. From Paul Cézanne’s La Vie de Champs water carrier to Pierre Bonnard’s intimate table scenes, we trace how French and Irish artists captured the rituals and allure of French food culture.

10/08/2026

I still remember the thrill of receiving an email from the National Gallery of Ireland asking me to participate in a Spanish themed evening.
Years later I have finally developed a full tour of Spanish food and drink that encompasses 17th century Madrid and Seville, water vessels and Saint Rufina, the kitchens of Velazquez and of course the banquet of Murillo’s the Prodigal Son.
The tour was followed by a w**e tasting showcasing not only Spain’s most important grape varieties like Verdejo and Tempranillo, but also San Isidore “lemonade” and aloja or mead which in this case was showcased through the fabulous product that is Kinsale Mead Co.

Thanks to all who came and made this event a success.

The concert of Baroque music in the time of Murillo performed by , RTE Lyric presenter and his crew transported to another era.

Thanks National Gallery of Ireland Embajada de España en Irlanda for such a rich evening.
Thanks to Yvonne Kennedy for the photos and the wonderful dinner The Pig's Ear DUBLIN 💙 est.2008

21/07/2026

Dear friends I will be hosting an Spanish food in art followed by a w**e tasting as part of A Spanish Evening at the National Gallery of Ireland on July 30th at 5:30 pm.
From water carriers to 17th century w**e cocktails there is something for everyone.

Spending time in the Gallery's beautiful library researching this tour has been a treat.

The tickets are sold out (sorry!) but there are plenty of other activities on the night like a tour of Murillo's The Prodigal Son series and Baroque music by Vlad Smishkewych, the brains behing Limerick's early music festival and the voice of Vox Nostra on RTE Lyric.

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1618–1682), The Prodigal Son Feasting , 1660s
Diego Velázquez, Kitchen Maid with the Supper at Emmaus, 1616-1617
Gris, Juan, A Guitar, Glasses and a Bottle, 1913
Zurbaran, Juan de, Santa Rufina, 1630s

At Link in Bio.

21/07/2026

Part II of things to eat, drink and see in Mallorca is less about eating (though there's meat and pea stuffed empanadas and a €25 seafood lunch you shopped for and was cooked to order) and more about the island's often overlooked charms: a foundation built by Spain's answer to Rockefeller, a fruit vendor who could get you fined for buying a mango, and Miró's studio exactly as he left it but full of replicas.


At Link in Bio

27/06/2026

Palma ❤️