Bayside Barbie

The second Bantry Barbecue festival was another roaring success over the bank holiday weekend, with superchefs Denis Cotter of Cork's Café Paradiso and Neven Maguire of Blacklion's MacNean Bistro knocking the locals dead with dazzling demonstrations.

Denis Cotter's vegetarian creations were extraordinary ­ aubergine "sandwiches" with Gabriel cheese and spinach, chilli-spiced barbecued butternut squash and shallot kebabs, whilst Neven Maguire showed using a barbie was no obstacle to producing food with the final polish worthy of Ireland's Bocuse d'Or entrant for 2000 ­ barbecued salmon with salsa, marinated lamb with seasoned puy lentils, barbecued quail with couscous.

Neven Maguire

One of the highlights of the weekend was seeing the Slow Food and Fuscia food producers exhibiting on the main streets, a welcome sight in the town which has often had its disagreements with street traders, and which has yet to realise what an enormous benefit these artisans contribute to every town where they set up their stalls.