28 September 2017

On Wednesday 27th September over 100 food writers, bloggers and food lovers gathered to celebrate the launch of Neven’s Italian Food Trails, a six part TV culinary and travel series premiering on RTÉ One on Thursday 5th October at 7pm and sponsored by Dunnes Stores Simply Better.

 

The series follows Neven’s journey across Italy, where he shares with viewers, his experiences of amazing food and wine, meeting many local food and wine producers as well as other interesting Italian characters along the way.  All of this, with the breathtaking backdrop of the Italian countryside, as well as taking in iconic cities including Venice, Sorrento, Parma and Florence.

 

Neven stated, “It was an experience of a lifetime for me and I am looking forward to sharing my adventures with viewers throughout the six weeks of the series.  During the making of the series I tasted some of the best food and wine I have ever experienced and met with the most interesting food and wine producers who are as passionate about creating great products as I am about cooking with them.”    

 

Neven, who is Brand Ambassador for the Dunnes Stores Simply Better Collection added “I believe Irish people have a strong connection to Italy and as a nation we have a great love of Italian food and wine. Throughout the series I will be creating dishes using the very finest Italian products. I am really looking forward to sharing these recipes with viewers.”

 

Many of the producers featured in the six part series have existing strong ties with Ireland as they are supplying the Irish market through the Dunnes Stores Simply Better Collection. The Dunnes Stores Simply Better Italian Collection includes 50 Italian products from 14 producers who combined have over 20 national and international food awards.

 

Antonio Marchetti from Bertangi, has been a supplier to Dunnes Stores for a number of years and since 2016, the Simply Better fresh pasta supplier. Speaking of his relationship with Dunnes Stores Antonio said,“We have a long standing relationship with Dunnes Stores and their customers. To be involved with the Simply Better Collection is such a wonderful opportunity and to tell the story through Neven’s programme showing the origins of our products, using centuries old traditions, with the best raw materials hand picked by us.  During our visit to Ireland we also get to meet some of our Irish customers who have been using our products for years, creating and enjoying great food at home and it has been an honour for us to be here to celebrate Ireland’s love of Italian food.”

 

To​ ​celebrate​ ​the​ ​launch,​ ​Dunnes​ ​Stores​ ​Head​ ​Office​ ​Atrium​ ​was​ ​turned​ ​into​ ​​“Little Italy” with​ ​waiters​ ​serving​ ​Italian​ ​antipasti inspired  ​by​ ​Neven​,​ ​featuring​ ​products from​ ​the​ ​Simply​ ​Better​ ​Italian Collection including Flatbread​ ​topped​ ​with​ ​basil​ ​pesto​ ​and​ ​Prosciutto di​ ​Parma;​ ​crostini​ ​topped​ ​with​ ​Gorgonzola;​ ​fig​ ​and​ ​Prosciutto​ ​di​ ​Parma;​ ​cherry​ ​tomato​ ​puff pastry​ ​tarts​ ​with​ ​Parmigiano​ ​Reggiano​ ​and​ ​mini​ ​Pizzettes​ ​topped​ ​with​ ​goats​ ​cheese, caramelised​ ​red​ ​onion​ ​and​ ​grilled​ ​peppers.​ ​​ ​Guests​ ​also​ ​sampled​ ​some​ ​of​ ​the​ Prosecco DOC Extra Dry, Pinot Grigio, Chianti Classico DOCG  from the Simply Better Wine collection.

 

Guests​ ​were​ ​then​ ​invited ​ ​to​ ​a​ ​screening​ ​room​ ​for an exclusive ​preview​ ​of​ ​the​ ​series, where Diarmuid Murphy, Brand Manager for Dunnes Stores Simply Better Collection introduced Neven and the series by saying, “Through the Dunnes Stores Simply Better Collection our mission is to enable our customers to enjoy restaurant quality food at home and we have been honoured to have one of the greatest chefs in Europe, Neven Maguire on this journey with us over the past two years.  We are so proud to be collaborating with Neven and the production team on this very special Italian culinary series and proud also that many of our producers are featured throughout the series. The supplier story is so important to us and through this TV series, viewers will get to see the origins of many of the products in our Italian collection and will have the opportunity to try these products at home by picking up some of the collection when they are next visiting one of our stores.”

 

The event also celebrated the launch of the latest Cook with Neven Maguire magazine, this edition, Italian of course, features many of the producers appearing in the TV series and products exclusively available in the Dunnes Stores Simply Better Collection.  Neven has created some mouthwatering dishes, exclusively for the magazine which is now available free of charge in stores nationwide and available to download on www.dunnesstores.com from today.