MFE workshop series showcases Italian style

Martin Food Equipment (MFE) recently created an Italian-inspired casual dining menu for participants in a foodservice workshop at its premises in Dundalk.

The event, held on September 26 and 27, formed part of a series of foodservice workshop events that MFE will be hosting between now and the middle of November.

Healthy, Mediterranean-style menus are very much on-trend at the moment and Martin Food Equipment collaborated with a range of Ireland’s finest food suppliers to create a selection of fine, Italian-inspired food for the event, which was attended by local retailers and foodservice operators.

On the menu was slim, Neapolitan-style pizza, cooked from fresh in just 90 second in the TurboChef conveyor oven and loaded with a great selection of local-sourced ingredients.

“We’re blessed to have access to some of the best local ingredients and suppliers available,” says Frank Doonan, managing director of MFE. “So all the food that we produced at the event tasted great. I think all our visitors loved it and learned a lot from what they saw.”

In the demanding Irish food-to-go sector, ‘fresh’ and ‘artisan’ are the terms on everyone’s lips and with that in mind, MFE showcased a wonderful chopped salad selection that would easily fit into any retail deli offering.

Italian-style hot sandwiches were also served up, crisply toasted in the new TurboChef Bullet rapid-cook oven. John Gardner, executive chef with TurboChef, said afterwards: “Irish retailers, Martin Food Equipment and all our great Irish artisan suppliers are at the vanguard in modern food-to-go and they compare favourably with any other country in the world.”

Also on the programme at Dundalk were Italian-style artisan breads, showcased by ingredients supplier, Puratos. These are ideal for in-store bakeries and participants in the workshop enjoyed sampling a range of olive, pesto, focaccia and ciabatta breads, all ideal both on snack or main meal menus.

Further workshops have been organised by MFE at its Innovation Centre in the Gaskin Business Park at Dundalk. They are:

Food for now, food for later, October 10 and 11; The world of chicken, Ireland’s number one food-to-go, October 24 and 25 and rapid-cook food-to-go hot sandwich on November 14 and 15.

If you are interested in attending, email info@mfe.ie or call 042 93 303636.