For episode three, we shifted our focus to Big Grill, Europe's largest BBQ and food festival, which takes place in Herbert Park, Dublin on August 22nd - 25th. We wanted to engage with one of their Irish drinks partners and pair their drinks with dishes from participating festival restaurants.

Dingle Distillery were keen to collaborate and their Dingle Gin became the star of the show! It is distilled, bottled and packaged on-site in Dingle, Kerry. Among its many botanicals, you will find local wild ingredients such as rowanberry, fuchsia and myrtle. All of which give this multiple award-winning gin an incredible balance of spice, citrus and floral notes with tastes and textures straight from The Kingdom itself.

Two different Dingle Gin cocktails that will be served at Big Grill Festival were selected for the pairing:

• "Gin & Juice" made with Dingle Gin, Pineapple, Lime, Sugar Syrup & Soda Water.
• "Watermelon Sugar High" made with Dingle Gin, Watermelon, Raspberry, Lime & Soda.

Of the huge selection of guest restaurants and chefs appearing at Big Grill, we worked with two to create food pairings to accompany the Dingle Gin cocktails for the podcast: Hang Dai, the Chinese & Asian restaurant on Camden St, Dublin 2, and Bahay, the Filipino food truck.

Hang Dai's head chef Thiago Guerra Pereira turned his attention to the wonderful Skeaghanore duck from West Cork. It was cooked over an open fire and made into a bao with some house-made hoisin sauce and pickles. Enjoyed alongside the Gin & Juice cocktail, the richness of the duck is balanced beautifully by the pineapple sweetness and spice of the gin.

Alex O’Neill of Bahay, looked towards the incredible bounty of MacNally's Farm in north Dublin. She took some of their seasonal vegetables and grilled them over fire with peaches, serving it all up with Filipino wild rice to make a salad that will be sold as a main and a side dish at Big Grill. This was paired with the Watermelon Sugar High cocktail, which amplified the freshness and smoky character of the salad.

These exact pairings will be available at Big Grill and we encourage all festival attendees to try them, at least once! For as we always say on the Beár Bia podcast, things that grow together, go together.

Enjoy listening and don't forget to subscribe to our podcast!
Dee & Oisin