Dublin Vegetable Grower’s Cabbage Served to EU Leaders at State Dinner
Dublin vegetable grower Jenny McNally discovered her produce was served to European leaders at a state dinner on Thursday, November 12, after a contact sent her a photograph of the menu. The dinner, hosted by Taoiseach Micheál Martin at the National Gallery, featured “Jenny McNally’s Roasted Cabbage” as a side dish.
A Surprise Appearance on the State Menu
The event, which brought together approximately 25 European leaders including Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, French president Emmanuel Macron, and Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, was designed to showcase high-end Irish hospitality. While McNally knew that chef Mark Moriarty had placed an order for cabbage, she remained unaware of its inclusion in the official state dinner until the photographic evidence reached her, The Irish Times reported.
“I had no idea at all,” McNally told The Irish Times. She described the experience as a “great honour and a privilege” to be featured alongside other prominent Irish food producers.
This was not the first time the farm’s produce has reached a global stage. During the 2011 state visit of the late Queen Elizabeth, the McNally family farm provided the potatoes served at the banquet.
“She had the mashed potatoes! They were our potatoes,” McNally noted to The Irish Times. Operating from a 99-acre farm in Balrickard, Co Dublin, since 1997, the family business includes a farm shop and employs three of McNally’s five children.
Logistics Behind the Diplomatic Dinner
The menu was designed and delivered by award-winning chef Mark Moriarty, who managed a team of 32 people for the 50 guests in attendance. “honoured and delighted to represent Irish hospitality, and to showcase our chefs, producers, and food makers to Leaders and Prime Ministers from all across Europe and beyond,” chef Mark Moriarty said.
The chef deliberately focused on regional sourcing, incorporating produce from West Cork and Wicklow to anchor the meal in Irish agriculture.
The dinner featured a variety of Irish ingredients, including Sally Barnes’ wild Irish smoked salmon from the Woodcock Smokery in West Cork, and dry-aged beef from Co Wicklow. The meal concluded with an Irish coffee gâteau and salted Irish milk sorbet. The evening also included cultural performances, with Olwen Fouéré reciting W.B. Yeats and singer Tolü Makay performing “Danny Boy,” as reported by JOE.ie.
Showcasing Irish Culinary Identity
For producers like Sally Barnes, who has been smoke-curing fish for over 45 years, the event served as a platform to highlight long-standing Irish craft techniques. Barnes previously won the Supreme Champion title at the 2006 Great Taste Awards, according to Cork Beo.
The Taoiseach emphasized that the event was intended to offer leaders the best of Irish produce, literature, and art.
In addition to the meal, guests received mementos including a Christmas tree ornament from Caulfield Country Boards in Meath, a notebook from Duffy’s Book Binder, and a scarf crafted by Cushendale Woollen Mills in Kilkenny, as noted by JOE.ie. These gifts were intended to represent local expertise and traditional techniques developed over generations.
Maintaining Standards at a Global Level
As the European Political Community meetings concluded on Friday, November 13, the focus shifted back to the daily operations of the producers involved. McNally spent her Friday morning selling produce at a market, noting that customers had already begun offering congratulations following reports on RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland.
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