Dublin Vegetable Grower Had 'No Idea' Her Cabbage Was on the Menu for European Leaders - The Irish Times

Jenny McNally had no idea her north Dublin produce was on the table for international leaders until someone sent her a photo of the menu.

The organic vegetable grower learned her cabbage was served to figures including Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, French president Emmanuel Macron, and Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni only after seeing the picture, The Irish Times reported. The dinner took place in Dublin’s National Gallery on Thursday, November 12, following a day of talks in Dublin’s Convention Centre.

The meal was designed and delivered by chef Mark Moriarty. One of the side dishes featured on the official menu was “Jenny McNally’s Roasted Cabbage, Bacon, Herbs,” served alongside a striploin of dry-aged Ridgeway beef from County Wicklow and roasted bone marrow jus gras.

“I had no idea at all,” McNally told The Irish Times. “Mark orders stuff from us and he had ordered some cabbage, but we had no idea it was going to be on the menu.”

Showcasing Irish Producers

McNally and her husband Patrick have operated a 99-acre organic family farm in Balrickard since 1997, where three of their five children work alongside them. Upon discovering the menu feature via a message, she described the moment as a great honour.

“Someone sent me a photo of the menu, and I just thought, ‘Wow, amazing’,” McNally told The Irish Times, adding that the event showcased the work of Irish food producers. She said it was a “great honour and a privilege” to “be with such great Irish producers”. She said that after the event was mentioned on RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland, customers began congratulating her on the news.

Dublin Vegetable Grower Had 'No Idea' Her Cabbage Was on the Menu for European Leaders - The Irish Times — Photo: Irish Examiner

Other Irish food makers featured on the menu included Sally Barnes, who has been smoking wild fish for more than 45 years through the Woodcock Smokery, and the family-run Glenilen Farm in County Cork, which provided butter for the baked potato sourdough. Barnes has been smoke-curing fish since 1979 and established her smokery in 1981.

Moriarty said the planning process for the meal took several months behind the scenes. “Logistically, it was a challenge. There were two or three months of planning gone into it behind the scenes,” Moriarty said.

“Obviously, we weren’t allowed to talk about it, and bringing in a team of 32 people for the 50 guests from all across the Irish hospitality industry.” He added, “Once we finally got down to the cooking at 7pm last night, that’s the easy part.”

A History of State Dinners

This is not the first time produce from the McNally family farm has been served to visiting dignitaries. During the late Queen Elizabeth’s state visit in 2011, potatoes grown on their farm were also included on the menu.

“She had the mashed potatoes! They were our potatoes … And now we’ve fed them, the world leaders and European leaders. It can’t get much better than that,” McNally told The Irish Times.”

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that the dinner offered visiting leaders a chance to experience Irish agricultural produce alongside traditional arts. Entertainment during the evening included performances by Olwen Fouéré reading W.B. Yeats, and Tolü Makay singing “Danny Boy,” accompanied by a choir.

The History of Cabbage — The Wild Plant Humans Turned Into Six Vegetables — Food Through Time

Attendees also received several handcrafted gifts, including a Christmas tree ornament from Caulfield Country Boards in County Meath, a notebook from Duffy’s Book Binder, and a presidency scarf crafted by Cushendale Woollen Mills in County Kilkenny.

Following the private dinner at the National Gallery, around 25 EU leaders remained in Dublin on Friday for informal talks as part of Ireland’s EU Presidency.

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