Gastronomically speaking

What a wonderful time we all had recently at the Gastronomic Symposium held in Dublin. It is not often us chefs/food writers and general gastronomes can get together to discuss some of the wider cultural and historical themes in gastronomy as well as enjoying the hospitality of some wonderful Michelin chefs and linking up with kindred spirits from all around the world. We had two and a half days of some very interesting papers covering a wide range of subjects from the not so simple breeding and harvesting of specific unique potatoes  in Northern Ireland to the claret consumption habits of the 19th century Irish aristocracy! In between we had a whole range of interesting lectures which can all be found here:
http://arrow.dit.ie/dgs/2012/june612/
http://arrow.dit.ie/dgs/2012/june512/