Jillian Bolger talks to the organiser of Tastefest, American Carmen Brown, about helping our tastebuds travel

CARMEN BROWN'S arrival in Ireland 15 years ago mirrored her mother's move as a young woman from her native New Orleans to landlocked Indiana.

Reared on a diet of rice, shrimp and beans, the young Mrs Brown suddenly found herself cooking with local crops like corn and potatoes, and not a Cajun spice in sight. When Carmen arrived in Dublin in 1992 to study at Trinity College, she too found a paucity of African-American favourites.

"I lived to cook back home, " she explains, "so it was strange not to have access to things I took for granted, like yams and okra."

Growing up in Bloomington, a liberal university town in the conservative Midwest, Carmen was surrounded by over 170 different nationalities who gradually made their mark on the cultural landscape. Encompassing Afghanis to Vietnamese, Australians to Ukrainians, Bloomington held an annual multicultural festival to celebrate this diversity through food and performance. It is these colourful festivals that inspired the mother of three to launch Tastefest in Ireland.

"The complexion of Ireland is very different today to how it was when I first came over.

Fifteen years ago I turned heads when I went places; today people rarely pay me unnecessary attention. Few were as interested in food back then either, but that has completely changed too. Looking at the Irish people's newfound love of food and the growing immigrant population, the timing seemed perfect for a multicultural food festival."

Launched in 2004, Carmen found immense support for Tastefest from the outset.

"Because of the nature of the event, I was approaching foreigners who had made Ireland their home. Being an immigrant and having run a coffee shop here for several years meant I could relate to their experiences and understood the challenges and rewards of setting up an Irish business."

The Tastefest concept, which runs for three days throughout the St Patrick's Festival, will showcase international cuisine from over 15 different countries, including Lithuania, Thailand, Turkey, Italy, India, France, Poland, Cuba, Japan and Spain. Visitors pay Euro10 entrance (children under 16 are free) and can then purchase food tokens, valued from 50 cent to Euro5, which can be redeemed at the various stalls for take-out samples.

Diners are encouraged to be as adventurous as they like, with stallholders especially keen to encourage children to taste something new. "Whether it's Polish pirogi or crab maki, sweet Lithuanian dumplings or Malay curry, everyone's bound to find a favourite, " Carmen suggests. And as each restaurant has its own cook station you can linger as long as you like to view the native fare being created and enjoy the aromas unfold. Ethnic food shops will be scattered throughout the hall too, selling everything from spices to condiments, herbal teas to fresh coffee.

To keep grazers entertained there's a bill of international musicians, dancers and singers signed up, including acts from Cuba, Latvia and the Soweto gospel choir. "Tastefest is about education through celebration, " Carmen beams enthusiastically, "so there's a line-up of great cookery demonstrations too, where visitors can tuck into their food while learning about new techniques and recipes."

Alongside Caribbean, Malaysian, cocktail and sushi demos, there's a special Kidz Kitchen lesson on Sunday given by Garth McColgan who runs excellent cookery camps for children during the summer.

"Not forgetting that Irish culture is the culture we're celebrating, there will be a big Irish element too! As well as Vanessa Greenwood of Cooks Academy we'll have Catherine Leyden of Odlums, who cooks on Ireland AM, making some really appealing dishes.

Then there's C�ad Mile Bia, a dedicated 'Irish Village' where browsers can sample and shop for the best of local produce like Ireland's excellent meats and farmhouse cheeses."

While organising Tastefest, which is now her full-time job, Carmen had the enviable task of sampling all the foods that will be on offer next weekend. "If I had to pick a favourite I'd say it's Polish. I think it's a really interesting cuisine and surprisingly they seem to use lots of similar raw produce to the Irish. There's lots of cabbage, potatoes and meat but by pickling things or using cream it's given a whole new twist."

Tastefest hopes to attract over 20,000 visitors next weekend. "Food is a wonderful way to access a new culture and start understanding it, " Carmen concludes. "If you sit around a table with a family of Poles or Japanese you can learn so much by looking at the foods they eat, the ingredients they favour and the techniques they cook with. If you consider a Mediterranean meal, like a Greek one with olives, feta and lamb, you'll realise that it tells you so much, subconsciously, about the geography of that country.

While most of Tastefest's visitors will be Irish, we're hoping to see Poles, Latvians, Lithuanians and others too, which would be really great, as it would truly reflect Ireland's new multi-cultural diversity."

Tastefest takes place in the RDS Main Hall, Dublin from Friday 16 to Sunday 18 March 2007. Friday 12 noon-8pm, Saturday 11am-7pm, Sunday 11am-6pm. Tickets Euro10;

children under 16 free, when accompanied by an adult.

www. tastefest. ie