Taste of the Week. Brona Salty Caramel Chocolate

Taste of the Week

Brona Salty Caramel Chocolate

A recent visit to the Farm Shop at Aillwee Cave in County Clare revealed to me a treasure trove of Irish produce and among them this delicious chocolate bar by Brona.

It is a very creamy chocolate (89%) with a nicely judged amount of sea salt. It is a combined inter-county effort, the salt is Beara Sea Salt, it is produced in Listowel and sold in Ballyvaughan (and in many outlets from Baltimore to Bundoran to Brittas Bay).

Brona say: Brona Chocolate is produced on the banks of the river Feale in North Kerry which is in the beautiful south-west corner of Ireland. We are a family-run artisan chocolate producer dedicated to producing the highest quality chocolate products from the best available ingredients. My wife Noreen and our three highly skilled team of tasters Tadhg, Harry and Brona, after whom the business is named, all help out.  We use as much local produce and as many local suppliers as possible.

And by the way, Brona have perfected twenty-four different flavour combinations so far. So, if you don’t fancy the Salty Caramel, they’ll have something for you.

Brona Chocolate  

You can call me Al. Our bird on the outstanding Hawk Walk at Aillwee Cave

You can call me Al. Our bird on the outstanding Hawk Walk at Aillwee Cave

Al, with Galway Bay in the background

We are hanging out with Al, a Harris Hawk and our bird on the walk through the woods by Aillwee Cave in the Burren. We include CL (Al is her bird for the walk) and our guide James of Aillwee. Al has been speeding up and down paths (sometimes millimetres from the ground), more often skimming through the often dense hazelwood, for his rewards of little nibbles.

Al checks out his handler

But now, after an hour or so, we are on the way back and he is now on my arm. Suddenly he tenses, he knows dinner is coming from James. His grip increases - you feel the enormous power in his solid bone claws (the rest of his bones are hollow). He is excited as any other hungry animal, just think of your puppy when he hears the rattles of nuts, and he shifts often. Finally, the red food is at hand and he tears (literally) into it.

Quite a feed vanished in no time and soon he is picked up any stray bits and licked between his toes. James says he that after a feed like that he’ll be in a lazy mood in the morning and won’t be assigned to any early duties.

Our afternoon had a more gentle start, in the arena where the Birds of Prey staff put a few different birds through their paces. First up is a Red Kite, a medium large bird found mainly in Western Europe and North West Africa. Kites have a fantastic ability to glide and turn and that was well illustrated here by our bird called Éiru.

Next came a falcon, “one of the fastest animals on earth.... And his eyesight is on another level, he can spot a pigeon at four miles.” As he was put through his paces, by James, swallows crowded around him in the air, safe in the knowledge that they are one of the few birds that the falcon cannot catch!

And the arena show closed with a trio of Harris Hawks (not including our Al!). Theses hawks, found in Arizona and down through South America to Argentina, are unusually social and will look after their weaker group members. They are the only social raptor and even hunt in groups, anything from three to twelve birds. Twelve would certainly make a formidable opposition in the wild.

Hungry Al

With the arena show over, we were taken to meet Al, who had a good look at us. It seemed that he approved. Just joking. These birds have little interest in humans other than as providers of food. Soon we were in the woods and Al was showing off.

Whistle for Al

He would fly away, until out of sight. Then James would whistle and Al would come at a fantastic speed, up the path maybe, just a few inches above the ground. Sometimes, he didn't oblige with such a photo friendly run but would pick his way through the trees. In either case, he would come to a stop, seemingly at the last minute and land on your hand, facing back the way from which he had come. As time went on, he responded to my whistle (doesn’t really matter who he gets his food from!).

Éiru, the Red Kite

James filled us in on these hawks. Al by the way is an 8-year old and has been doing these walks since year one. They are weighed every day and that determines the amount of food each bird will get. In the wild, they can live to between ten and twenty years, double that in captivity.

Dinner for Al!

Their diet in the wild consists of reptiles, birds, rodents and rabbits. Here they get lots of chicken and quail and anything else they see themselves. While we were in the wood, Al spotted a pigeon, the fastest pigeon I’ve ever seen and he just managed to get into the thicker part of the wood before the hawk arrived. Trained Harris Hawks have been used to remove unwanted pigeon population from buildings in the US and the UK.

All the birds of prey take a note of their surroundings as this falcon does here on arrival at the arena.

James kept emphasising the magnificent eyesight of these hawks. It seems to be an amazing system, with nine tenths of it going back into the head, a kind of sophisticated control room. This Swedish study revealed that Harris Hawks have the best colour vision “found in the animal kingdom to date.”

So big thanks to Aillwee and James for the amazing opportunity to see Al at close quarters. If you book the Hawk Walk, your companion can also come to record the event for a much reduced fee. And again, there is a combined ticket for Hawk Walk, the Arena Demos and the Cave itself. All the details at Aillwee Cave. And don't forget a visit to the Farm Shop for some fantastic tastes of County Clare and Ireland.

Milandes

* I didn’t realise it but I did come across the Harris Hawks before - they are very popular for falconry displays. I met mine at the Dordogne’s Chateau des Milandes (the former residence of song and dance star Josephine Baker, in the news recently for having been awarded the French Légion d’honneur). Birds put through their paces that day also included a Kestrel Falcon, a Barn Owl, an eagle owl, various other falcons and an American fish eagle. You don’t have to go to France to see them at close quarters as many are right here in County Clare!

** Check out our visit to the food treasure trove that is to be found at the Farm Shop in Aillwee; details here.

Clare: A County of Cliffs and Karst, Caves and Cheese. And so much more!

Clare: A County of Cliffs and Karst, Caves and Cheese. 

And so much more!

Ancient Poulnabrone

You think of Clare, and the Cliffs of Moher and The Burren (a Karst landscape) always come to mind. They are indeed amazing visits but there is so much more as I found out in a recent two day trip.

There are two excellent cave visits. Aillwee is probably the best-known but this time we choose to go to Doolin to see the extraordinary stalactite there. We visited two cheese makers, the well-known St Tola and Burren Gold. Then there was the Burren Perfumery in an isolated spot but still managing to employ over 30 people in the season.

Superb packaging at Burren Perfume

Perfumery garden

As you travel between the perfumery and Aillwee you’ll the grey Burren stretching away at either side. And here too there are reminders of the past, a castle (Lemanagh), a fort (Caherconnell) and, most memorable of all, the ancient tomb at Poulnabrone. Just a few of the many attractions listed on the very helpful leaflet Burren and Cliffs of Moher GeoPark.

Okay, let us start with the cheese. We spent most of the first morning with Brian at St Tola and you may read all about it here. Our last call that afternoon was to the Farm Shop at Aillwee Caves where, if you’re lucky, you can see the Burren Gold being made. We had a lovely chat with Dave here  and an even lovelier tasting.

In between the cheese stops, we called to our B&B, the Fergus View, and got detailed directions for the afternoon from a very helpful Mary. And that was how we ended up at Poulnabrone. 

This is a Portal Tomb built, from great slabs of limestone, over 5,000 years ago (around the same time as the pyramids were being built) on the grey pavement of the Burren. The remains of over 30 people have been found on this ancient site. It is indeed much smaller than the pyramids but still you look at it in awe. 

And that awe continues as you eyes take in the extent of the grey pavement  (formed 350 millions years ago) all around as it stretches into the distance and you pick it up on the flanks of the distant hills.

Moher

Moher ??

And we got more great views of the unique landscape as we made our way to Sadie Chowen's Burren Perfumery . This  small company is “making cosmetics and perfumes inspired by the landscape around us. Everything is made on site, by hand, in small batches”. They include perfumes, creams, soaps and candles in the portfolio. We enjoyed  a little tour there through the perfume area, the herb garden and the soap room. There is also a Tea Room with homemade local food. The perfumery is open daily all year round.

The following morning we headed for Doolin on the coast, not to take a boat to the Aran Islands and not to take one along the Cliffs of Moher, but to visit the cave there. It is privately owned, by the Browne family. In addition to the cave, there is a café and a nature walk.

Mike Dickenson and Brian Varley, from a Yorkshire pothole club, discovered the cave in 1952. They crawled in. You don’t have to do that nowadays but you will have to bend down in certain parts. We had a terrific guide in Cathy and first she took us down the stairs which is enclosed in a concrete shaft stretching some 80 feet down; then, with our helmets on, we continued down to 80 metres.

Doolin's amazing stalactite. 10 tonnes, 23 feet.

Now, we get “orders” to turn out all mobile phone lights and we are briefly in darkness. A few lights come on in the blackness. Next there are oohs and aahs as the great stalactite is revealed, all 10 tonnes of it, all 23 feet of it (the longest free hanging stalactite in Europe!).  Amazing!

Doolin sheep

As Cathy takes us around and then under it, we get to know it a little better. One side (the whiter one), with drops of water still dripping, is longer than the other which has no drip and has stopped growing, it is “dead”.

Above ground, the nature trail takes visitors on a short rural walk where you will encounter some farm animals including rare breeds of pygmy goats and Soay and Jacob sheep, ducks and chickens. The ducks and chickens weren’t there on our trip, having been decimated by a rogue mink. But replacements were due!

There is also a well-regarded café and a shop and an area where you’ll see some information (mainly on posters) about the cave which was opened to the public only in 2006. As part of the planning permission, there is a limit of around 50,000 visitors per annum.

We had one or two other visits in mind in the Lisdoonvarna area but with the weather bright and clear, if quite breezy, we decided to head for the Cliffs of Moher. And the guy on the parking gate told us we’d made the correct decision, that the views were great.

And so they were. We joined the crowds (11 buses and more than half a mega-car-park full of cars) but the people were well spread out over the area and no sense of crowding at all. We walked and walked and took in the outstanding views. 

Something struck us as we strolled around. Most of the visitors were speaking a language other than English and those speaking English had either American or English accents. Of the small group in the morning’s cave visit, we were the only two “natives”. I know it was a working day (Friday) but still we wondered do we Irish really appreciate what we have on our doorstep. 

Ball retriever.

Over the past few years, we’ve often been asked what did we do this year. And we’d mention Kerry, Clare, Waterford, Wexford, Mayo, Donegal and so on. And the response often is. “Yes, but where did you go on holidays?” Quite a lot of us don’t consider it a holiday unless we go abroad.

We finished off the afternoon by taking the coastal route, calling at Liscannor (birthplace of John P Holland, inventor of the submarine) and a very lively Lahinch where surfers and golfers were out in force before reaching Berry Lodge at Spanish Point. Here we got a splendid welcome from owner David.

Plan to head to Clare again fairly soon, perhaps starting in the southern part of the county. Anything I should see, visit? After that, I’ll fill you in on a few places to eat and stay.

Surfers get a lesson on Lahinch beach while repairs (following last year's storms) continue in the background.

Also in Clare recently:
Bunratty Castle & Folk Park
Hazel Mountain Chocolate
The Burren Brewery
A Tour of Clare
St Tola Goats Cheese visit
Burren Gold Cheese
Henry's Bistro & Wine Bar Ennis