Limerick's Marvellous Milk Market

Limerick's Marvellous Milk Market

More popular than ever!

Lovely to meet up with Lucy - we usually see her in Mahon -  from Ballyhoura Mountain Mushrooms. As always, she had a huge selection on offer. We bought these for lunch. The white ones are the highly versatile White Beech mushrooms while the velvet topped ones are Velvet Pioppino, also known as Poplar as they they are commonly found growing on the stumps of Poplar trees. Be sure and check the Ballyhoura website for more details and the best way to use these and other mushrooms.

More popular than ever! That's what I read on the brochure and that's saying a lot as the market was founded in 1852. You'll have no bother finding it; just look out for the sky-reaching white "dome" that covers quadrangular space between four rows of single storied stores and shops in Cornmarket Row. Or just follow the crowds, particularly on Saturday morning, the busiest day when it’s open from 8am to 3.00pm and when the emphasis is very much on the Farmers Market aspect. There's also much to see there on Fridays (lunch specials - cafe culture & live music) between 10am and 3.00pm and also on Sunday's Family Day (11am to 3.00pm), relax with coffee, cheese, crêpes, chocolates, occasional crafts - and yoga! Besides, the permanent market shops are open daily. 

The Flying Cheese Brigade are one of the cheese sellers in the market. They also service other local markets.
This Cratloe Hills Sheep's Cheese is produced by Sean and Deirdre Fitzgerald at their farm in Brickhill, Co. Clare since 1988. It is the first sheep's cheese to be produced in the country and a big favourite of mine.

We also bought this Tomme De Savoie from the Brigade. For old times sake! Many moons ago, when we used go to France with the kids, we bought this on a regular basis at markets and supermarkets there. It is mild and milky and proved very popular with the children. This is not the only "tomme" in France.

And it’s not just food, though most people seem to come for that - we certainly had our bags with us. You may get jewellery here, soap, arts and crafts, fashion (including vintage), health and beauty products, horticultural items (including plants and bulbs), and more (including lots of hot food stalls). You can even take part in a tour of the market to get your bearings. You'll have to visit - this piece and the pictures are only scratching the surface!

O'Driscoll Fish, from Schull, is a regular call for us when we visit the Mahon Farmers Market.
Indeed, you'll find their freshly caught reasonably priced fish at quite a few markets
 so perhaps it was no surprise to find them here in Limerick.

Colour ahead!

The Milk Market venue is very special and popular at Christmas and there are quite a few events throughout the year. It hosts on average eight large concerts each year featuring both national and international artists separate to over a dozen community, corporate and private market events each year. The venue is available for hire for a host of events from corporate to family events including movie nights, private BBQ dining, gala dinners, receptions, outdoor games, music, weddings, themed events, product launches and parties.

Want to know more about this thriving market? Check it all out here.  

Nolan's of Corbally Butchers had some very tempting prepared dishes on offer and it took us quite a while to make up our minds before we bought a Moroccan sirloin stir fry for Saturday evening's dinner.
 It turned out very well indeed as you can see below.

A top notch brown sourdough from one of the bread stalls.

We had been looking at the prawn stir-fry above before choosing the beef one

There were some magnificent vegetable stalls at the market but I'm afraid I didn't get a good pic.
We did buy these sprouts though and they were excellent.

I hadn't been blogging for very long at all when, in Feb 2010, I highlighted the quality
 of Inch House Black Pudding. The post went down well, not least at Inch house,
and soon I received a superb recipe from Nora. If you'd like to try it out yourself, this is the link.
I bought this from Peter at the huge and so very popular Country Choice.

We met Olivier of On the Wild Side last year at the weekly
market in Kenmare. We enjoyed his Pork and Plum Paté
on that occasion and couldn't resist buying another slice
of it in Limerick. He does lots of cured meats as well
including a beetroot and pork saucisson and a delicious chorizo
and you're in luck if he has his Merguez Lamb Sausages on sale.

More posts from this trip
Taste the Place. Superb Dinner at Limerick Strand Hotel.
A Shannonside Star; Staying at the Limerick Strand Hotel

Taste of the Week. Cratloe Hills Sheep Cheese

Taste of the Week

Cratloe Hills Sheep Cheese

Bought a small wedge of  Mature Cratloe Hills Sheep Cheese in On The Pig’s Back on a recent Saturday. Should have bought more of this exquisite cheese, our Taste of the Week.

The story of Cratloe Hills cheese began in the mid 80s when Sean and Deirdre Fitzgerald began making it in County Clare on their Cratloe farm that overlooks the Shannon.

It is a delicious, full-bodied, intricate blend of tastes with layers of flavours. This is quite an experience as they say themselves:  “…each bite brings more hints of butterscotch and burnt caramel come to the fore”.

With such a tide of sophisticated flavour from the cheese on its own, you hardly need anything by way of accompaniment. I did try a gorgeous artisan-made Confiture Cerise Noire (from Sheridan’s) as this type of jam is often served with sheeps cheese in the Basque region. 

And while the combination is pleasant, I’d say the Cratloe is possibly best on its own. By the way, if you think you’d like something with it and can’t get your hands on the Confiture, then Follain’s Loganberry Jam is a good substitute.

The Clare product is 100% sheep's milk using only a vegetarian starter, rennet and salt. It is a natural product manufactured in a traditional way with no additives or flavours. 

Cafe Paradiso. Seasons On The Quay

Cafe Paradiso

Seasons On The Quay

Aubergine parcels

Flatbread and orange wine (Ageno)

Seasons come. Seasons go. Café Paradiso notes the comings and the goings in the fields, in the orchards, in the gardens. The orders go out, the fresh produce comes in. Seasons are key. And the customers keep coming to the amazing restaurant on Cork’s Lancaster Quay.

Good food calls for good wine and you get that here too on a finely selected list that includes quite a few organic and natural wines. And all are available in four sizes: 150ml glass, carafes of 250ml (quartino) and 500ml (mezzo), and the full bottle of course.

Beetroot rasam

We started our early evening visit with a few nibbles: olives, nuts and a delicious seeded flatbread. As we nibbled we picked our wines. My choice was La Stoppa Ageno 2011, a lovely orange wine, made by Elena Pantaleoni in Emilia Romagna (who'll be in Dublin and Cork next week with Le Caveau) while CL’s was the Terras Gauda O Rosal Albarino 2016, one of the best of that now very popular variety.

You may need a little help here with the wine and menu if you’re not a regular. We did and it was given freely and informed our choices. 

Roast carrots, cheese

My starter was the Roast carrots, Macroom buffalo mozzarella, burnt aubergine, honey, pickled fennel, ras-el-hanout crumb, a gorgeous plate, full of flavours and textures and not a little colour.

And it was the colour of the other dish that first caught the eye but CL’s beetroot rasam, cauliflower kofta, cucumber coconut raita, a warm soup, had much more going for it as well.

Lemon Risotto and Artichokes

On to the mains then where I enjoyed the Aubergine parcels of spinach and sheep’s cheese with beluga lentils, miso gravy, pine-nut crumb, samphire, and radish. I do like aubergine and it was brilliant as were the lentils, indeed everything on the plate.

CL meanwhile was delighted with her Confit artichokes, broad beans & scallions with lemon risotto, parsley broth, hazelnut crumb, and Cratloe Hills sheep’s cheese. Again every little piece was polished off and that lemon flavoured risotto was something else.

Pear, Pecan pudding

Vin Santo

 A short dessert list but no lack of temptation though I went a little off piste with Vin Santo with Cantucci Biscotti. And I enjoyed that sweet holy wine (sweet yes, but well balanced) as I begged for a few spoonfuls of the delicious Roast Pear, Pecan Pudding and Beamish Ice-cream that CL had ordered. That Pecan Pudding could be a dessert on its own.

All in all, a lovely meal. And indeed a lovely relaxed evening at Café Paradiso where the welcome and the service left nothing to be desired.