Taste of the Week. Folláin Flame Grilled Pepper Relish

Blas na Seachtaine
Folláin Flame Grilled Pepper Relish

So there we were with a lovely pork burger (with chorizo and mozzarella) from Davidson's, our local butcher, for Saturday lunch. The bun was no problem and neither were the leaves (the garden is a salad jungle at present!). 

But no relish? Oh yes, we had. We bought a couple of jars from the Folláin stand at the Old Butter Road Food Trail Festival in Watergrasshill recently and decided to put the Flame Grilled Pepper Relish to the test. It passed with flying colours and is our Taste of the Week.

It is indeed delicious (no added sugar or salt), made from a favourite family recipe. The flame grilling enhances the sweetness of the peppers and that, along with its "zingy goodness", enhanced the already flavoursome burger. Nice little lunch, I must say. 

This relish is quite versatile and may be used for sandwiches, all bbq dishes, cheese dishes and especially goat's cheese and will keep in the fridge for at least three weeks after opening. The other Folláin relish we got in Watergrasshill was their Exotic Fruit Relish. Must give that a bit of a spin soon!

Folláin 

Cúil Aodha

Maighchromtha

Co. Chorcai 

T: 026 45288

Email: info@follain.ie 

Old Butter Roads Festival's Major Offering in Watergrasshill Today

Old Butter Roads Festival's Major Offering in Watergrasshill Today

Joanne of Thatch and Thyme is producing some great reasonably dishes here, including a delicious plate with something from all the producers. I tried the burger and it is a treat. You get Twomey's Wagyu beef, Hegarty's cheese, Wild Garlic (foraged by Joanne herself), all on a superb Arbutus bun.

The Old Butter Roads Food Festival has a big day in O'Mahony's, Watergrasshill, today (Sunday 26th May). The focus will be very much on the Darina Allen led Symposium on food tourism and specifically how the Old Butter Roads can benefit from the trend. But many will come for the food being cooked and displayed here by the region's producers and restaurants.

To see the full programme, including the participants in the symposium, please click here

Be sure and try the juices at Future Orchard. And get yourself a pack of wild flower seeds. And then there's the mystery tastes. Will you guess correctly!

If you're still going strong by early evening, you won't want to miss the Cocktail Contest. at 5.00pm, Bertha’s Revenge Gin, Longueville House Apple Brandy and Killahora Orchards Pommeau and Apple Ice Wine all step into the ring to see who can produce the finest Old Butter Roads cocktail with the audience as judges! Oh, by the way, children will be catered for too with a Puppet Show, Face Painting and Food of course!

Longueville House have been part of the festival since the start. And Rubert Atkinson, Sales Manager at Longueville Beverages, is a key figure, always helping out his fellow exhibitors. And always giving out samples of their delicious ciders and apple brandy. There is a bar alongside and, of course, a large bar inside.

Jam makers come and go in Ireland but my long-time favourites are Folláin for their quality, variety and consistency. Recently we've been tucking into their sugar-free range. They have those colourful topped pots in Watergrasshill but it the relishes that caught my eye here. Or should I say, excited my tastebuds. Needless to say, we brought a few jars home with us. And here's a tip, bring a shopping bag with you.

Top chef Michael Quinn (formerly Waterford Castle, now lecturing at WIT) will give a series of rolling cookery demos over the weekend, presenting delicious yet simple recipes all featuring produce from OBR members and producers, with plenty of samples available for the audiences. There will be additional opportunities to sample during the Blind Tastings, in which the general public competes for prizes by identifying various foodstuffs while blindfolded.

To see the full programme, including the participants in the symposium, please click here

Taste of the Week

Taste of the Week
On the Double

Two excellent local products here, each a great taste in its own right. The cheese, from the Farm Shop in the Ballymaloe Cookery School, is creamy and full of flavour, not yet showing the dry flakiness that comes with longer maturing. You don't often see Loganberry jam nowadays but this gorgeous pot, by Follain, is available in Bradley's, North Main Street. 

In the Basque Country in South West France, and probably over the border in Spain as well, they often serve sheep cheese with a cherry jam. So why not put those two together, I thought. And it worked a treat, my Taste of the Week!

Folláin Traditional Irish Preserves. Going for Gold

Folláin Traditional Irish Preserves

Going for Gold

The summer of 1956 was the time of the milers with Ireland’s Ronnie Delaney learning a valuable lesson or two before going on to win gold at the 1,500 metres at the November Olympics in Australia. Englishman Brian Hewson was Delaney’s arch-rival during the long hot summer and that rivalry was often echoed in our “acre” between ourselves and a couple of young English boys, as we alternated between cricket and hurling.

The events stick in the memory as does another habit of the two lads, regular visitors from across the water to their Irish grandmother, a neighbour of ours. The two boys would come out of granny’s crossroads cottage with a pot of freshly made jam and a spoon and proceed to clean out the pot! I am reminded of them and indeed inclined to copy whenever I come across jams from Folláin, as I did recently.

Mrs O’K’s jams were good then;  Folláins are good now, always reminding me of the real thing. Been sampling three of their gourmet small pot range and I’m glad to say that they absolutely delicious. Raspberry and Vanilla, Strawberry and Passionfruit and, perhaps my favourite, Orange and Apricot, are so fruity, so full of gorgeous flavors, that an immediate re-run is on the cards.

Stop food waste with this chutney.
Check the step by step video here

While these small jars have a knockout flavour they also pack a different kind of punch where the target is the elimination of food waste, a problem estimated at costing Irish households €700 million every year.

Folláin Traditional Irish Preserves know what they are talking about when it comes to preserving the goodness of nature - they have been doing it from their West Cork base for over 30 years - the Irish company is now using their experience and expertise to help Irish people in the fight against food waste.

Folláin, with guidance from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Food Waste Tech super-stars, FoodCloud, have introduced smaller and less wasteful packaging across a new range of products, and combined this with a new website. The site will provide educational and consumer support, through tips on avoiding food waste, host a range of recipe ideas and suggestions to inspire consumers to get creative with surplus fresh food ingredients and stop food waste in its tracks!

Stop food waste with Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper with Breadcrumbs.
Check the step by step video here

Odile Le Bolloch from the EPA's Stop Food Waste programme commented: “When asked about the types of food they waste, many householders list condiments in jars along with the more obvious types of food waste such as fruit and veg, bread and dairy products, Our studies have shown that most of these foods are wasted because they have bought too much or didn't use it on time. Providing customers with the option to buy smaller amounts, as well as providing correct storage information, is a great example of how a company such as Folláin can help customers reduce their food waste, and we are delighted to see them take the initiative. "

Commenting on the starting point for Folláin Food Project, Folláin Brand Manager, Laura Hewson (same name as Delaney’s Olympic rival!), explains: “Preserving the goodness of nature is at the very essence of the Folláin ethos, and it is a craft that our Cork based team have perfected from providing the nation with fresh fruit Jams, Marmalades, Relishes, Salsas and Chutneys over the last 30 years. We knew as a company we wanted to get involved in the battle against food waste, and the start off point for us was a phone call to the EPA, where we were informed that chutneys and jams top the list of food waste offenders, but that something as simple as a reduction in packaging size could prevent jars of half full preserves being binned, so our first action was to do just that!”

Iseult Ward, Co-Founder of FoodCloud commented: “At least one million tonnes of food is wasted in Ireland annually. Wasting food is a waste of money, a waste of valuable natural resources and raises moral questions where there are people suffering from food poverty.  We want Irish people to think about how they can reduce this waste - with such a rich food and agricultural heritage, it makes sense that as a nation, we commit to this. It is great to see companies like Folláin looking for new and innovative ways to help consumers reduce their food waste at home.”

Stop food waste with this Seasonal Fruit Compote.
Check the step by step video here

Hewson says the campaign resonates with Folláin: “Folláin’s tradition is imbued in the time honoured skill passed down through generations in Cuil Aodha, Co. Cork, of preserving fruit and vegetables, evoking the joys of nature all year around. In today’s throwaway society food does not carry the same value and preservation skills such as curing, drying, smoking, bottling, pickling, fermenting and conserving are not used as much. Folláin believes that new approaches can be adopted to modern day living fitting in with our busy lifestyles to value food as Irish people once did and become less wasteful. “

The Folláin Food Project Website includes information about food waste in Ireland today, with easy to follow guidelines on how to avoid food waste in the home, as well as utilising the list of top ten food waste offenders to demonstrate how you can save squidgy fruit and veg before they are relegated to compost heaps and rubbish bins.

Folláin features three different ranges of traditional preserves, including; Folláin ​Extra Fruit Traditional Irish Preserves, Folláin No Added Sugar Preserves and Relishes and Folláin Premium Preserves in small 180g jars. The ranges are available from leading supermarkets and independent retailers nationwide, log onto Folláin for more information.

Stop food waste with this sinfully moist Courgette Cake.
Check the step by step video here

The smaller sized Folláin jams are available in 180g jars in a range of gourmet flavours, of which two were awarded stars at the Great Taste Awards for 2014, and include; Raspberry & Vanilla (2 Stars at the Great Taste Awards),  Orange & Apricot, Strawberry & Passion Fruit (1 Star at the Great Taste Awards) and Rhubarb & Fig. The jams are available at retailers nationwide for RSP €1.69.

And there’s more. Follain have created a series of recipes, which show people how to create beautiful dishes and avoid food waste at the same time and these are available to view here. Some going for the small family company from Coolea!

Stop food waste with Baked Banana and Apple Chips
Check the step by step video here

To see Ronnie Delaney winning the 1,500m gold in Melbourne, click here 

Taste of the Week

Taste of the Week
Folláin Extra Fruit Whiskey Medium Cut Marmalade


Folláin to me means class in a jar and this marmalade is no exception. Wakes up the taste buds and helps brighten up the morning. Widely available, it is one of many good things coming out of the Coolea area and is Taste of the Week.

FOLLÁIN RELISHES

FOLLÁIN RELISHES

Many of you will know that West Cork company Folláin make a range of gorgeous jams. Their blackcurrant and raspberry are particularly good and their blackberry is a gem while the marmalade is a regular on our table.

But did you know they also make some excellent relishes? Tomato, Exotic Fruit, Fire Roasted Pepper feature in the range and I got a chance to sample the Exotic Fruit recently with two other top class West Cork products.

It was something of a supper meal over the weekend and we put the relish together with that excellent smoked duck from Ummera and a salad. Absolutely gorgeous, really tasty and quite filling.

The relish stayed on the table for the next course, basically some crackers and the top-drawer cheese from Gubbeen. Once again, we enjoyed a well balanced combination.

If you want to check out some recommended recipes why not visit the Folláin site here

With that kind of food at hand, wine was called for and I selected a Côtes du Rhone from the dwindling haul we brought back from Provence this summer. You may read all about the Plan de Dieu in the next post.

MAHON MARKET VARIETY

MAHON MARKET VARIETY

Click to enlarge

Many of you will know the Old Millbank   stall at the Mahon Point Farmers Market .  It is a regular stop of mine, usually for the fine Irish Organic smoked salmon, sometimes for the salmon fishcakes and also for the delicious salmon pâté.

Yesterday I noticed a different product there: hummus. There were two types, one with chilli. I had a taste of both and went for the regular type. They had a chart (pictured) on the stall detailing the benefits of Hummus. Looks a good bet!

Moved on a few yards and what did I see but more hummus, this at the Real Olive stall . They also had two varieties. Bought some semi-dried tomatoes here and also a scoop of olives.

Also called to the Natural Food Bakery stall and bought one of their white yeast loaves. A lovely bread and absolutely ideal for use with good quality jams, such as those from Follain  in West Cork.

Barry Tyner was in great form as usual. Never a shortage of tasty pâté samples here and delighted to get myself a big chunk of that chicken and brandy one, a lively starter to any meal! No shortage of vegetables in Mahon. Called to the Ballycurraginny Farm this time and a fiver bought a bunch of carrots, a bunch of parsnips and a turnip

.

Iain O’Flynn has quite an array of food on his stall; soups, pates, jams and prepared dishes. On this occasion, I was tempted most by the Lamb Tagine. Had this before and it is terrific.

Queues at the fish stalls but I was on the lookout for meat on this occasion and stopped at Martin Conroy’s Woodside Farm ( @Woodside_Farm ) for a great looking pork steak and a good chat. Another chat at the Glenilen  stand before we went off with one of their gorgeous cheesecakes.

Reckon that lot will keep us going for a day or two. Maybe three!

FOLLÁIN: MO GRÁ MÓR

FOLLÁIN: MO GRÁ MÓR

August in a sunny field picking blackberries. Boys and girls all around. Loads of mature briars growing, lots of black berries. Bees and wasps whizzing. Jar in hands as we push into the briars. A big can standing on the margins, probably the same can that is used to bring the milk from the farmer every evening.

Just a little reverie. Brought on after tasting the magical Blackberry jam made by Folláin in West Cork. It is the real thing. Gorgeous. Just like homemade. The only problem is that it could lead to eating too much bread.

And then I move on to the Blackcurrant in the sample box. That reminded me of the fields of blackcurrants and the gangs of us picking them at Dring’s Farm. And also all the more exotic fruit  in the high walled garden.

Looking forward to eating more of the quality Folláin jams! Perhaps the strawberry will remind me of days at the Rathcooney Fruit Farm. The raspberry of visits to Carriganarra.

By the way, where have all the fruit farms gone? Are there any left in Cork? Well, at least we have Folláin and their marvellous range.

Folláin, the Irish for wholesome, was started close on thirty years ago by Peadar and Máirín O'Lionáird in Cuil Aodha. Didn't realise they have been around since 1983. But they have, and their products, widely available, have won many awards.

They have a smashing website at http://www.follain.ie. It is well worth a visit. It even contains a whole bunch of recipes with loads of ideas of how to use their jams, preserves and relishes.