Taste of the Week. On the double: Raw honeycomb and Berliner Brot

Taste of the Week

On the double: Raw honeycomb and Berliner Brot

Just one little slice of Berliner Brot will bring you to sweet heaven.

Raw honeycomb is a real delicacy of nature and our joint Taste of the Week. It is also one of the most efficient ways of storing the honey and I picked up my current honeycomb from Galtee Honey at the recent Ballymaloe Craft Fair. It is delicious plus any superlative you’d like to add.

Aoife runs the Galtee Honey Farm, just off the R639 north east of Mitchelstown. The honey is 100% fresh floral honey from the Galtees. It is seasonal and you won't find too many more this year but no harm in trying!

The short "season" for Berliner Brot lasts from the first day of advent until these beautiful sweet snacks run out probably, unless you hide them away, before Christmas. Addicts (and that is what will happen to you!) have waited patiently the past 11 months for the comeback of the most delicious Christmas German biscuit. 

I got a little bagful from Ryes and Shine at the regular Saturday morning stall (10.00am to 12.00pm) at St Lukes Cross . Baker Angela says: This is my German family’s secret recipe. .. These biscuits are so heavenly delicious - they are a little soft, gooey on the inside, and are packed with cocoa and walnuts. 

Ryes and Shine (086/3565036) is a German microbakery in Cork, a member of  #realbreadireland, specialising in organic artisan sourdough breads, especially rye.

These "biscuits" are amazing. As Angela says: A perfect little gift - if not to someone else, then to yourself!

* By the way, in honour of the location and of the help she has received from Henchy's, Angela has produced a superb St Luke's loaf. Watch out for that also!

Taste of the Week. Galtee Honey Farm

Taste of the Week. 

Galtee Honey Farm Wildflower Honey

There is some excellent local honey available these days. But this Irish Wildflower Honey from Tipperary's Honey Farm is outstanding with an amazing flavour that just makes you take notice leaving the other side of the table wondering what's going on!

Well, what is going on is some natural magic by the bees of course and also by the producers Aoife and Micheál. All their honey is pure, raw and Irish, produced by our own native Irish bees. I'm not surprised to read this particular honey, our Taste of the Week, is their bestseller.

They say "It consists of honey from a variety of wild flower blossoms in the Irish countryside, including sycamore, horse chestnut, hawthorn, blackberry blossom and white clover. It is collected by the bees in late spring and summer. Every batch can be slightly different in flavour. All-natural good quality honey will eventually crystallise."

If you are in or near Cork City, stockists listed are:

The Roughty Foodie, English Market (Wildflower Honey, Ivy Honey, Comb Honey, Beeswax Candles and Balms)
Bradley’s, North Main St (Wildflower Honey)

On the Pig’s Back, Douglas (Wildflower Honey, Comb Honey)

Nolan’s Butcher’s, Shandon St (Wildflower Honey)

You can check out their website (with the full list of stockists) here. 

Tipperary Food Producers launch Artisan Food Hamper

Tipperary Food Producers launch Artisan Food Hamper                       

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Offering a taste of Tipperary to the nation of Ireland, The Tipperary Food Producers, a network of Tipperary’s artisan food and beverage producers has launched a new “Taste of Tipperary” Hamper in conjunction with Hampers & Co, Ireland’s leading luxury hamper company which was founded in Tipperary in 1993. 

The luxury hamper features products from ten Tipperary producers, with many award-winning products among the selection. 

Creating a Tipperary Hamper offering has been a goal of the Tipperary Food Producers said Con Traas, Chairman of the network which was established in 2008. Commenting, Con said, “We are delighted to launch our first ‘Taste of Tipperary’ hamper and to share some of the fantastic food and beverage products produced here in Tipperary. As a network, we have discussed on many occasions about creating a Tipperary hamper offering, available year-round. I guess you could say that the recent lockdown has given us that extra “push” to get this initiative up and running and we are thrilled to be working with Hampers & Co on this Tipperary collaboration. We are very proud of our homegrown produce here in Tipperary and we hope that everyone can enjoy a taste of Tipperary no matter where they are in the country.”

With something for everyone to enjoy in the hamper, products include; The Apple Farm – Con’s Apple Cider; 3 Men in a Trailer - Artisan Ketchup; Cooleeney Farmhouse Cheese; Cashel Farmhouse Cheesemakers - Cashel Blue Cheese; Crossogue Preserves Chutney; Vera Miklas Freeze Dried Strawberries; Rivesci’s Cashew Chilli Crush; Irish Hedgerow, Elderflower Refresher drink; Galtee Honey Farm, Wildflower Honey and Ayle Farm’s homemade granola. 

Commenting on the collaboration, Thurles native Emer Purcell and founder of Hampers & Co said, “I am very proud to partner with the Tipperary Food Producers to create this wonderful Hamper. Since I established Hampers & Co over 27 years ago, I have featured many products from Tipperary’s food producers in our hampers and they have always been much loved by everyone. When the opportunity came around to collaborate with the Tipperary Food Producers to create ‘A Taste of Tipperary’, I jumped at the chance. It’s great to reconnect with my home county and to celebrate Tipperary’s wealth of artisan food and beverage producers.”

The “Taste of Tipperary” Hamper is €70 and for more information and to purchase visit www.tipperaryfoodproducers.ie or hampersandco.com

Taste of the Week. Galtee Honey Farm Honeycomb

Taste of the Week

Galtee Honey Farm Honeycomb 

No problem finding a subject this week. Quite a few good things to be found in the food emporium of the Ballymaloe Craft Fair last week. And I was delighted to find this honeycomb from Galtee Irish Honey, our current and delicious Taste of the Week. Local and seasonal. “That is more or less the last of them, they are running out,” Aoife Mac Giolla Coda told. Their honey is 100% fresh floral honey from the Galtees.

Aoife runs the the Galtee Honey Farm, just off the R639 north east of Mitchelstown along with her father and founder Micheál who was also on duty in Ballymaloe. Bothe are both certified lecturers in beekeeping. Micheál is also a qualified honey judge, having judged in honey competitions and shows both nationally and internationally. Their honey is 100% fresh floral honey from the Galtees.

The farm, established in 1970, has some 170 hives in the Galtee Vee Valley stretching across Tipperary, Limerick and Cork. The bees collect from a variety of  fauna including blackberry blossom and clover. By the way, no need to keep your honey in the fridge; room temperature is fine and, by the way, while honey has many health-giving benefits, please note that is not suitable for children under 12 months.

Aoife and Micheál plan to have farm tours up and running next year and we’ll update you on that as soon as details are available.

Galtee Irish Honey Farm 

Burncourt

Cahir

Co. Tipperary

Meet The Producers. All Winners at Blas2017 in Dingle

Meet The Producers

All Winners at Blas2017 in Dingle

(This is Part Two on the evening in the bank. See Part One here.)

Aoife of Galtee Honey

Bank of Ireland Startups, who helped get the successful Backyard feature off the ground during this year’s Blas Awards in Dingle, hosted a number of follow-up events last Tuesday, including one at their premises in Patrick Street, Cork. Joe McNamee was the moderator for the evening and the principal speakers were Artie Clifford of Blas and local chef Kate Lawlor. After the welcome and introductions, Joe asked Aoife of Galtee Honey Farm  to tell her story.

Aoife was brought into bee-keeping by her father and she said provenance was very important. “Genuine Irish honey has great flavour and complexity. It is because of our great bio-diversity, different flowers, different flavours. The native Irish black bees are under threat and we as a group are trying to preserve them”.

“Labelling is a problem, the public can be misled quite easily. Do check the label. Blas can help with awareness. Quality will cost more so Irish will cost more. This summer was great, we won't be running out of honey before the next harvest.”

Francis, a West Cork man, is with North Cork Creameries. “It is a small co-op, one of the originals. We sell milk and butter under our Kanturk brand and we also supply Supervalu. The butter is available in the Kanturk area and in Supervalus in the region generally.” Joe added that a lot of the milk in the supermarkets is not coming from the cattle you see grazing in the Republic’s fields but from indoor herds across the border.

Francis of North Cork Creameries

All of the producer speakers were winners at Blas 2017 and Avril, representing Caherbeg Pork, Ross-carbery Recipes,  and, most recently, Rosscarbery Biltong, is no stranger to Blas awards. 

Son Maurice is following in her footsteps with the Biltong, a dried beef product of African origin. Indeed, the machines used in West Cork are from Africa. Both Maurice and brother William are big into fitness and that inspired the move. He wouldn't be an Allshire if he didn't focus on quality and he does. Had a taste the other evening and no wonder it won a silver in Dingle. Seaweed and spice have been added and it is a handy and well priced packet.

Avril (Rosscarbery Recipes) and, right, Kate Lawlor

Avril just loves Blas and Dingle: “Food is at the core of it but the people make it. You are never on your own.”

More butter, but with a twist, as Mary and Billy from Waterford took to the stage with their Irish Gourmet Butter. They are in the early stages of development but still advanced enough to feature in Dingle where their Garlic & Herb stood out. Their butter is flavoured: cranberry and orange and Cointreau (have it with the Christmas pud) and cinnamon and honey (ideal on French Toast) are two examples. They are building on a long family tradition as Granny was an All-Ireland Butter Champion so food is in the family.

Artie and Tom Durcan (right)

Tom Durcan is a spice beef master and the Corkman is a huge supporter of the Blas Awards. “When I won in Blas, I milked it, got great contracts from it. It is definitely the most honest food competition going. To win, or even to be a finalist, opens doors. Do something, do it right, the world’s your oyster. Blas is a fantastic road for anyone in food to take. Great help available there. Thanks to Artie and to everyone involved.”

Sarah from Nut Case hasn't got quite the long experience of Tom but she too acknowledged the value of Blas. Their nut burger won gold this year. “It makes such a difference to us when we call to the shops.” We is Sarah and husband Mick who, in 2006, was made redundant. But he then took the 12-week course in Ballymaloe and they began checking their aunt’s nut business in the UK.

Sarah of Nut Case

They started Nut Case with a Nut Roast but after entering the SuperValu Academy found that their burger was outselling the roast. So they concentrated on the burger and their judgement was confirmed with that gold in Dingle. It is popular and they have many repeat customers. They place great value too on Farmers Markets, learning from the feed back.

“It is still early days, still doing it all by hand. Very time consuming but very satisfying. We are now included on the Body Chef menu so it’s a good success story for us”.

Joe McNamee then asked Kate Lawlor if she had any concerns for the Irish food story and she pointed to misleading labels and Artie agreed. They both hope that education in food, from an early age, can help counter this problem. And both agreed that if your product is being misrepresented, that you are fully entitled to shout long and loud about it.

Mary and Billy of Gourmet Butter
talk to Joe McNamee (left)

But McNamee wanted to finish on a positive note and prompted the main pair. Kate: “We are getting known for our food culture. We are value for money. We need to keep the small suppliers going. It is an exciting time.”

Artie: “I’d like to see it continue as it’s going, state agencies and producer groups pulling together. We have the raw ingredients and they are now being better used, the freshest, the best, all driven by passion, our biggest selling point. From bar food to silver service, the quality of Irish food is high and can improve even further.”

Reckon Joe got his wish there. And we had all seen the passion from the producers on the night. Consumers are key too. Check that label and buy local, fresh and fair. The more we pull together the further we can go.

This is Part Two on the evening in the bank. See Part One here.