Taste of the Week
Ummera Smoked Picanha
Ummera Smoked Picanha Organic Irish Aberdeen Angus Beef, to give it the full title, is our Taste of the Week. The product was first introduced a few years back and was awarded the Best New Organic Product at the
Convenient Food from the English Market!
You want to avoid being stuck in the kitchen on a hot summer's day - and we will have them! You'd prefer to be in the garden enjoying some nice food.
Here's one suggested meal solution, based on a quick visit to the English Market. "Ingredients" include the always superb Smoked Chicken from Ummera (buy at the Good Food shop). The Sushi is available from the Maki stall. The olives were a present from Spain while the Glenilen Mango and Passionfruit Cheesecake is widely available from various farmers' markets and Dunnes Stores.
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| Ummera Smoked Chicken is added to |
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| Margaret Jeffares, Founder and Managing Director of Good Food Ireland, and Simon Coveney T.D., Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment at launch of highly-coveted Good Food Ireland Awards. |
Good Food Ireland® is delighted to announce the shortlisted finalists for its highly-regarded awards. County Cork was revealed to have an impressive 14 finalists shortlisted – the most of any county in Ireland.
The winners are due to be revealed at a high-profile business lunch taking place on Monday 17th April at The K Club, County Kildare.
The awards are unique in their cross-sector approach and core criteria around commitment to local Irish produce and the organisers are delighted to have them back after the Covid enforced gap. They aim to enhance linkages between agriculture and tourism and present significant opportunities for stimulating local production, retaining tourism earnings in the local area, and improving the distribution of economic benefits of tourism to the four corners of the island.
An independent panel of Irish and International leaders including Founder and Managing Director of Good Food Ireland® Margaret Jeffares, journalists John Wilson and Amii McKeever, IFAC Consultant Stephanie Walsh and Executive Chairman and Owner of Odyssey International Kevin Shannon, shortlisted the nominees from those businesses approved by Good Food Ireland®, subject to meeting strict criteria through onsite inspection. The expert panel will select the overall winner following mystery inspections and assessments.
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| The winners are due to be revealed at a high-profile business lunch taking place on Monday 17th April at The K Club (above), County Kildare. |
Featuring across 10 different categories, the County Cork businesses who made the shortlist are:
Hotel Of The Year – Hayfield Manor and Celtic Ross Hotel
Culinary Haven Of The Year – Ballymaloe House Hotel
Restaurant Of The Year – Fishy Fishy
Pub Of The Year – The Lifeboat Inn
Shop Of The Year – The Roughty Foodie
Food Truck Of The Year – The Garden Cafe Truck at Ballymaloe Cookery School and CRAFT West Cork at The Celtic Ross Hotel
Excellence In Food Tourism Award – Ballymaloe Cookery School Organic Farm & Gardens
Producer Of The Year (Fish & Seafood) – Ummera Smoked Products and "K'O'Connell Fish Merchants”
Producer Of The Year (Bakery & Chocolate) – Koko Kinsale and Praline
Producer Of The Year (Drinks) – Five Farms Irish Cream Liqueur
The public also has the opportunity to cast their votes for their favourite places across the island of Ireland in the Food Lovers Choice Award. The shortlist will be drawn from the finalists in all other categories. Online voting will commence on Tuesday 7th March and remain open until Monday 20th March.
Other awards of recognition will include Outstanding Contribution to Food Production, Outstanding Contribution to Irish Food/Drink Internationally and Lifetime Achievement Award.
Returning for the first time since pre-Covid, the awards – proudly sponsored by Kerrygold, Irish Farmers Association, Bord Bia, Tourism Ireland and National Dairy Council – will be opened by guest of honour, Simon Coveney T.D., Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and attended by some 300 guests including business owners, Irish and international chefs, buyers, food and drink writers, media and industry leaders. Anita Mendiratta, Special Advisor to the Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, will deliver the afternoon’s Key Note speech.
Margaret Jeffares, Founder and Managing Director of Good Food Ireland® says: "There is great excitement around the return of The Good Food Ireland® Awards this year to celebrate the successful collaboration of cross-sector businesses working together for inclusive economic growth.
“All of those wonderful businesses who have made the shortlist are a committed collection of passionate and driven people who genuinely capture the essence of Ireland's food and drink, setting it in a cultural context to inspire travellers, international consumers and locals to seek out real authenticity and Irish provenance. All the judges would like to extend our congratulations to them all and wish everyone the best of luck for the 17th April."
See the full shortlist of finalists below. For full details on the individual awards, tickets to the event, and general information about Good Food Ireland® visit goodfoodireland.ie
About the Awards:
The 2023 Good Food Ireland® Awards are proudly sponsored by Kerrygold, Irish Farmers Association, Tourism Ireland, Bord Bia, IFAC and National Dairy Council.
All businesses approved by Good Food Ireland, subject to meeting strict criteria through onsite inspection, are eligible for the awards. An independent panel of industry experts will create a shortlist of finalists in each of the award categories. Following further onsite mystery inspection and assessment the winners will be selected. The public will also have an opportunity to vote from a shortlist of finalists for their Favourite Place to Eat, Favourite Food or Drink Producer or Favourite Place to Shop in each of the tourism regions across the island of Ireland.
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| Norma Kelly of Mitchelstown's Praline displays some of her delicious sweet things! |
FULL 2023 GOOD FOOD IRELAND® AWARDS FINALISTS
Hotel Of The Year
Grand Central Hotel Belfast
Hayfield Manor, Cork
Celtic Ross Hotel, Cork
Anantara The Marker Dublin Hotel, Dublin
The Merrion, Dublin
The Europe Hotel & Resort, Kerry
The K Club, Kildare
The Dunraven Adare, Limerick
Culinary Haven Of The Year
The Bushmills Inn, Co Antrim
Killeavy Castle Estate, Armagh
Ballymaloe House Hotel, Cork
BrookLodge & Macreddin Village, Wicklow
Killeen House Hotel & Rozzers Restaurant, Kerry
Cashel House Hotel, Galway
Rathmullan House, Donegal
Ghan House, Louth
Restaurant Of The Year
Fish City, Antrim
An Port Mor, Mayo
Prime 74, Tipperary
The Lemon Tree Restaurant, Donegal
Potager Restaurant, Dublin
Woodruff Restaurant, Dublin
Aniar, Galway
Fishy Fishy, Cork
Hugo's, Dublin
Pub Of The Year
The King's Head, Galway
The Glyde Inn, Louth
The Tavern Bar & Restaurant, Mayo
Harte's of Kildare, Kildare
Mikey Ryan's Bar & Kitchen, Tipperary
The Lifeboat Inn, Cork
The Oarsman, Leitrim
Rusty Mackerel, Donegal
Café Of The Year
Sweet n Green, Clare
Kelly's Kitchen Café, Newport
Farmhouse Café & Bakery, Dublin
GROW HQ, Waterford
Fennelly's of Callan, Kilkenny
The Hungry Bear Café, Wexford
Barrons Bakery & Coffee House, Waterford
Kelly's Café, Wexford
Shop Of The Year
The Roughty Foodie, Cork
Country Choice, Tipperary
Buddy's Farmers Market, Dublin
Brogan's Butchers, Meath
Cavistons Seafood Restaurant & Food Emporium, Dublin
Leaf & Larder Delicatessen & Bakery, Kerry
Firecastle, Kildare
Food Truck Of The Year
The Garden Cafe Truck at Ballymaloe Cookery School, Cork
CRAFT West Cork at The Celtic Ross Hotel, Cork
Koha Street Kitchen, Sligo
SEABISCUIT at The Strand Cahore, Wexford
Sustainability Award
GROW HQ, Waterford
BrookLodge & Macreddin Village, Wicklow
Connemara Smokehouse, Galway
Oriel Sea Salt, Louth
Fish City, Antrim
Atlantis of Kilmore Quay, Wexford
O' Shea Farms, Kilkenny
Excellence In Food Tourism Award
Long Meadow Cider, Armagh
Burren Smokehouse & Visitor Centre, Clare
Ballymaloe Cookery School Organic Farm & Gardens, Cork
Wilde Irish Chocolates, Clare
Vintage Tea Trips, Dublin
The Glyde Inn, Louth
Coppenagh House Farm, Carlow
Producer Of The Year – Fruit & Vegetables
"Garryhinch Wood Exotic Mushrooms", Offaly
The Apple Farm, Tipperary
O'Shea Farms, Waterford
Kearns Fruit Farm, Wexford
Producer Of The Year - Meat
Coppenagh House Farm, Carlow
Market House Ennistymon, Clare
Calvey's Achill Mountain Lamb, Mayo
Jane Russell's Original Irish Sausages, Kildare
Kelly's of Newport, Mayo
Donabate Dexter, Dublin
Producer Of The Year - Fish & Seafood
Burren Smokehouse, Clare
Ummera Smoked Products, Cork
"K'O'Connell Fish Merchants ", Cork
Realt na Mara Shellfish, Kerry
Atlantis of Kilmore Quay, Wexford
Producer Of The Year – Bakery & Chocolate
Koko Kinsale, Cork
Praline, Cork
Jinny's Bakery & Tea Rooms, Leitrim
Walshe's Bakehouse, Waterford
Ditty's Bakery, Derry
Producer Of The Year - Drinks
Armagh Cider Company, Armagh
Jackford Irish Gin, Wexford
Western Herd Brewing Company, Clare
Five Farms Irish Cream Liqueur, Cork
Dew Drop Inn & Brewhouse, Kildare
Producer Of The Year - Dairy
Glastry Farm Ice Cream, Down
The Village Dairy, Carlow
Freezin Friesian, Waterford
Killowen Farm, Wexford
Boyne Valley Farmhouse Cheese, Meath
Producer Of The Year - Jams & Savoury
Wexford Home Preserves, Wexford
Leahy Beekeeping, Galway
Achill Island Sea Salt, Mayo
Wild Irish Foragers & Preservers, Offaly
Harnett's Oils, Down
Keogh's Crisps, Dublin
Producer of the Year
Supreme Award
Outstanding Contribution to Food Production
Outstanding Contribution to Irish Food and Drink Internationally
Lifetime Achievement Award
Kiely’s of Cork. Maylor Street Chipper With A Difference.
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| Ummera Smoked Chicken |
Now though, in 2022, Kinsale’s Blue Haven have revamped the premises and have also revamped the menu; it is still fish and chips but the new crew have added a few attractive touches of their own. For instance, how many chippers do Ummera Smoked Chicken fritters? How many offer dessert?
But let us start with the basics. They have three versions of their homemade chips; you may have them with a Garlic Aioli, Guacamole, or Parmesan and Truffle Mayonaisse.
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| Catch of the Day |
Move on up the menu a bit and you see Seafood Croquettes with tartare sauce and those Ummera Smoked Chicken Fritters. They don’t mention that both of these also come on a base of fries. Indeed, they are two substantial enough boxes. The croquettes are packed full of fish and the chicken fritters, all six of them, are delicious, especially with that tomato relish.
For another few euro, the choice increases again. And they include Homemade Chips with 56 hour sous vide beef stew and crispy shallot. Also the Homemade Chips with Pulled Chicken Thai Curry, radish, chilies and Sesame seeds. How about the Chip Butty (Cuthbert’s White Sliced Pan, Seafood croquette, tartare sauce, crunchy slaw and homemade chips)?
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| Fish croquettes |
The €14.50 Catch of the Day (tempura haddock, prawn, calamari, with homemade chips, sesame seed, lemon and Kiely’s Special Sauce) also falls into that category. It is delicious and a meal in itself.
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| Extra sauce for one euro |
But if you could, they have Churro with deep fried banana, strawberry or chocolate sauce. Are Kiely’s the only chipper that offer dessert?
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| Scampi and Togarashi sauce |
Like most chippers, it is not a sit-down premises, though there are a couple of small tables outside on the street. Kiely’s is well set up for online ordering. Make your choices, click and collect. Our order was close to being ready when we called (we were a little early) and they handed out a chip or two as we waited and soon the lovely chatty crew had us on our way.
Festival Food & Drink Favourites 2021
Eight Degrees and Bakestone in Happy Holiday Pairing
What were your food and drink favourites over the Christmas and New Year?
I’d say one of mine came at the end of the Christmas Day Dinner when we matched the Bakestone Pudding with a shared can of Eight Degrees Irish Oak-aged Barleywine. At 12.2% abv, this is a heavy hitter and needs respect. Pour a little into a wine glass and sip and enjoy. It went perfectly with the pudding from East Cork (you’ll find Bakestone at Cobh Cross - they’ve been there for years and, as well as a popular café, have a magnificent pantry of top notch Irish produce).
The Eight Degrees’ aromatic and multi-flavoured seasonal special was aged in especially rare Irish whiskey barrels that have been made from native Irish oak. Not alone did it pair with the rich and dark pudding but it also went well with the light and delicious Christmas cake from Barnabrow House (bought at Roughty Foodie) and also with the cheese course, notably with the Crozier Blue (via On The Pig’s Back).
Bubbles are usually associated with the festivities at this time of year and I was lucky to have a couple of delicious bottles of Prosecco on hand, each by Bottega. The Gold Prosecco Brut impressed for sure but it was the Bottega Rose Gold that really caught my attention. It is a terrific Spumante Brut rose, made from Pinot Noir grapes grown throughout the Veneto.
The hand painted bottles are not only eye-catching but "reflect the quality and care put into producing this wine”. Bottega do not use chemical-based products for their metallised bottles; this means the solvent for the varnish is water-based, instead of being oil or alcohol-based like more traditional varnishes.
It wasn’t just Prosecco of course. There was wine. We won’t go into too much detail just to say that we had an impressive pair via Liberty Wine for dinner on the big day. From South Africa came the Western Cape Momento, the country’s only Grenache Gris. And we made it a lovely Grenache double with the red, a Willunga 100 from the McLaren Vale in Australia.
You always need something extra to bring the best out of all the good stuff on the table at Christmas and two jars in particular were in regular use here. One was the Big Red Kitchen’s Spiced Plum and Port Jam and the other was the seasonal Ballymaloe Foods Cranberry and Mór Wild Berry Gin Sauce.
The Spiced Plum and Port Jam is very versatile, a match with paté, cheese and duck and we find it outstanding with Skeaghanore smoked duck breast and gives the Skeaghanore Confit Leg sweet hint of Asia. This year it also impressed with the Bakestone pudding. Nicola of the Red Kitchen combines ripe plums with a hint of warming cinnamon and port in this excellent seasonal preserve which is also wonderful with scones and bread. It won’t go to waste around here.
And neither did the Ballymaloe Foods Cranberry and Mór Wild Berry Gin Sauce. It certainly did what it says on the jar and enhanced the turkey (and the other meats) no end and also impressed when used with the cheese board. This blend of cranberries and the Irish gin proved indispensable over the week.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Cork Christmas without a helping of spiced beef on the table. No shortage here thankfully and, supplied (like the turkey and ham) by local craft butcher Chris Davidson, it was once again a highlight. Turkey and ham was pretty good too!
Another highlight was our order from Ummera Smokehouse in Timoleague, a box packed with chicken, duck, salmon (two ways), even rashers, all smoked and all delicious as always. Good use was made of this package over the holidays. Nothing like a bit of variety over the hols.
We did indeed use the Ummera smoked chicken on New Year’s Eve and later there were more holiday bubbles. It was now the turn of a super Beaumont des Crayères Vintage 2013 Fleur Blanche Blanc de Blancs Brut (via O’Briens Wines) to shine. Intense and exciting from the engaging first sip, with fountains of micro-bubbles powering upwards, with biscuity aromas and flavours and floral notes too, this is one of the better ones for sure. It is made from 100% Chardonnay and obviously 2013 was a very good year.
Let us hope that 2022 will also be a good one. Happy New Year to you all and fingers crossed that it will be better for all of us.
Back in November 2009, at O'Donovan's Wine Show in Cork city, I tasted a new product from Ummera, the smokehouse on the banks of the Adrigeen River in Timoleague. Ummera's Anthony Cresswell had just opened the pack and was wondering what the reaction was going to be. I was blown away by the texture and the succulent flavour and so too were many people that followed me that evening.
It certainly had the wow factor and they entered it in the 2010 Great Taste Awards and were thrilled to receive not only a 3 Star Gold Award but they also were honoured with their first Oscar, the Golden Fork for the best Irish Speciality Food of the year. (They won another Golden Fork this year, for their smoked salmon, story here.)
The duck is marinated in a brine of sea salt and raw cane sugar, then hot smoked over oak sawdust fires, the flavour and succulence of the duck breast is amazing; serve on a slice of ripe pear and a trace of light vinaigrette sauce – magic! And enjoy it all!
For at least the second time, Anthony's Smoked Duck is our Taste of the Week. At the weekend, we used the recipe below (from an old Ummera leaflet). We had to adapt it as we didn't have every ingredient (no pomegranate, for instance) but it worked out very well indeed.
Tip Top Tapas and a lovely experience at Vikki's in Sunday's Well
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| Camembert |
“Wild mushroom and truffle arancini”
“Tempura prawn, wasabi mayo”
“Burrata, tomatoes, olives and sour dough”
“Mackerel Pate and watercress salad”
“Wild mushroom bruschetta”
“Miso glazed tofu, sesame and smoked almond crumbs”
All and more chalked on the tempting Tapas Board at Vikki’s (which comes under the Blue Haven wing) in Sunday’s Well.
Add in the Charcuterie board (Ballinwillin goat salami, bresaola, Serrano ham, Ummera smoked duck, salami, olives and croutons). Plus the Cheeseboard of Cashel Blue cheese, Hegarty's cheddar, Macroom mozzarella, Taleggio, Knockanore vintage red cheddar, sundried tomatoes, Ballymaloe relish, grapes, crackers, apple chutney. I could see I was in for a tapas treat.
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| Yakitori |
And that it would be enhanced by some excellent wines. Quite a few whites by the glass including the Blue Haven Collection Sauvignon Blanc by Better Half in Marlborough, New Zealand, and reds too such as the Johnny Q Shiraz-Viognier (South Australia). Fancy a full bottle? No bother. I can rarely resist a Gruner Veltliner and they have the Peter Scheiger Kogelberg among their whites, while the red list includes Chateau Maucoil Chateauneuf-du-Pape (Rhone, France).
No shortage of sparkling or rosé either. And they also offer local drinks in bottle such as Blacks of Kinsale KPA and Stonewell Cider Medium Dry, each a favourite of mine. As we started making tapas decisions, we sipped two terrific whites, the Abadia de Seixo Albariño and the Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. The Marlborough has been created in partnership between The Blue Haven Collection and Better Half Wines Marlborough, a small family winery sourcing premium grapes from thirteen hard-working, local growers in the Wairau and Awatere Valleys. Each was impressive in its own way.
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| Cauliflower |
Soon our opening tapas were on the table and the sharing began. The cauliflower pakora with its mint yogurt was a pleasant opener but it was the Chicken Yakitori that came with its crunchy slaw and spicy dip that stole the opening act of a very pleasant and satisfactory meal. All part of an easy-going evening with pleasant and good humoured staff who knew the menu and had time for a chat and a laugh or two.
I often feel that local chefs can better display their talents through smaller dishes and indeed we often agree that we would sometimes prefer to eat nothing but starters on certain occasions. And this is more or less what we were doing here because the tapas portions are equal in quantity to many starters.
Quantity and quality came together again in our next double. First up was the Baked Camembert with chutney and sourdough. Another superb dish, another highlight of the evening, the experience enhanced no end by the stunning plum chutney.
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| Cauliflower |
We had now moved on to a couple of red wines. One was Organic “Authentico” Bobal Tempranillo, an excellent tapas wine, a rounded, fruity and persistent blend of Bobal and Tempranillo organic vines by Covinas. Bobal is a relatively unknown grape despite being widely planted in Spain. As it turned out, we both leaned towards our other red, the “Original” Malbec by Rigal, from the South of France, a smooth fruity and harmonious wine.
The Bobal Tempranillo really came into its own with the Wild boar and Gubbeen cheese croquettes, perhaps the least photogenic of our tapas, but packed full of robust flavours and a delight to dispatch, especially with the lively sauce on which they were laid.
Would we like dessert? Reluctantly, we shook our heads, even though earlier we had put an eye on the Tunisian almond and orange cake in the short selection. We had enjoyed our tapas and the wine and the evening in Vikki’s and decided to call a halt!
You’ll find all the details, opening times and menus, on their website here and stay up to date with last minute changes by checking their Facebook page. By the way, their Covid 19 precautions are some of the most impressive around. Delighted to take up an invite to visit this comfortable venue.
Tapas are served here from Wednesday to Sunday. They also do lunch and brunch - see social media. Below is a screenshot of their Christmas opening times (subject to Covid changes).
