Dinner From Just One Stall. Market Meal #7

One Stall Dinner

Market Meal #7

This is the latest in a series of Market Meals. The difference here is that the meal comes from just one stall and that is the relatively new Fresh from West Cork initiative in the English Market, just opposite the renowned Chicken Inn.

And another difference is that I’ve had a  bit of fun matching the four courses to beers. Since four beers is hardly enough for a growing boy, I’ve done it twice. Match One is with Cork beers while Match Two is with Porterhouse Beers.

Thanks to the ever patient Michael Creedon of Bradley's Off Licence for his knowledgeable help with selecting the beers but the final pick was mine! Don't want you  going into North Main Street and blaming Michael if your local favourite is not on the list.

Back now to Fresh from West Cork. Walter Ryan-Purcell is the face behind this “cooperative” effort from the west and close to forty producers are represented so it wasn't that difficult to get enough for a four course dinner. Indeed there were many options.

It just illustrates that you can do all your food shopping in the English Market. Maybe not all at Fresh from West Cork - they don't do fresh fish, for example - but you’ll be spoilt for choice if you wander around the wider market

Starter: Union Hall Smoked Salmon with Lemon Labneh by McCarthy’s Natural Dairies.

Cork Beer: Green Bullet Ale (Mountain Man).

Porterhouse: Hersbrucker Pilsner.

The smoked salmon, served with a little salad, was quite rich and the creamy Labneh added to the texture. Might have been better served on a Ryvita cracker or similar. Both beers worked well though in different ways. The Ale added more flavour while the Pilsner, not lacking in flavour, provided a nice cutting edge, a contrast against all the creaminess. One up to the Porterhouse team!

Mains: Gubben Traditional Dry Cured Smoked Bacon with vegetables from Peter Ross.

Cork Beer: Blacks Black IPA (Blacks, Kinsale).

Porterhouse: An Brain Blásta Strong Ale.

The Gubbeen bacon, smoked and lightly peppered, was sensational, the star of the night. With its fantastic texture and flavour, it was out on its own. The beers were both good matches; the Black perhaps best taken with bacon on the palate, the PH between bites! An Brain Blásta (even at 7%abv) doesn't mean brain blaster. It is Irish for The Tasty Drop.

Cheese: Loughbeg Farm hard Goat Cheese with Yellow Zucchini Relish also by Loughbeg.

Cork Beer: Friar Weisse (Franciscan Well).

Porterhouse: Red Ale.

The gorgeous crumbly cheese didn't seem to be getting on too well with the spiced up relish. Until the Friar Weisse was introduced. The local wheat beer transformed the potential discord into a very edible treat. A terrific match. Porterhouse don't make a wheat beer and through no fault of its own their Red Ale couldn't quite replicate the feat of the Friar here. Still, it was a nice way to pass the longish interval to dessert. That makes it 1.5 each for the beer teams.

Dessert: Yummy Tummy’s Brownies with Glenilen Clotted Cream.

Cork Beer: Knockmedown Porter (Eight Degrees).

Porterhouse: Oyster Stout.

Let me get this straight. Yummy Tummy’s Brownies are ace. Glenilen Clotted Cream is ace. You're on a winner. Now, add Knockmedown Porter (Eight Degrees) and you have a jackpot combination! Irresistible! That gave the edge to the Cork beer team, 2.5 to 1.5. The Oyster Stout, a gem in its own right, didn't have quite the same impact in the sweet finale to a smashing West Cork dinner.

Fresh from West Cork. In the heart of the city!

Fresh from West Cork

In the heart of the city!

A big welcome from Walter.

Have you visited the Fresh from West Cork stall in the English Market? With over thirty producers from the area participating (more joining all the time), it's like have a mini-farmers market every day in the heart of the city.

Walter Ryan-Purcell is the friendly face of the project and he'll guide you through the many tempting products on offer. You’ll be familiar with many of the names: Ummera Smoked Products, Milleens cheese, Durrus cheese, Irish Atlantic Sea Salt, Glenilen Butter, Milk and Clotted Cream!, Rosscarbery Recipes, Gubbeen...

You’ll almost certainly have heard of Sally Barnes and her Woodcock Smokery products but do you know of her gorgeous Salmon Butter? Or have you heard of the gluten free cakes  by Caroline Weese from the Oasis Bakery in Durrus?

Walter is very proud (but you have to drag it out of him!) of the products coming from Loughbeg Farm, run by himself and his wife. Watch out in particular for their Yellow Zucchini Relish and the Courgette and Ginger Jam. There are other breads, brown (with oats) and currant, and a marvellous Tea Brack, there as well.

No shortage of vegetables either with fresh stuff coming in regularly from Peter Ross in Drimoleague and Kathleen Hilliard in Goleen. And meat? Try Madeleine McKeever’s organic beef and the gluten free sausages by Rosscarbery. And fabulous pies (you must try the beef and potato) from West Cork Pies in Schull.

Don't stop now. Keep filling that bag. Try the marvellous organic apple juice by Lisheen Organics, the red cabbage Sauerkraut from Hayley Milthrope of the Cultured Food Company, Mr Pettersen’s Raspberry Extra (a perfect present for the gourmet in your life), the hand made cakes (love the brownies) by Yummy Tummy from Schull, and the Mung Bean Burgers by April Danann of Skibbereen.

And still you have more to choose from like Goat’s cheese, milk and yogurt from Orchard Cottage, McCarthy’s yogurts and more, Union Hall kippers, Mella’s Fudge, various dressings from Glebe Gardens, Clonakilty Chocolate, jams from Hillcrest, marmalade by Casey’s of Baltimore……….

It is a small stall but there is a something of a revolution going on here, a surging tide of top class foods, available six days a week. Fresh from West Cork is new to the market and the stall should soon be improved with better shelving and layout.

Delicious Tea Brack

The enthusiastic Walter also told me about some other new developments. They expect to have a website up and running soon and one of the items you'll be able to order online will be their BoscAbhaile. You may fill this box from the market products; packaging and delivery to any part of the 32 counties will cost ten euro. 

And the good news doesn't stop there. A new base is being prepared in Ballydehob, in the heart of the west, and here producers will be able to share facilities, advice and experiences, and you can be sure even more products will be flowing from the west to the stall in the market. Watch that space!


List of suppliers (more to come!)

1.Loughbeg Farm Foods Limited, Schull, Co. Cork, Josephine Ryan-Purcell (Goats milk, goats milk soft cheese, soft cream cheese with herbs, goats milk yogurt, strawberry, raspberry, chocolate, vanilla and banana goats milk ice cream, fresh herbs, chillies, dried herbs, tomato chutney, apple chutney, cucumber pickle, courgette & ginger jam, and vegetable soups).

2. Rossbrin Foods, Ballydehob (vegetables including melons, butternut squash, peppers, broad beans, french beans, runner beans, rainbow and Swiss chard, peas, carrots, nero di tuscana kale, red Russian kale, curly kale, asparagus kale, potatoes, beetroot, turnips, celery, asparagus, watercress, fresh salads, herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, Romanesque, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, courgettes, and fruit)

3. John Pettersen, Goleen (Raspberry Vinaigrette, Raspberry Extra, and mustards);

4. West Cork Cheeses. Gubbeen, Milleens, Durrus, Ardagh Castle goats cheese. Also Gubbeen cheese biscuits.

5. Smoked salmon, duck, game and chicken, and salmon butter and pates from Sally Barnes, Woodcock Smokery, Castletownshend, Ummera Salmon, Timoleague, Union Hall Smoked Fish Company, and more fish products from Clonakilty Cuisine, and John Kearney, Fastnet Catch, Skibbereen.

6. Salamis, pepperoni, bacon, and Chorizo, from Gubbeen Smokehouse, Schull;

7. Strawberries from Busby’s, Rosscarbery.

8. Mella's Fudge, Lissavaird;

9. Oat Bread and Fruit loaf from June Kingston, Skibbereen.

10. Home produced biscuits and some bakery products (including tea brack, apple tarts, quiches, and almond cake): Caroline Weese ‘Oasis Baking’, Durrus, Patricia Love, Knockeen, Skibbereen, Eithne McCarthy, Skibbereen.

11. Crepe Francais, crepes and buckwheat gallettes;

12. Jams, chutneys, and apple jelly, Jean Perry, Glebe Gardens, Baltimore.

13. Apple Cider Vinegar and spelt bread, Gary and Eleanor Murphy, Ballydehob;

14. Irish Atlantic Sea Salt, Cahermore, Beara Peninsula;

15. Hayley Milthorpe, The Cultured Food Company, Skibbereen, Fermented food products;

16. Hillcrest Jams, Drimoleague;

17. Breads: The Baking Emporium, Dunmanway, and another small baker in Ballineen.

18. Waterbuffalo and free range meat products: Beara Pigs: Leo and Erin O’Shea.

19. Tim York, Lisheen Organics – asparagus and tomatoes (in season) and a good range of organic vegetables. Apple Juice;

20. Honey: Knockeen Honey, Noel Love, Knockeen, Skibbereen.

21. Pork Pies, Steak and Kidney Pies, Scotch Eggs, West Cork Pies, Schull.

22. Thornhills Organics, Skibbereen, organic vegetables – mainly bags of fresh salads.

23. Yogurt, cheesecake, farmhouse butter, lemonade, Glen Ilen Food Products, Drimoleague.

24. Frozen organic beef, Madeline McKeever, Church Cross (very limited supply).

25. Free Range Chicken, David Louks, Shehymore Poultry, Dunmanway (very limited supply).

26. Rosscarbery Recipes. Rashers, sausages, black and white puddings.

27. ‘Gnosh’, Richard Gostyn, Goleen, hummus, salads, coleslaw, potato salad, tomato salsa, beet salsa.

28. West Cork Garlic Company;

29. Roaringwater Bay Seaweed products – sausages, puddings;

30 Yummy Tummy Cakes, Róisín McCarthy, Schull;

31. Barry and Joseph Desmond – goats milk, yogurt and cheese;

32. Rebel Foods, April Danann, Leap, Co. Cork. Apple butter, elderberry juice, nettle juice (in season), herbal teas, and sugar free baking;

33. Casey’s Hotel, Baltimore – jams and marmalade;
34 Vegetables from Peter Ross in Drimoleague and Kathleen Hilliard in Goleen