Blasket Island Lamb Arrives at Market Lane Restaurants

press release

The Market Lane Group Celebrates Blasket Island Lamb 

Across all their Restaurants in October

Jerry and Donnacha

Cork’s Market Lane Group of restaurants will celebrate the unique, award-winning lamb from the Blasket Islands on all their food menus from Wednesday 11 October 2017.  This highly anticipated event is now in its 8th year, and given the popularity of this delicious, rare meat, the chance to experience it usually only lasts until the end of the month.  This celebration of Blasket Island Lamb is exclusive to the Group. 

Chefs in each restaurant (Market Lane, Orso, Elbow Lane and Castle Cafe) create special lamb dishes that reflect their own in-house style of cooking and the full range of cuts will be used.  These will be carefully partnered with drinks recommendations from the group’s wine and beer experts.

The habitat on the islands is what makes this product so special and gives it such a great reputation. The animals graze in a marshy meadow full of heather, natural grassland and wild herbs such as rosemary, sage and thyme.  The grass is salty from sea spray which gives the lamb its highly valued pre-sale flavour. The animals are free to roam so the lamb is leaner creating a perfect fat to meat ratio.

Pamela Kelly Gough, head chef of Market Lane, who has been working with Blasket Island lamb for many years now says “We are delighted as a group to shine a light on this very special organic Autumn lamb, which is different in many ways from the more usual Spring lamb” she says. “The impeccable provenance of this product is reflected in its quality and flavour; we are proud to be the only restaurants in Ireland to serve it to our customers. This truly is a farm to fork experience with everybody in the supply chain really respectful and excited about the product.”

 

Lamb Shank at ORSO

This story begins with small holder, Donnacha O Ceileachair, who raises a small flock of sheep on the Great Blasket Island.  When the April-born lambs are ready, he brings them by ferry from the Island onto the mainland.  There, they are rested for up to a week on Donnacha’s farm in Dun Chaoin, to recuperate from their choppy journey across the Dingle Sound.  Award-winning Dingle Butcher, Jerry Kennedy, then picks out the premium lambs which are sent for slaughter. When the annual Market Lane order is delivered, the remaining lamb is sold to the public directly from Kennedy’s Butcher Shop on Orchard Lane, Dingle or via www.dinglebutcher.com

Diners at The Market Group can look forward to dishes such as;

‘Elbow Lager lamb pie, pommes anna and glazed heritage carrots’, “Blasket lamb leg in fish sauce with seaweed gratin’,  ORSO ‘Moroccan braised lamb shank with ras-el-hanout cous cous, preserved lemon, pomegranate and red onion pickle’ and ‘Anchovy and rosemary leg of lamb steak, creamed polenta, with caponata and crispy shallots.’

 

At Market Lane

Check out the new menus, drinks, specials, menu changes and availability of lamb dishes on the social media channels for the restaurants within the group including www.marketlane.ie and facebook; Market Lane.

Taste of the Week. Comeragh Mountain Lamb

Taste of the Week

Comeragh Mountain Lamb

.

No doubt about this one, Taste of the Week is Comeragh Mountain Lamb. Had not tried it before but you’ll know when you have it as the texture is great and the flavours are amazing, all those mountains herbs and grasses coming through to the pleasantly surprised palate. Well worth trying to get your hands on this unique meat. Won't be easy though as there is not that much of  it available and the top chefs are all chasing it. More info, including outlets and online purchase info, here.

Perfect Sunday Lunch Experience at Ballymaloe

Perfect Sunday Lunch

 Experience at Ballymaloe 

Ballymaloe seem always to get it just right. The balance is always so perfect. Did you ever try the relaxed Sunday lunch there? You should. The warm welcome, understated class and under bottom comfort, the perfect easy going service, and, of course, the most natural seasonal foods served up with care and love, ensuring that the quality from the farm and garden is carried through to the table.

They do, however, make sure that you arrive on time. This is a buffet and they want you to enjoy it at its best. So do yourself a favour and arrive a few minutes before 1.00pm, the appointed time. That is the end of the “pressure”, the beginning of a relaxing dining experience.

And you never know who you might meet. A family, kids and all, out for a quite celebration, other groups and couples. And I was lucky enough to meet up with Paulo Tullio. Had a nice chat. He told me he had enjoyed his meal in town on the previous evening and was very impressed with the amount of fish on offer in Cork restaurants saying they don’t get it as much on the East Coast.

After the warm welcome, we were guided to our reserved table. Two adjoining high ceilinged rooms, each comfortable with plenty of space between the tables, serves as the dining area with a long table in an adjoining room carrying the buffet.

But first came the soup course. We had a choice of two. One was Pea and Chill while the other, the chosen one, was the Celeriac. This was a superb creamy tasty warming blend, a promising start indeed.

Then we were invited to fill our plates at the long table. Choices, so many I can hardly remember. Salads, pizza slices, quiche slices, cheese croquets, gorgeous temping vegetables, a fish dish and no shortage of seafood (mussels, calamari, etc), roast potatoes (well it was Sunday) and juicy joints of meat.

I made the lamb the centrepiece of my plate but couldn’t resist adding a little bit of the bacon and its special sauce (lots of sauces). The lamb was juicy and tender and indeed the whole plateful was spot on, all helped on the way by a glass of Pena Roble (Ribero del Duero, Spain). If you didn’t get enough food first time, don’t worry, you are welcome to visit that long table again!

But I was happy enough with my amount and relaxed for a while before the dessert trolley was rolled out. Now I was on full alert again! Quite a few choices but settled for some of the Lemon Roulade and the Apple and Blackberry Tart. Quite a contrast here with the sophisticated mix of the roulade and the rustic crusty tart. Both brilliant!

Time then for a coffee or two before heading out into the Autumn sunshine, weak but welcome!

Sunday lunch at Ballymaloe costs €38.00 per person. 

Thank You Mr Karwig

Thank You Mr Karwig

(and Mr Whelan)

Morambro Creek, Padthaway Australia, Shiraz 2008, 14.5%, €18.50, Karwig Wines

A big thank you to JoeKarwig  in Carrigaline who imports this excellent New World Shiraz, a terrific wine. And thanks also to that well known butcher, Pat Whelan of Clonmel, and now also of Monkstown (Dublin), as it was from Whelan’s on-line shop that I got the ever so tender lack of lamb that I matched with the Morambro Shiraz .

The dark red wine is smooth and lush from start to long finish. It has a pleasantly aromatic nose. The introduction to the palate is excellent. This is a very well made wine indeed with rounded fruit flavours and spice, all in balance, nothing overly restrained and nothing extreme. Easy to enjoy.

The know-how of five generations of the Bryson family has gone into this one and they are justly proud of their methods and of the wine itself. They also say that it is best with food and you won’t get a much better match than the one I enjoyed.

FANTASTIC LAMB AT MARKET LANE

FANTASTIC LAMB AT MARKET LANE

Enjoyed some fantastic Blasket Lamb at Market Lane on Friday night. Our special: “Noisette of Blasket Lamb (on spinach) with feta and roast vegetable pie, chap potatoes and lamb jus.The lambs roam free, grazing on the diverse herbage of the sea soaked island. This diet of heather, herbs and grasses give the lamb its unique flavour.”

Free range is good but free range besides the sea is even better going by this experience. It was beautiful, tender and full of flavour.

It was probably the best lamb that I’ve tasted - ever. Much of credit here must go to the chefs at Market Lane. After all, you may have been give the best gem in the world but you unless you set it off well, the sparkle is wasted.

And what a setting on this plate. That feta and vegetable pie was gorgeous; the chap potatoes (which included some minced lamb) even more so. And the cost was a very reasonable €19.50.

I think you can be assured that whatever lamb this restaurant comes up with next – the Blasket is running out fast – will also be treated and served up well! And then there is so much more here on a very expansive menu. Something like 14 main courses, ranging from €12.96 to €24.49 (for fillet steak).

One that caught my eye for the lower amount was Slow cooked West Cork ham hock with creamy leeks, baked potato and broccoli. How about the Pan-fried hake fillet with broccoli, bok choi, bell peppers, sautéed potatoes and a walnut lime pesto for €16.28.

Enticing starters too. Sweet potato with Crozier blue cheese, spinach, dates and roasted pine nut oil for €7.63. I had started with a bowl of marinated olives and my dessert (all €6.00) was Layers of white and milk chocolate mousse with walnuts and Cointreau sponge. Wines range from €4.90 a glass to €29.50 a bottle and there is also a good selection of other drinks.

You could eat here for a month and not repeat yourself. And it is lovely lively place. The staff are all courteous and helpful and, on this occasion, all were very enthusiastic indeed about the lamb. And rightly so as it turned out. What a treat!