Excellent red from Spain

Corona d’Aragon Garnacha / Cariñena, 2008,    Spain, ABV: 13.5%, €13.99 stockists 


I’d like to introduce you to this excellent red from Spain, the older cousin of the 2009 Garnacha you met here  a  few weeks back.

This is a dark red with black cherry and plum on the nose. Full of flavour and concentrated on the palate, supple and smooth. With 85% of the mix being Garnacha and having spent five months in French oak, it has the notes of spice that you’d expect and has quite a lengthy and satisfying finish.

The wine tasting room

Corona d’Aragon take their wine-making seriously.  “So that people know, once we leave this life, what we have bequeathed to the world.” This 14^th century quote is on the back label.

Corona d’Aragon needn’t worry too much about their reputation if they keep turning out this kind of quality. Not that there will be much evidence of it in the future as it will all have been consumed!

My advice is to get your share now. Not alone is the wine right, so too is the price. Sourced from vineyards planted in 1950, the 2008 has picked up its share of awards: a Decanter bronze and an IWC bronze and has also been given 89 points by the Wine Advocate.

Gubbeen Chorizo, peas and rice. Let's cook!

West Cork Chorizo and Sage with Rice


Gubbeen's Chorizo is widely available.


I regularly get one at the Mahon Point Farmer's Market where Gubbeen have a stand. Their Chorizo is based on southern Spain’s famous spicy salami: Pimenton, chili, garlic, oregano, pepper. So you'd expect it to go well with Spanish rice. It does and here is the recipe. 


Fresh peas are beautiful just now. I know the recipe (from an old Reader's Digest Book) says frozen but if you have fresh then so much the better. Picked a bowl in the garden the other day and used them with the recipe and they were just terrific.

ROADSIDE DELI IN BALLYLICKEY

MANNINGS EMPORIUM

Have been promising myself, and one or two others, to visit Manning’s Food Emporium in Ballylickey for some time. Made it, finally, on a  sunny day this week and enjoyed the call which included a chat with Val, the man who started it all.

Val was in great form and gave us quite a laugh when he let loose as a delivery man as about to demolish one of his flower stands out the front. It didn't come to a collision and soon it was smiles as usual.

Manning’s Emporium  has been in the Manning family for over 70 years and has evolved in that time from post office and convenience store to what it is today: a gourmet shop renowned for its high quality local produce, fine wines and excellent service.

No doubt in Irish cities you’ll find some similar stores with bigger selections but remember that Mannings is in deepest West Cork in a country village on the coast road between Bantry and Glengarriff. That makes the selection here, mostly locally produced but also some stand-out items from aboard, quite remarkable indeed.

Just to give you a  flavour, here are some of the items that ended up in my basket: Molaga Honey €3.40, Tikka Masala Curry Sauce (UK) €4.05, Janet’s Country Fayre Beetroot Blush €4.00, Healthy Thirst Elderflower Sparkling Drink (UK) €3.25 for 75cl, Cooleeney Handmade Irish Cheese €3.75, The Apple Farm’s Sparkling Irish Apple Juice €4.45 for 50cl, Donegal Rapeseed Oil €5.95 for 50cl and El Comandante Chardonnay 2010 Argentina.

I’ve forgotten the price of the wine but you’ll see that the others are priced fairly, better value than in some of the city shops. Quite a lot of other local producers on display including Lorge Chocolates, Jack McCarthy (Kanturk), Gubbeen, Durrus and there is a rack of vegetables by the door and more.

Shopping done, it was time to take a table out-front and enjoy a cup of coffee and a cake. They have a selection of pastries to chose from, all served with a smile. Soon, we were ready to check out two other delights of the delightful area: the unusual Ewe Sculpture Garden  and Bantry House.  A cool bag in the boot came in handy and some of the drinks - the Elderflower  was gorgeous – were seen off during the afternoon of what turned out to be a great day in the west.

CORNSTORE'S FISH & WINE SPECIALS

TAYLOR’S WHITE PORT

TAYLOR’S CHIP DRY EXTRA DRY WHITE PORT, 20%, (Bradleys, North Main Street)

This is a rather rare, in these parts anyway, white port. But is has a 77 year history, having been first introduced, as a style, by Taylor’s in 1934. It is made in exactly the same way as regular Port but from white grapes.

Taylor’s claim that it is the original extra dry white aperitif port. Don’t let the many mentions of dry put you off – it has a crisp dry finish but it is some distance away from its Sherry counterparts in terms of jaw-locking! Indeed, it is quite fruity, both on the nose and on the palate, the mild mellow aromas coming from its aging in seasoned oak vats.

Even the white is a bit mis-leading, as the colour of mine was close to gold.

Really glad I took a chance on this one. Chilled it down well and used it as an aperitif with a small bowl of marinated olives from Provence. As you know, there is no shortage of olives in the English Market (and in some Farmers Markets) these days. Toasted almonds are also recommended as an accompaniment or just have it on its own.

The producers also promote it as a long drink, in a big glass with ice and tonic. Not too sure about that but different strokes for different folks!

MAHON MARKET MEAL

MARKET MEAL

Rice growing near Arles

Last Thursday wasn't the best of of days and the Mahon Point Farmers Market  had moved indoors (into the covered car park) to avoid the forecasted wind and rain. Still, I enjoyed the visit and called to some regulars (such as Woodside and Arbutus) and also met one or two new folks.

Back at the ranch, we put the purchases to good use. You’ll probably know that the mozzarella from Toonsbridge Dairy in Macroom was in the presentation made to the Queen on her recent visit to the city market.

But did you know they also make a Philadelphia type cheese with the same buffalo milk and it is called Buffadelphia . Picked up a packet at the Real Olive Company  stall in Mahon (they probably have it in the English Market also) and used it in a salad that included some beetroot from Lolo’s stall, where a three head bunch cost just €2.50. The salads came from the back garden and all in all it was very tasty.

At the market, I had bought some potatoes and vegetables from Ballycurraginny Farm and also from Ballintubber Farm but none of these was required for that night’s dinner.

The centrepiece here was Lamb Tagine from Flynn’s Kitchen. Iain Flynn’s stall isn't the biggest but he has quite an excellent range including soups, pates, jams and prepared dishes.

Brought some rice back from the recent visit to Provence and decided it to use it with the Tagine. Had visions of a nice photo as we added red and black rice to the white. But the colours all ran and so no photo as we spooned out the purple mix!

Still it tasted very well indeed and proved an excellent accompaniment to the Tagine which, as usual for Flynn’s Kitchen, was spot-on, the ingredients top class.

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN WELL

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN WELL

SOW and GROW

A good friend of mine recently sent me an urgent email: “Met this amazing girl last night.  
She has just started her own business teaching children how to grow food and plants. I believe strongly that this skill has not been passed on to children over the Celtic Tiger years.
You might consider giving her a mention in your food blog.”

That was how I first heard of Ailish Drake, the lady behind Sow and Grow which works with crèches, play-schools, after-school clubs and primary schools providing creative gardening and nature programmes for children. The kids at the crèche or school will be encouraged to explore and discover all about gardening.

Ailish told me that she started the business in April of this year. “I am currently doing a summer run of classes in crèches at Castleconnell, Newport and Murroe, but as crèches are quieter for the summer, I have a lot of interest for September. I will be running programmes in both schools and child care facilities in the autumn, including parent and child classes.”

“Currently I cover Limerick City and County, North Tipp and East Clare. However I am hoping to expand the business to Cork City and its environs in Spring 2012. I have started a blog on my website and I would love anyone from anywhere to follow it and my Facebook page, as I will have lots of tips for gardening with kids and projects to do at home.”

Ailish grew up on a dairy farm on the Cork Limerick border. Her background is in architecture and garden design. “Having spent many years out in the garden with my Dad as a child, I became passionate about gardening and growing my own. My little boy and my many nieces inspired me to bring my passion to kids in crèches and schools. They are never too young to get started growing their own too!”

“It is so important for kids to know about where food comes from and it also gives them the confidence to taste new things and eat simple veg like peas in the pod, they usually they turn their noses up at the frozen alternative. It doesn't have to take a huge amount of time or space; a few simple pots will grow a lot. I also do birthday party packages, which can be anything from individual pots for the kids, or planting a butterfly garden or wildlife window box.”

Sow and Grow provide training, consultancy and demonstrations for local groups, schools, allotment holders and individuals. “We also specialise in garden and landscape design. Also, check out our great birthday party ideas, and make that special day just a bit different!”

Thanks to Mairead O’Brien of Nash 19 who put me in touch with Ailish. I too believe that we, especially us city dwellers, have too quickly lost touch with much of what was good in our past, even though most of us are hardly a wet week off the land.

We can never really go back – times and places change – but through programmes like those set up by Ailish we can re-connect and appreciate what was good then and that will help us and our kids and grandchildren appreciate what is good now and into the future.

BLAIRS INN: A TOP SPOT

BLAIRS INN
Corned Beef and Cabbage. As a starter! Yes and it proved a really tasty beginning to an excellent weekend meal at Blairs Inn.

What a menu they have there. If you combine the pages from the bar and restaurant menus, I reckon you could be eating there for a year and still have combinations to explore.

And then there are the drinks. There is an excellent wine list, for sure. But also lots of local (and international) drinks including craft beers from Dungarvan, Carlow, Eight Degrees (North Cork) and the new cider sensation Stonewell by the Nohoval Brewing Company.

After a big welcome and a chat with Richard we sat down in the cosy restaurant – they also have a lovely garden dining area – to go through the menus.

My starter was a Warm Tian of O’Crualaoi’s Corned Beef and Cabbage with a creamy Parsley dressing (€7.70). If you get out there, you should really try this. The beef, supplied by the well known Ballincollig butcher, was spot-on as was everything else in this well presented cylinder shaped offering of good local food.

Then on to the main course: Pan fried fillets of Sea Bass on a Chorizo mash with a sundried tomato and rocket dressing and a side plate filled with vegetables and another with gratin potato, both done to perfection. Again, another excellent plateful.

And a big plateful. Indeed, both starter and mains were quite substantial, so much so that I had to forego the dessert.

They helpfully suggest, on the menu, various drinks with each course; the tips for me were a wheat beer with the starter and a dry cider with the fish. I was in the mood for wine and settled on a bottle of their highly recommended an excellent Hopler Gruner Veltliner (Burgenland, Austria) 2009 (€26.95).

You get a great welcome here and also help and advice. Quite a few tourists make their way here and they must be impressed with the local knowledge that the owners and staff so freely dispense.

Lovely food, lovely place and lovely people. A return visit is on the cards. And not just for me.

STONEWELL: IRISH CRAFT CIDER

Stonewell Medium Dry Irish Craft Cider, 5.5%, €3.99 for the 500 ml bottle.

During many trips to France over the years, a regular pleasure has been sampling their cider with a lunchtime salad. Now, at last, we have a local craft cider here and it is encouraging to see some Cork restaurants already adding it to their drinks list. Perhaps a smaller bottle size (maybe 250ml) might be more suitable for lunchtime!

Made from local fruit by the Nohoval Brewing Company, this is quite a refreshing drink. That fruit sure comes through well but there is enough acidity, just about, for the cider to merit its Medium Dry tag. It is close to being perfectly balanced.

It is early days yet in their admirable Nohoval venture and, already Daniel, the Master Cider Maker, has a product to be proud of. Good cutting in it, as they say. Now, all we need to go with it is a summer’s day!

Must say though that this cider doesn’t really need the sunshine to illustrate its quality which is orchards ahead of some of the bland insipid watery stuff being imported.

Loads of info on the label, including that one of the three Apple varieties used is Michelin, but if you haven’t brought your reading glasses, don't worry: you’ll know the country of origin by the eye catching Celtic design on the front.

Stonewell. Another good reason to buy local, buy Irish. I got mine in Bradley’s (North Main Street) and you can see the full list of stockists here.

PS: My first bottle was chilled down fast in the freezer while the second was treated to a more leisurely and less extreme cooling in the fridge. The second tasted better. Wonder what the recommended serving temperature is?

BEAUMES DE VENISE - Stronger and Sweeter

BEAUMES de VENISE

Having completed a long promised trip to the top of Mont Ventoux, the white mountain of Provence (and of the Tour de France), we found that the temperature (which had been 6 degrees at the top) was a very pleasant 26 in the valley.

By the time we got to Malaucene at the foot of the 1912 metre high mountain, we were ready for more. On the map, I spotted a road linking us with Beaumes. It turned out to be a beautiful country road through the vineyards and passed close to the mountains called the Dentelles (lace).

It was mid-afternoon when we reached Beaumes and the cafes were busy in the otherwise sleepy village. Could perhaps have sought out the Cooperative but, in the heat,  settled for the convenient shop of Domaine des Richard  in the centre of the hamlet where a lady, with two year’s English, took great care of us.

Her tasting samples were generous to say the least and we left well stocked with the famous fortified (15%) sweet wine called Beaumes de Venise and also the producer’s own Plan de Dieu, a lovely red.

Opened a bottle in the sunny garden last Sunday at lunchtime and the promise from those generous tastings was fulfilled. Well worth a try and, while making a call this week to Bradley’s in North Main Street for that new Stonewell Cider, I spotted that they had some of the Beaumes on the shelves, though not the exact bottle that I am enjoying – still have some left!

CLONAKILTY IS THE CREAM

Hospitality & Dining 

In Clonakilty we take great pride in the quality and exceptional standard of food provided by our numerous restaurants, cafes and bars. Whereas fine dining used to come at a price to match, you're now guaranteed to find great food at affordable prices when dining out in Clonakilty. And to complete a great night out, we have some of the finest traditional and live music venues in Ireland.....


Eating out is just one facet of a visit to Clonakilty. Find out more here

BALLYVOLANE HOUSE

We are delighted to be hosting a charity 'Beer & Curry Feast' in the vintage tent in the gardens at Ballyvolane House on Friday, 22 July 2011. All proceeds will go towards the Malawi Orphan Appeal Fund and we are expecting over 100 people to attend.


For more details and all the other summer news from Ballyvolane House, please click here

TIPP CHEESE & KILKENNY SYRUP

HIGHBANK ORCHARD SYRUP & COOLEENEY CHEESE

Had heard only good things about Kilkenny’s Highbank Orchards Syrup which was launched in 2010. Spotted the bottle in Iago in the English Market recently and snapped it up. The price is close to 10 euro and looks high for 200ml but the organic product has a long shelf life and is very versatile.

"Ireland's answer to maple syrup", this sweet and delicious, pouring, organic syrup, is the first of its kind. Grown and produced by Highbank Orchards in Kilkenny, Ireland. With years of research, Highbank launched the Orchard Syrup in 2010 at Savour Kilkenny.

There was a little leaflet hanging from the neck with quite a few suggestions. Drizzle it on your porridge was one. I tried that but didn't find it very successful. More joy though when I added some to cheese.

Uses suggested on the site are: Drizzle on porridge and muesli, pour on ice cream, pancakes and desserts, glaze your ham, sausages or vegetables, flavour your stews, oat cakes and breads. As a hot healthy drink or in whiskey. Drizzle on cheese (particularly blue cheese), on paté and game terrines. Delicious on bananas as well as poured on Waldorf Salads!

Tipperary’s Cooleeney was the cheese in question. Met them at their stand at the recent Cork TasteFest and, for three of those controversial Corkers, I got a small round of their Dunbarra Farmhouse Brie (this with garlic). 

Cooleeney make quite a range as you can see on their site. They often suggest a matching wine and Pinot Noir was their choice here. Just happened to have one and yes that New Zealand Marlborough Little Beauty and Cooleeney got on well together. But perhaps the best match was between the Tipp cheese and the Apple Syrup from neighbouring Kilkenny.