HAYFIELD MANOR HOTEL STRIKES GOLD!

Congrats to Hayfield Manor on winning the  Hospitality Industry's Highest Accolade

Ettienne Van Vrede General Manager, Karen Fleming Assistant Manager and Michael O'Driscoll Head Doorman (right) with the Hotel & Catering Review Gold Medal Award for Excellence 2011.

HAYFIELD MANOR HOTEL, the luxurious five star hotel in Cork city, has been awarded the highest accolade in the Irish hospitality industry, the prestigious Hotel & Catering Review Gold Medal Award for Excellence 2011.The landmark Cork hotel, which celebrated 15 years in business this year, triumphed ahead of hundreds of its peers in the Irish hospitality industry, beating off stiff competition from hotels, restaurants and caterers across the island of Ireland to win the supreme award at the 23rd Annual Hotel & Catering Review Gold Medal Awards  on Monday night.

Owned and operated by the Scally family, who bought the former Musgrave estate from the famous merchant clan in 1996 and turned it into the city’s first five star hotel, Hayfield Manor is a standard-bearer for Irish hospitality, providing Irish and international guests with unrivalled customer care in sumptuous surroundings.

The five star hotel has been described as a ‘beacon for Irish tourism’ by members of the Hotel & Catering Review Gold Medal Awards Jury, who together travelled close to 20,000 kilometres across the island this summer to search for Ireland’s greatest hospitality provider.

‘Hayfield Manor is a most deserving winner of the supreme Hotel & Catering Review Gold Medal Award for Excellence 2011, which is the highest accolade we can bestow on any hotel or catering business,’ commented Sarah Grennan, editor of Hotel & Catering Review and chair of the Gold Medal Awards Jury. ‘This luxurious five star hotel has proved consistently excellent in all aspects of its operation over our many years adjudicating for the Gold Medal Awards. Our judges have been bowled over by the standard of service delivered by the hotel’s loyal team of staff who are proud ambassadors for Irish tourism.’

HANDY MEALS AT THE MARKET

HANDY MEALS AT THE MARKET 

Go into a supermarket nowadays and you’ll see signs all over the place for meal deals. You won't see such signs at your local farmers market but with a little “digging” you certainly can come up with a convenient meal.

Mahon Point is the farmers market that I am most familiar with and here is a recent example.

Starter: Chicken & Brandy paté from Barry Tyner

Mains: Lamb Tagine from Flynn’s Kitchen.

Dessert: Panacotta from Glenilen.

Lots of variations are possible: olives from the Real Olive Co., salmon paté from the Old Millbank and maybe crab cakes and soups from Flynn’s for starters; various types of Indian dishes from Green Saffron and also Flynn’s do a few more for mains; cheeses from Gubbeen and Marks, cakes and pastries from Bite Size and others, fruits and more for your dessert.

I probably left out quite a few (sorry!) but you can see my point. You can quickly make up a really high class convenient three course meal.

Was at the market this morning and Ballintubber Farm, where we bought our vegetables today, had loads of pumpkins on sale (photo). Stalls were busier than usual – Ian O’Flynn thought it might be because the schools were off due to the election – and we picked up some fish from O’Driscoll’s, various bits and pieces of pig from Woodside, apple juice from Ballyhoura, a favourite yeast loaf from the Natural Foods (photo), and more to set things up nicely for the jazz weekend.

Only regret was that I had to leave before the Beer and Cheese event got underway at noon!

Amuse Bouche

“Wang Long’s mother works in a foreigners’ hotel..... She told me that foreigners are really wasteful. They throw away the tea bags after just one cup. And the tea isn’t good enough for them – they have to add milk before they can drink it.”

 From Beijing Coma by Ma Jian.

GOURMET RAINBOW AT END OF BOREEN

GOURMET RAINBOW AT END OF BOREEN

Anthony Creswell with his 2010 UK Great Taste Gold and newly delivered salmon being processed.

On a boreen at the back of Timoleague, the back if we agree the front faces the estuary, there is a fork and if you take the left, even before you take the left, you will see a modest timber building below you.

It looks like a big hut but this is a state of the art smoke house and is the home of multi-award winning Ummera. Some of the awards are displayed outside. I had a guide here last week, none other than the owner Anthony Creswell.

Not only is this building a state of the art organic smoke house, it is also a highly efficient production unit, very streamlined indeed with the raw material arriving at one door and the tasty finished products leaving at the other end.

On the day I arrived, a delivery of salmon from Clew Bay had been made. The ice-packed boxes were being opened and the salmon, all individually tagged, were being filleted in preparation for the smoking. At the end is the packing and the dispatch, a room from which these high class products are sent to destinations all over the world.

The much sought after Ummera Smoked Products include Smoked Organic Salmon, Organic Gravadlax, Smoked Eel, Smoked Chicken, Smoked Duck and Smoked Dry Cured Bacon and are available at a range of outlets in Ireland. Sea Salt from Portugal and Raw Cane Sugar (Organic) from Costa Rica are used in the process but no artificial preservatives.

Ummera products have even ended up in Hawaii but they are also appreciated locally and indeed I enjoyed a gorgeous plateful of them in Dillon’s Restaurant (highly recommended) in Timoleague village before meeting Anthony.

Aside from being a very efficient “production line”, the smoke house is also extremely environmentally friendly. There are armies of worms working out the back in the vermi-composting unit set up to dispose of production waste and the site has a natural wetland for water waste.

The business goes back to the early 70s but this new house was built in 2000 and modified in 2004 to meet the demanding standards required by the Irish Government and the EU for the export of meat and poultry products. This enabled Ummera Smoked Chicken and Smoked Dry Cured Bacon to be exported throughout the EU in compliance to EU regulations. The Ummera Smoke house is the only one in Ireland licensed to smoke both fish and meat (including poultry).

Check out all the fascinating details here. http://www.ummera.com/

GOOD FOOD IRELAND AT THE BREEDER’S CUP

GOOD FOOD IRELAND SHOWCASES AT THE BREEDER’S CUP

Good Food Ireland has being invited by Irish Thoroughbred Marketing to represent Ireland at The Breeders Cup “Taste of the World” Welcome Party in Louisville, Kentucky on November 3rd 2011. The brainchild of American celebrity chef Bobby Flay, the 15 countries that have won the Breeders Cup will come together to showcase the cuisine of their country.

These include France, Japan, USA, New Zealand, UK, Argentina and Australia amongst others. Good Food Ireland will also be included in the Winners Circle Ceremony for a Breeders Cup world championship race named in honour of the event. Coverage of the Welcome Party will be beamed to millions of people during ESPN’s domestic and international broadcast on Nov 4th and 5th.

“It is a great honour for Good Food Ireland to represent our country at this prestigious event. Ireland’s cuisine is largely driven by local ingredients and seasonal variations and the Good Food Ireland members clearly epitomise the best. The Breeders Cup is an ideal event to promote Ireland’s cuisine and the wonderful food that can be experienced in our network of businesses around the island of Ireland.

It is a primary audience many of whom regularly travel to Ireland for its great thoroughbred industry.  Good Food Ireland is very grateful to Irish Thoroughbred Marketing for affording this opportunity to us. ” say Margaret Jeffares, Founder and Managing Director, Good Food Ireland.

Good Food Ireland member chefs, Ed Cooney, The Merrion Hotel, Dublin and Maurice Keller, Arlington Lodge Country House Hotel, Waterford will showcase Butter Poached Fillet of Clare Island Salmon with a Lemon Oil Dulse, Green Vegetable Broth & Lobster, Traditional Irish Soda Breads, Burren Smokehouse Organic Smoked Salmon and Irish Farmhouse Cheese.

CORKSCREW WINE FAIR TO AID FOCUS IRELAND

In an effort to raise money for Focus Ireland, The Corkscrew are putting on a winter wine fair. 

What's on offer?

An opportunity to taste over 100 of the best wines available in Ireland in the relaxed and luxurious setting of the Westbury Hotel in Dublin. "We will be generously supported by some of our importers and as ever, it will be great to meet them and to see what new wines are available."

The details

The Corkscrew Winter Wine Fair in aid of Focus Ireland

Sunday, November 20th 12.30 - 5.30pm.

Westbury Hotel, Dublin

Tickets are €25 (all proceeds to Focus Ireland) and available online at http://www.thecorkscrew.ie/winter-wine-fair.html.

About Focus Ireland

  

Homelessness in Ireland is on the rise, while funding for charitable organisations such as Focus Ireland is under severe pressure.  Their services for people who are homeless are especially important at this time of year with colder, wetter weather and the emotional strain of the Christmas period.

WSET courses

Harriet Tindal has been in touch with details of the WSET courses they will be holding up till Easter. All held at the central location of The Westbury Hotel.

"We are trying to make these classes as informative as possible and hence include visiting producers whenever the dates marry up. We have an oak talk from the winemaker at Ramon Bilbao in our Level 3 in a couple of weeks and recently welcomed Adrian Buhrer from Saxenburg to talk about his experiences of the South African trade."

Level 2 Intermediate in Wines & Spirits

Course dates:

Code	Format	Day	Date
WSETIL311	Day Course	Mondays (3) 9:30-17:00	14th,21st and 28th November 11
WSETIL112	Evening Course	Tuesdays (7) 18:00-21:00	10th, 17th, 24th, 31st January 12 & 7th, 14th and 21st February 12

Course Costs: €430

                                    Payment scheme available:

                                    Deposit €280, then 3 weekly payments of €50 (Day)

                                  Deposit €150, then 7 weekly payments of €40 (Evenings)

                                 

Level 3 Advanced

Course dates:

CODES	FORMAT	DAYS	DATES
WSETAL112	Day Course	Mondays (5) 09.30 – 17.00	30th January, 6th, 13th, 20th & 27thFebruary 12
	Evening Course		Available by request.

                                Course Costs: €700

                                                                        Payment scheme available on evening course:

                                    Deposit €250, then 10 weekly payments of €45

                                                                        Payment scheme available on weekly day course:

                                    Deposit €300, then 4 weekly payments of €100

Food Lover’s Choice Award

The Good Food Ireland Conference and Awards Ceremony will take place Tuesday, November 22nd 2011 in The Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin.

Amy White of GFI has been in touch with the news that food lovers can vote, not just in the Presidential election, but in a new Food Lover's Award:

 "We are excited to announce for the first time ever we have created a specific award dedicated to you called the “Food Lover’s Choice Award” where you can vote for your favourite Good Food Ireland business."

"Not only are we recognising the value of you our customers but we are also giving one lucky winner a chance to present the award with An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny at the Awards Ceremony. To ensure your favourite Good Food Ireland business is nominated you can vote by posting your comment to our Facebook Wall or simply email awhite@goodfoodireland.ie. For all your up-to-the-minute news log onto http://www.goodfoodireland.ie/awards."

AT HOME IN DILLON'S WITH JOHN AND JULIE

DILLON’S RESTAURANT

Of Timoleague

In Timoleague, where stands the substantial ruins of a 13th century abbey, there is a restaurant called Dillon’s, run for the last couple of years by Julie and John Finn. This was an old bar and shop and that kind of atmosphere still remains as the bright spot is still a great place for social interaction, groups gathering for a chat and a coffee and even a game of bridge in the mornings.

That such a link to the past remains, says much for the friendliness and welcome you receive from the Finns. Julie looks after the front of house while John (originally from Mitchelstown) is the chef. Lovely people and lovely food.

Made my first call there last Friday, for lunch, and we got a terrific welcome and a terrific meal. Timoleague may be a relatively small place and Dillon’s a small restaurant, but the scope of the lunch menu (it is changed daily) is amazing, as you can see from the photo.

Took us a while to make the choice but knowing that the organic Ummera Smoke House was close by, we picked the House Platter with Smoked Salmon, Smoked Chicken and Smocked Duck, with homemade chutney, local Organic Salad and Brown Bread.

Click on image to enlarge

Didn't regret a bite of it. The fish and meats were up to the standard we know and expect. The chutney was top notch as was the salad and brown bread. Enjoyed it and the chat.

After that, and the Tasting Menu the night before at the Cornstore, we weren’t too sure about dessert but were persuaded when we saw the tart on the counter, the Pear, Almond, Blueberry and Raspberry tart that is.

Had something like this in Cafe Madeleine’s in St Gilles Croix de Vie in the Vendee in the early 80s. The Dillon’s effort was probably better and that too will find a special place in my food memory (which I must admit goes back a surprisingly long way!). “I’d drive down from the city just for this alone,” enthused CL.

Lots of people drive down from the city (just about an hour) in any case and Sunday lunch in Dillon’s is very popular. Opening hours are a little restricted at this time of year so check the latest on the website  before you go.

Afterwards you may work it off by taking the walk along the route of the old railway to Courtmacsherry and back (about ten kilometres return). Speaking of walks, who walked in as we finished the coffee only Anthony Creswell, the owner of the aforementioned Ummera Smoke House but that is another story, another post.

Dillon’s of Timoleague: 023 8846390, dillonsrestaurant@gmail.com.

MAGIC: WEST CORK WEEKEND

Click to enlarge

WEST CORK WEEKEND

Just back from Clonakilty and a packed two days in the area. First stop was Dillon’s in Timoleague for lunch on Friday and to see owners John and Julie Finn.

Highlight here was a multi-fruit pie, worth the trip for this alone. But before that we had a brilliant plateful of Ummera smoked products and just as well as Anthony Creswell soon made an appearance. Delighted then to take up his invitation to see his smoke-house, the only one in Ireland licensed for both fish and meat smoking.

Took the scenic route then – it was quite a fine day – though Courtmacsherry and Butlerstown and Ring – and then headed to our base, the Macliam Guest House in Clon. We got a warm welcome from John (and an equally warm one from Maeve later on) and installed ourselves in a very comfortable room.

Still daylight aplenty so headed off down to Inchadoney for a long walk on the sand. Fully refreshed and with appetite renewed, called into Costello’s Malthouse for dinner. Lovely welcome from Amanda and a fine meal too where the highlights were a couple of top notch fish dishes.

Click on image to enlarge

Rain was expected on Saturday morning and it didn't let us down. It lashed in Skibbereen as we walked through the market which, in fairness, was still doing a good business, especially the Sheila and Mary fish stall.

We had a magnificent breakfast at the guesthouse but time now for a coffee and a call to Fields where I couldn't resist their smashing Tunisian orange cake. Had a look around the supermarket and delighted to see so many local products, including virtually all of the range from Just Food in Cobh. My kind of supermarket.

The rain still fell as we drove back towards Clon and a return visit, after decades, to the Model Village and Railway. Just bought our tickets and the sun came out and stayed out for the rest of the day. Really enjoyed the stroll around the village and the models of the area’s towns but the highlight for me was a very nostalgic audio visual presentation of the last day of the West Cork railway in 1961.

With the sun now firmly established, we drove to the coast and to Red Strand where half a dozen surfers were braving the strong waves. Galley Head was silhouetted in the distance and we made that our next destination. Enjoyed walking round the area in the stiff enough breeze and took a few photos of the waves crashing in against the rocks.

Dinner was on the agenda again, of course, and this time we had a booking at the bright and breezy bistro called Richy’s. First though we made a call to An Sugán for a drink. Nobody there at seven but it was packed half an hour later (punters there for the food as much as the drink) as we left to cross the road.

Great service at Richy's where the pretty large menu is supplemented daily by a blackboard full of specials. We knew we were on a winner the minute we tasted our starter of Clonakilty Black Pudding Samosas and also with the first mouthful of a gorgeous Domaine La Columbette Pinot Noir 2010 (down from 35 to 28 euro).

I’ll have more details on the restaurants in later posts but all three are highly recommended.

And another big recommendation for Mcliam’s. Met some lovely guests there including two US couples, travelling separately. They were amazed at the friendliness of the Irish people and backed it up with concrete examples. Like the man who interrupted his walk, sat into the car and guided one of the couples to their destination. And another who interrupted his chores to drive ahead of them to a tourist site - some 22 miles away!

Hard to beat that kind of friendliness but we found it too. Well we didn't have much need of directions but a query in one town was answered, in a friendly manner, by a young French person and one of the US couples were amazed when a foreign person in Dublin used his own phone to get directions for them. But everywhere we were greeted with a smile and, if we needed info, that was provided too. Just loved the couple of days.

RECIPES FROM A PUMPKIN

RECIPES FROM A PUMPKIN
youtu.be/ccQnw4uV_X4 latest video from Irish Examiner - Roz Crowley in the kitchen

SUPERB CORNSTORE FOOD BEER EVENING

 @CorkBilly with @ArleneCookeVO (right) and @FreckledPast,

CORNSTORE FOOD BEER EVENING

Superb beers and superb food and excellent company were the highlights of a very pleasant Food Beer showcase at the Cornstore last night. The beers, mainly continental, were supplied by Cremin and Radley. The Cornstore kitchen did a fantastic job with the matching and the tasting menu (below). Superb all round.



Every single one of the five courses was top class but two stood out for me. The Sea Bass was memorable. Not because the fish was gorgeous, which it was. But because of the accompaniments, in particular the carrot and orange emulsion (spiced up with a touch of cumin). And the dish went so well with the Schneider Weisse Kristall.



We finished off with a fabulous dessert and a brilliant matching beer. That White Chocolate Mousse with shortbread and strawberries would have been so tasty on its own but add in the Strawberry Wheat beer and you had a rare treat indeed.



Just have to emphasise that the other dishes and beers were also very very enjoyable, all top class. So thanks to Mike and all the Cornstore crew and to John Radley who provided short and to the point info on the beers. Cremin and Radley, by the way, will have a stand at the October Beer fest in the Franciscan Well on the Bank Holiday Weekend.

Check out tasting notes on all the beers and more at Cremin and Radley 
`

THE FOOD BEER TASTING MENU 

SCHNEIDER MEIN NELSON aperitif
• • •
CORNSTORE TREACLE CURED BANTRY ORGANIC SALMON
with grain mustard celeriac rémoulade & pickled cucumber
& FULLERS ORGANIC HONEY DEW pale ale
• • •
SLOW ROAST WEST CORK PORK BELLY
with sauerkraut, candied walnut, and apple puree (g)
& INNIS & GUNN oak aged beer
• • •
PAN SEARED BALLYCOTTON SEA BASS
with roast organic pumpkin, sautéed spinach, grilled baby sweet corn with carrot and orange emulsion (g) & SCHNEIDER WEISSE KRISTALL wheatbeer
• • •
WILD DROMOLAND VENISON MEDALLION
with celeric mash, organic  kale, braised cabbage and lovage jus
& SCHNEIDER WEISSE UNSER AVENTINUS wheat doppelbock
• • •
WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
with homemade short bread biscuit & West Cork strawberries
& VAN DIEST FRüLI STRAWBERRY WHEAT BEER

Amuse Bouche: CANONS FORCED TO DRINK CIDER

CANONS FORCED TO DRINK CIDER

“....wine was regarded much more highly, as attested by King Alfonso IX’s decree of 1213, in which he pitied the poor canons in Galicia’s Lugo cathedral who were forced to drink cider and made them a large gift of Ribadavia wine (from what we now know as the Ribeiro).” From The Finest Wines of Rioja by Jesus Barquin, Luis Gutierrez and Victor De La Serna.