Mushrooms light up Mahon Market

Mushrooms light up Mahon Market

Lucy and Mark of Ballyhoura Mushrooms brought a colourful crop to Mahon Point Farmers Market today. The Rose and Gold Oysters (originally from South East Asia) certainly caught the eye. But so too did the Pom Poms and even the less colourful Chesnut. No stopping these two, always coming up with surprises. Ballyhoura also have stalls in Midleton and Douglas (both Saturday markets).

Pom Poms on top.
Then a mix of Rose and Gold (Lemon) Oysters.
Chesnut mushrooms are bottom left.
At the bottom right, you have the front and back
views of the Rose oyster mushroom.

Food and Drink Spotting

Food and Drink Spotting

Buying a Pizza? Then why not buy a local one. I found this in Dunne's Stores. It is made in Bandon and is delicious, moist with a tasty bite. Padraigin's frozen pizzas are available in local shops in the Cork area.


Padraigin's Gourmet Pizza comes from a family owned busniness in the West Cork town, set up and run by local resident Patricia Crowley. The restaurant is located on St. Patricks Quay overlooking the Bridewell river. It has been operating for twenty years and has recently been expanded to a two storey restaurant. 

Bush Tucker Trials in Cork?!
The Woolshed Baa & Grill are bringing the famous Bush Tucker Trials to Cork as they celebrate Australia Day this Saturday 26th January! The trials will bring a taste of the Australian jungle to the Rebel county as on the night those brave enough to take part in a bid to win some amazing prizes will be served up meal to remember including Crickets, Worms, Scorpions, Ants, eyeballs plus many more ( no horse meat!!!). Along with the Bush Tucker trials the celebrations will include an array of traditional Australian activities and an Aussie style party that will take you down under for the night!

The Celebrations kick off at 12noon with an Aussie BBQ and they the celebrations this year look to set to top last year’s crazy event when they had a large swimming pool in the bar!!!  There will loads of activities to take part in throughout the day such as a rock paper scissors tourney, beer pong, wet t-shirt competitions and a 1st ever Bush Tucker Trial in Cork that will definitely challenge the toughest of you out there!!! The Party is set to go on all day and night as the DJ kicks in from 8pm with a late bar giving you the opportunity to experience a taste or Australia right here in cork!

The Woolshed have over €1000 euro worth of travel vouchers to giveaway to make the night even more exciting.


Burgundy 2011 En Primeur
Burgundy had another excellent vintage in 2011 and prices have remained remarkably stable considering the ever-growing worldwide demand. This won't last unfortunately as the 2012 vintage was a disaster in terms of yields - in some cases 70% down! The Hospices de Beaune auction prices for 2012 were 55% up on 2012 - a clear sign of things to come... Burgundy lovers should buy as much as they can.

Stuart Smith of FVYD: “Our En Primeur offering comes from some of the best small growers and Domaines in the heartland of Burgundy. Amongst them Sauzet in Puligny, Michelot in Meursault and Bize in Santenay. The generic Bourgogne wines from these producers are particularly good value as the grapes come from vineyards next door to the greater Grand Crus.” Read more here

Slow cooked and scrumptious
   
Let your slow cooker do the work for you - from soups and curries to stews and more, it truly does do it all!

New slow cooker recipes via All Recipes:
French onion soup
Bean and sausage stew
Smokey bourbon ribs
Chickpea and quinoa stew
Lamb korma
All Slow cooker recipes

Shorts
Flemings Restaurant ‏@flemingsrest
COMPETITION TIME** Win Romantic Dinner for 2 on Valentines, 6 course tasting menu w/bottle of bubbly Enter Here: http://ow.ly/gZ3D6

A brief history of cider in Ireland http://www.ciderireland.com/a-brief-history/

Funny restaurant signs
http://www.buzzfeed.com/arielknutson/funny-restaurant-signs

Woodside Free Range Pigs

Woodside Free Range Pigs

Bubbling Up Nicely

Taste of the Week in this house came from Woodside Farm. Actually, the Conroy’s at Woodside could provide a taste of the week every week, even if they confined it to their Free Range Pigs, pedigree Saddleback and pedigree Gloucester Old Spot pigs.

I have tried quite a bit of the range: Shoulder of Pork, Pork Loin, Pork Belly, Leg of Pork, Pork Chops, Pork Escalopes, Pork Steak, Spare Ribs, Minced Pork, Pork Sausages, Gluten Free Sausages, Cumberland Sausages, Liver, Kidneys, Caul Fat, and Pigs Tail.

That is just the pork. Here is the bacon selection: Collar Bacon, Loin of Bacon, Streaky Bacon, Ham Fillet, Dry Cure Back & Streaky Rashers, Dry Cure Gammon Steak, Lardons, Bacon Ribs, Trotters, Pigs Cheek.

Last Thursday in Mahon Point Farmers Market, I got a piece of Dried Cured Ham from Martin. He is in Mahon every Thursday and in Douglas every Saturday while Noreen is on duty in Midleton every Saturday.

We went pretty traditional with the bacon. Got lots of vegetables in Mahon but had no cabbage when Sunday came around. Up then to the local Supervalu and picked up an excellent head of Savoy, a terrific combination with the very flavoursome meat.

And all polished off with no worries about what was in the meat. Martin: “We cure our own bacon and make all our own sausages. We don't use any preservatives or stabilisers; because of this our sausages have a five day shelf life. We also make Pork and Apple Burgers which contain just Pork and Apple, these are also Gluten Free. We only sell meat from our pigs and don't buy in any meat and pass it off as our own. When you buy our products you can be sure you are getting a Truly Free Range Product.”

In recent months, I’ve been getting granola along with dried fruits (e.g., papaya, mango...) from Len’s Cereals, also in Mahon. But he has lots more, including Puy Lentils. Got a bag of those last Thursday. But what to cook with them?

Had been thinking of some lamp chops but instead decided to go with butchers sausages. So up then to the local Coolmore Meats in Montenotte. I found out that they don’t do their own sausages but the good news is that they stock O’Flynn’s Gourmet sausages.  No hesitation, bought a bunch and between them, the lentils and some sun dried tomatoes, we had quite a tasty plateful.

Mark’s Cheese in Mahon carries a range of Irish and European products but had no Irish sheep cheese for me last week. And indeed won’t have it from his supplier for another couple of months! So I settled for a wedge of the Spanish Manchego.

While in the Basque country last summer,  I came across the local sheeps cheese regularly in the restaurants and it was invariably served with jam (black cherry). Iain Flynn (Flynn’s Kitchen)  includes jams among his award winning products at the market and I bought a pot of his excellent Mixed Berry (livened up with black pepper and Kirsch) and that went down every well with the Manchego.

As you can see, the Manchego and the lentils were about the only non Irish ingredients in that bout of shopping but at least I bought them locally and had a lot of fun doing do. The more you go to the markets and indeed to your local shop and butcher, the more interaction you’ll have as they always have time for a chat or even a suggestion as to how to make the best of your purchase. Buy local – why not hit Mahon tomorrow? – and enjoy the craic.

Castle Scoops 2013 Travellers' Choice Award

Castle Scoops 2013 Travellers' Choice Award

In the Gearagh, a beautiful
natural attraction in Macroom.

The boutique 4 * Castle Hotel in Macroom, Co. Cork, beat off stiff competition and was voted a best ‘customer service’ hotel by Trip Advisor this week in its annual Trip Advisor Travellers’ Choice Awards.

The Castle Hotel was ranked 12th within the top twenty five hotels in Ireland by Trip Advisor. The hotel is no stranger to Trip Advisor and was awarded a Certificate of Excellence for 2011 and secured best “bargain” and “family” hotel in 2012.

The prestigious awards are run on an annual basis by Trip Advisor, which is the world’s largest travel community, where millions of travellers seek information on all items travel related.

Owner, Don Buckley said “It is refreshing to be awarded by Trip Advisor and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the team at The Castle Hotel for their continued hard work in achieving best practices in the hotel.  We are delighted to be right up there with well established hotels such as  The Aghadoe Heights Hotel (13th) & The Four Seasons (11th). This is a fantastic boost for management and staff and will spur us on to exceed our guest requirements”.

For further information on family packages and special offers contact The Castle Hotel on 026-41074.

Other Cork hotels featured in the Top 25 were Hayfield Manor (#2), Inchadoney Island Lodge and Spa (#7), The River Lee Hotel (#21) and Bayview Hotel (Ballycotton, (#23). In the best Small Hotels, Ballyvolane House came in at Number 10 with Liss Ard in Skibbereen (#22), while the Cork Airport International Hotel took 1st spot in the Bargain Hotels category.

Rico To The Rescue!

Rico To The Rescue!

Rico Vallebella has opened the doors of his new Italian Restaurant in the city centre to the people of Cork who have been left out of pocket as a result of the closure of HMV. Rico’s Trattoria Pizzeria on Sheares Street, is offering 2 for 1 on all main meals in return for one HMV voucher.

Italian born Rico feels in the current climate “we have to look after one another” and he wants to do his bit to make sure the people of Cork get some value from the money they spent on these, now unredeemable, HMV vouchers.

Adjoining Rico’s is the new Mardyke Ping Pong bar, the first of its kind in Ireland. So why not turn this bad situation into a great night out where you can enjoy  2 for 1 on delicious Italian food followed by a few drinks and some Ping Pong – Now there’s a night with a difference!

Rico’s food is now famous in Cork as he began trading at Farmers Markets with signature dishes Parmigano and ‘arranchini’ filled rice balls, and within a few years had opened The Castle Bar and Trattoria at Blackrock Castle and Baile Bella, a pizzeria at Blackrock Village. So now’s your chance to try his famous cuisine at half the price!

Riccardo Vallebella’s new Italian venture in Cork Rico’s at the Mardyke Entertainment Complex assures you’ll find a familiar mix of fresh fast real food at good prices. Family favourite pasta and pizza dishes will feature along with daily specials from Mama’s recipe book. Start with antipasta and finish with ammazza caffé (to kill the coffee) and eat like the Italians!

*2 for 1 offer  not available at the weekends

Warm up in the Idaho Cafe.

Idaho Cafe. Side Street Oasis.

It is small and perfectly formed, they say themselves. It is also bright and bubbly and has been bouncing on the same spot at 19 Caroline Street (at its junction with Oliver Plunkett Street) since 2001. It is of course the Idaho Cafe and themselves are the bright and bubbly Richard and Mairead Jacob.

"Real food for real people” was the original motto and you could now make it real local food! “We try to source all our primary ingredients from within a 100km radius of Idaho Cafe.” They can even tell you the names of their top laying hens: Beryl and Gladys.  

The cafe’s location could hardly be better, barely more than the length of a wren’s flight (25 yards for you city folks who never hunted the wren) from the busy Patrick Street. It is a breakfast place, a quick or a leisurely coffee and sweet things stop morning and afternoon, and a re-filling and refreshing lunch station. It draws visitors, shoppers and business types, along with casual drop-ins like myself.

We dropped in there on Friday shortly before one and just managed to get a table. Turnaround can be quick here with the coffee drinkers coming and going so check with Richard behind the counter if it looks full.

The menu is quite extensive. They are strong on breakfast choices and the lunch choices are good also, augmented by daily specials. We started off with a Potato and Fennell Soup. Fennell can be an overpowering element but here it was all nicely judged, really well balanced and very tasty indeed. Also enjoyed the brown soda bread.

Idaho has quite a reputation for its salads. Friday’s feature was Chicken with beetroot, roasted pepper, red onion and pine nuts (10.50). Looked almost too good to eat but this French style mix, so well dressed, was just gorgeous and both plates went back without a shred of evidence! Well, maybe a smear of beetroot.

Then had a look at the Sweet Things, next to the Hippy Teas. My choice here was the Rhubarb Tart and a pot of the traditional Barry’s Tea (not under Hippy Teas!). Both went down a treat.

Terrific ambience in this busy little spot which, by the way, is Cash Only! Contact them at (021) 427 6376 or idaho.cafe@gmail.com. Read more about Idaho here

Baigorri Crianza and Reserva

Baigorri Crianza and Reserva

Baigorri Tempranillo Crianza 2008, La Rioja, 14.5%, €11.40 in the bodega at Samaniego.
Baigorri Tempranillo Reserva 2006, La Rioja, 14.0%, €18.66 in the bodega at Samaniego.


Happy day: the 12th June 2012. That was the day I pulled into the winery of Baigorri, its glass cube rising above but not dominating the nearby medieval village of Samaniego in La Rioja, and left with some really lovely wines, including these two.

We rang the bell and Pilar met us at the door and let us in. We were too late for the tour but had a lovely chat with the young lady who had polished off her English on the Clash Road in Little Island (Cork).

I was amazed at the stunning winery, designed and built by the architect Inaki Aspiazu, creating an unmissable yet compatible landmark. The cube is just the top of a seven storey structure that carries on underneath the surface and means that virtually every movement of the wine making process owes much to gravity.

And the results in the bottles are brilliant too.

The Crianza

Colour is dark red and there are intense aromas of red fruits, regularly found with Tempranillo in this region.

But the palate is something else, above expectations. Full of fruit flavours but very rounded, quite sophisticated. A really well made wine with a persistent finish.

Probably the best value of the wines that I bought here and very highly recommended.

The Reserva

The Reserva is another excellent wine but is pretty expensive. If I were stuck for money and in the bodega again, I’d probably buy two Crianza rather than one Reserva!

There are good reasons for the big price difference. It has been a good deal longer in the process, including longer in oak. The grapes are picked from very old vines, manually selected and de-stalked before being fermented in French oak.

It is one hundred per cent Tempranillo whereas the Crianza is a blend of 90% Tempranillo, 5% Garnacha and 5% indigenous varieties.

The colour is a dark ruby red. The nose is rich with ripe fruit and hints of spice and leather. On the palate it is pleasant, warm and fruity, slightly spicy, with a supple texture drawn from the tannins and the oak, rounded and so well balanced with a persistent dry finish. Another in the very highly recommended category.

Gathering the Wine Geese Home

Gathering the Wine Geese Home

Just heard from Beverley of L'Atitude 51. She has some exciting news on the wine front:



In association with The Gathering Ireland, we are organizing a series of “Meet the Wine Geese” events throughout 2013, where Wine Geese from across the globe, ranging from some of the more famous Bordeaux players to the smaller less-well known producers will be flying home to meet wine (and history) enthusiasts and share their stories and wines – they’ll recount their winery’s history and connections with Ireland and give a guided tasting of their wines – they talk, we taste!

The aim is to host at least one event per month which will be open to the public in venues across Cork city and county, including some historical venues. A schedule of events is currently being drafted and will be made available shortly. We are really excited to include the wine tasting & presentation by Jean Charles Cazes of Chateau Lynch-Bages, at The Grain Store, Ballymaloe on Sunday 10th March (http://www.ballymaloe.ie/things-to-do/wine-events) as one of our 12 events. As this is an opportunity to promote the best of Irish produce, tastings will tie in with other similar events, such as masterclasses in cheese & wine matching, etc...

The initiative is being led by L’Atitude 51 with support from Colm McCann of Ballymaloe and Maurice O’Mahony of Wine Alliance and has received approval from Cork City Council to be included as part of The Gathering Ireland's official line-up of events. We are looking to engage as many venues, suppliers, members of the hospitality trade and the media as we can to make the event as successful as possible.

We have a page on The Gathering's website where details of events will be posted as they are confirmed, as well as feedback on events held.


For more on the event please click here

Toys for Pigs!

Toys for pigs? And music.. Whatever next?


Truly Irish have a new and "a very exciting project which might just change the future of how/why we eat meat and the Irish pig industry.

Please take a look. We are involved with groups from the EU as well as BioAtlantis, UCD, UFBI in Ireland and the project has received funding of 1.68 million.

Our head office is located in Charleville with our 85 pig farmers located all over the country. Our goal has always been to safeguard 8,000 Irish jobs and to save the Irish pig industry."

Click here to read all about it

The Four Liars

The Four Liars

Spent an enjoyable ninety minutes or so in the Four Liars Bistro, in the shadow of Shandon, on Friday night. First impressions were good. The place was neat and tidy with solid but very comfortable tables and chairs. The standard table for two was more spacious than most.

We got a lovely warm welcome and the service was friendly throughout. Great too to read on the menu folder about their focus on local produce. The menu had been “put together with the best of local ingredients while adding a continental touch. All our food is sourced locally... our beef is from O’Flynn’s, Sunday’s Well, Chicken from the English Market, Fish from Good Fish, Carrigaline..”

I started off with a beauty: Lobster Bisque with Cognac and Cream. This, from the A La Carte, cost €9.50. A handful of prawns were in the very tasty bisque. The other starter, Duck Spring Rolls with Mango Chutney (7.25), was another excellent combination of taste and flavour.

Had been given one of those discount vouchers as a Christmas present and we used that to pick our mains from the Value Menu (which looks good value with three courses for 24.95). They also do an Early Bird with three courses for 19.95. The voucher also allowed us a drink, a glass of wine or a bottle of beer (no craft beer here, so had a Miller).

My mains was Chicken Creole sautéed in a sweet chilli and red wine sauce with Chorizo and sweet red peppers. A lovely piece of chicken, well cooked, spicy but not overly so and there was a really well made Potato Croquet also in the mix. And that wasn't all as we got a superb side plate of vegetables that included turnip, carrot and pea. Quite a pleasing dish, also quite filling and, if you didn’t have a voucher, reasonably priced at €15.00.

Between the various menus, there is a great choice. You may spend as much or as little as you like here, with mains on the A La Carte priced between €13.95 and €32.00. And, going by last Friday’s performance, I’d have no worries about quality. We enjoyed our visit and great to see another restaurant supporting local produce.

Four Liars Bistro,
The Butter Exchange,
Shandon,
Cork,
Ireland .

Contact:  021 4394040  and thefourliarsbistro@gmail.com

A twinning proposition: Timoleague and Samaniego

A twinning proposition: Timoleague and Samaniego

Timoleague (above) and Samaniego

Let us twin the ancient villages of Timoleague (West Cork) and Samaniego (La Rioja). Maybe I can’t pull that off but I sure can get Ummera and Baigorri together. Ummera is a famous state of the art smokehouse in Timoleague while Baigorri is a renowned state of the art winery in La Rioja.

Indeed, I have already brought them together, stumbling on a fantastic wine food pairing, as an unforeseen postscript when I recently opened a bottle of Baigorri Garnacha that I had purchased in Samaniego last summer.

Approaching the end of this bottle, I remembered that I had a few slices of the fantastic Ummera smoked duck to be finished off. Thought to myself that they might make a match.

For once, heaven agreed with me. Chewed a sliver of the duck and added a little wine. Eureka! The "chemistry"  revealed depths of smoky flavour, hitherto unsuspected. Amazingly, products from two ancient villages met on my palate and turned it into a flavour filled paradise.

Baigorri Garnacha, Rioja 2009, 14.5%, €19.54 at the winery in Haro.

Baigorri tend to experiment a bit and they even have a “garage” wine. This Garnacha has been influenced by the winemakers, a vin de l'auteur they call it. A well made wine for sure and highly recommended (very highly recommended if you add the smoked duck!) but a little pricey in comparison with their excellent Tempranillo Reserva.

Quite a dry introduction and then a bubbly rush of fruits. A flavoursome wine then with a stirring persistence. It has a rich red colour with calm fruity aromas, especially plum, plus hints of spice. Overall, the experience in the mouth echoes that of the bouquet.

Amuse Bouche

Amuse Bouche

Even here in Southern Italy, in unheated houses in winter, bread won’t rise because of the cold. Historically the answer was to take the rising mass to bed with you, using the human body and bed clothing to maintain the adequate temperature. I did this for a few weeks over this winter, the pleasant and yeasty gestation under the sheets and thick woolen blankets, likely the closest I’ll ever come to feeling the profound satisfaction observed on the faces of mother hens.
http://awaitingtable.com/2012/04/pane-nella-pignata-bread-baked-in-earthenware/ from the blog by SILVESTRO

BB and Amy in Cork Show later this month

Legendary photographer, Terry O’Neill, brings a major exhibition of his work to Cork in January 2013. The show will feature shots of Bridgette Bardot (left) and Amy Whitehouse (below) among many others. Read all about it here