Ballymaloe Café & Shop. Pleasant Interlude in Shanagarry

Ballymaloe Café & Shop

Pleasant Interlude in Shanagarry

Plum tart. And left, Bacon (top), smoked Mackerel

Gortnamona, Cashel Blue, Rosscarbery Bacon, Frank Hederman, Tim O’s. All these local names appeared on the board in the Ballymaloe Cafe Wednesday at lunchtime. It instils confidence in customers (including me) and underlines Ballymaloe’s ongoing support for Irish producers. It also makes for an excellent lunch as we would soon find out.

Our first call here though was to the shop, packed with foodstuffs, kitchen and dining kit, clothes, books, and craft. Here again, there is great local content, including spices by Green Saffron. Look out too for Jerpoint Glass and pottery by Nicholas Mosse.

We replaced a few items, including a battered biscuit tin and some jaded egg cups. Our eggs will now be served in miniature buckets, with handles if you please. The book selection is very local indeed, much of it by members of the Allen family but also including the new Fresh Spice by Arun of Green Saffron along with Giana Ferguson’s Gubbeen.

But the one we got this time was Rory O’Connell’s Master It. Quite a large book but with very few big words. I have been reading the opening pages and am struck by the simplicity of the language and instructions, all as clear as day. Maybe there’s hope for me yet in the kitchen. One of the advantage of having so many local authors on the shelf here is that most of the books are signed.

Bags filled and then it was time for lunch. The cafe is conveniently situated at the back of the shop. Studied that board and we each went for a sandwich. CL picked the Hederman’s Smoked Mackerel while my choice was the Rosscarbery Home Cured Bacon, each €10.50 and each accompanied by Ballymaloe’s own brown bread, salad and condiments.

We were very happy customers at this point, couldn't have asked for more. But we did! I dare you resist the line-up of cakes and pastries on the counter. We didn't and each of us picked the Plum, Blueberries and Almond Tart. Haven't come across this too often but this was superb. All in all a lovely meal, served with no fuss but with smiles and chat. A lovely interlude.

Vote for Award Winning Truly Irish

Vote for Award-Winning Truly Irish

The Twomeys from Mallow, one of the farming
families that make up Truly Irish

A couple of months back, I was seeking your vote for my dish, which included Truly Irish rashers, on the Cono Sur Bloggers Competition and we made it to the grand final in Paris. Now Truly Irish themselves are looking for your vote to get their name on the Munster Rugby jersey! And hoping, of course, that Munster make it to the grand final of the Champions Cup. Truly Irish are one of five businesses listed for the award.

Truly Irish Country Foods, based in Newcastle West,  are a cooperative of pork producers from all over Ireland. They produce award winning, natural, premium quality, breakfast products including pork and bacon which are DNA traceable back to local high welfare pig farms.

And they are giving you an incentive or two to vote. “The three Truly Irish pigs (Peppa, Porky and Percy) are delighted to announce that Truly Irish are giving away a free brand new iPad Mini to celebrate being shortlisted for the #sponsorforaday awards. If you'd like to win this amazing prize all you need to do is vote for Truly Irish Country Foods here: don't forget to tag all your friends and remember to like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter!!!! Best of luck everyone, sharing is caring!!!” You could also win a Truly Irish Christmas Horseshoe Gammon Ham.

I used their Beechwood smoked rashers in the recipe and they were brilliant, their aromas drawing a bunch of other contestants and judges as they were fried in the final cook-off in Paris. Even top Chilean chef Christopher Carpentier borrowed a few for the lunch dish he served the contestants and afterwards praised "that wonderful Irish bacon". Now I'm looking forward to tasting the Truly Irish Gammon Ham at Christmas.

As you are well aware, the countdown has begun! Today is the 4th of December which means there are only 6 days left to order your Truly Irish Christmas Gammon Ham online at www.trulyirish.ie. “Our delicious, mouth-watering 5.5kg ham is 100% Irish, fully traceable back to local Truly Irish farms, and includes free delivery to your door in time for Christmas!!! So if you want to support local this Christmas while enjoying the premium quality and superb taste of Truly Irish then log onto our website or call us now on 069 78334 to order over the phone!!!!!”

And don’t forget to vote here; closing date is December 15th.

Percy, one the three Truly Irish pigs, sings the Truly Irish song here.

Karwig and Curious

Karwig and Curious

This old Citroen is now parked up at Chateau Bauduc.
But don't worry, deliveries to Curious Wines continue!

Curious Christmas

Just been flicking through the Curious Wines brochure, another really professional effort. Didn't have to go far to find some good wines at a very good price. With twenty percent off Spanish wines (Chilean also) at the moment, take note of the El Circo wines at 8 euro (I'm impressed with the Macabeo). Note too the Beso de Vino series (including another decent Macabeo). On Page 11, don't overlook the Portuguese pair, Stella white and red, each at 9 euro.

Now that’s the party sorted, how about a few for yourself. I'd be very happy with a bottle of Tim Adam’s “Bluey’s Block” Grenache (16.99) or anything, red or white, even rosé, by Gavin Quinney at Chateau Bauduc. Another Grenache worth a look is the Saint Cosme “Little James”. This is unusual as it is non-vintage but a “winner” according to Robert Parker. And me!

And if you’re feeling especially pleased with yourself, take a look at the Little Beauty Sauvignon Blanc (18.99) and their amazing Pinot Noir (26.00). No shortage of Christmas box suggestions from the folks at Curious. The Chateau Bauduc Bordeaux Sauvignon and Merlot is a twin pack I’d recommend at a reasonable 30 euro. Enjoy.

By the way, if you want to sample before you buy, Curious are open for Christmas Tastings next Saturday (6th) and Sunday (7th), in both the Cork and Naas stores. Times are 12.30pm to 6.00pm both days. More info here  

Casale Vecchio Montepulciano D’Abruzzo 2009, 13.5%, €16.95 Karwig Wines

I have to admit that I usually like wines made with the Montepulciano grape, often look for it on restaurant lists, and this is no exception. Confusingly, there is an Italian village of the same name.

This deep red, with intense, fruity, gorgeous aromas, is a superb wine. On the palate it is well endowed with fruit flavours, plum mainly, also spice, dry with good length. This “flagship wine” of a “well respected winery” is best served with meat and grilled food, excellent also with “seasoned”cheese. Very Highly Recommended.

Taste Of The Week

Taste of the Week
Finca Puerta Verde Coffee (Guatemala)
Roasted in Cork by Golden Bean

Shanagarry based Golden Bean, well known at Farmers Markets and in the region's leading coffee shops, is an artisan coffee roastery that buys, roasts, supplies and makes coffee with single origin beans from around the world. This one, all the details below, is from the Antigua Valley in Guatemala and is a beauty. Indeed, I've never had anything less from Mark and his team. It is a lovely introduction to the day and our Taste of the Week. Check out their stall at Mahon Farmers Market tomorrow (Thursday) morning. They may still have some or, if not, another coffee of outstanding quality.

Finca Puerta Verde

The Alvarez family has been producing coffee at Finca Puerta Verde since the end of the 19th century. Their 41 hectare farm is located in Ciudad Vieja, Sacatapéquez, in the Panchoy valley. Puerta Verde is now owned and managed by the fourth generation of the family, who are committed to both quality and environmental sustainability.

The farm benefits from a rich volcanic soil and an average altitude of 1,540 metres. The coffee is grown under a protective shade canopy of Gravilea trees, which provide a great habitat for several local bird and insect species.

The cherries are picked by hand, before being pulped and sun dried at a local wet mill. Waste water from the process is recycled to avoid polluting local water courses. The coffee is then rested and milled prior to export. 

Puerta Verde is nestled in a magical valley where, they claim, the best coffee in the world is produced. This is refected in the farm's name, which comes from 'Puerta Verde, La Puerta al mejor café de Antigua', and translates to 'Green Door, the gate to the best coffee in Antigua'.

Farm: Finca Puerta Verde

Location: Ciudad Vieja, Sacatepéquez, Antigua Valley, Guatemala.
Varietal: Mixed Bourbon and Caturra

Altitude: 1540 metres above sea level

Processing: Fully washed and sun dried on concrete patios. The coffee is picked by hand when it is fully ripe, pulped on the same day, moved to the local wet mill, where it dries on patios in the sun until it reaches the optimum humidity level.

Cupping notes: This is not your typical Guatemalan. At first it greets you with a rich dark chocolate and caramel favour that is swiftly followed by a unique and gushing grape like acidity and rich fruitiness, which predominates in the cup. This is a zingy coffee that, as it cools, maintains its dark chocolate, a subtle sweetness and a creamy mouthfeel.

Folláin Traditional Irish Preserves. Going for Gold

Folláin Traditional Irish Preserves

Going for Gold

The summer of 1956 was the time of the milers with Ireland’s Ronnie Delaney learning a valuable lesson or two before going on to win gold at the 1,500 metres at the November Olympics in Australia. Englishman Brian Hewson was Delaney’s arch-rival during the long hot summer and that rivalry was often echoed in our “acre” between ourselves and a couple of young English boys, as we alternated between cricket and hurling.

The events stick in the memory as does another habit of the two lads, regular visitors from across the water to their Irish grandmother, a neighbour of ours. The two boys would come out of granny’s crossroads cottage with a pot of freshly made jam and a spoon and proceed to clean out the pot! I am reminded of them and indeed inclined to copy whenever I come across jams from Folláin, as I did recently.

Mrs O’K’s jams were good then;  Folláins are good now, always reminding me of the real thing. Been sampling three of their gourmet small pot range and I’m glad to say that they absolutely delicious. Raspberry and Vanilla, Strawberry and Passionfruit and, perhaps my favourite, Orange and Apricot, are so fruity, so full of gorgeous flavors, that an immediate re-run is on the cards.

Stop food waste with this chutney.
Check the step by step video here

While these small jars have a knockout flavour they also pack a different kind of punch where the target is the elimination of food waste, a problem estimated at costing Irish households €700 million every year.

Folláin Traditional Irish Preserves know what they are talking about when it comes to preserving the goodness of nature - they have been doing it from their West Cork base for over 30 years - the Irish company is now using their experience and expertise to help Irish people in the fight against food waste.

Folláin, with guidance from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Food Waste Tech super-stars, FoodCloud, have introduced smaller and less wasteful packaging across a new range of products, and combined this with a new website. The site will provide educational and consumer support, through tips on avoiding food waste, host a range of recipe ideas and suggestions to inspire consumers to get creative with surplus fresh food ingredients and stop food waste in its tracks!

Stop food waste with Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper with Breadcrumbs.
Check the step by step video here

Odile Le Bolloch from the EPA's Stop Food Waste programme commented: “When asked about the types of food they waste, many householders list condiments in jars along with the more obvious types of food waste such as fruit and veg, bread and dairy products, Our studies have shown that most of these foods are wasted because they have bought too much or didn't use it on time. Providing customers with the option to buy smaller amounts, as well as providing correct storage information, is a great example of how a company such as Folláin can help customers reduce their food waste, and we are delighted to see them take the initiative. "

Commenting on the starting point for Folláin Food Project, Folláin Brand Manager, Laura Hewson (same name as Delaney’s Olympic rival!), explains: “Preserving the goodness of nature is at the very essence of the Folláin ethos, and it is a craft that our Cork based team have perfected from providing the nation with fresh fruit Jams, Marmalades, Relishes, Salsas and Chutneys over the last 30 years. We knew as a company we wanted to get involved in the battle against food waste, and the start off point for us was a phone call to the EPA, where we were informed that chutneys and jams top the list of food waste offenders, but that something as simple as a reduction in packaging size could prevent jars of half full preserves being binned, so our first action was to do just that!”

Iseult Ward, Co-Founder of FoodCloud commented: “At least one million tonnes of food is wasted in Ireland annually. Wasting food is a waste of money, a waste of valuable natural resources and raises moral questions where there are people suffering from food poverty.  We want Irish people to think about how they can reduce this waste - with such a rich food and agricultural heritage, it makes sense that as a nation, we commit to this. It is great to see companies like Folláin looking for new and innovative ways to help consumers reduce their food waste at home.”

Stop food waste with this Seasonal Fruit Compote.
Check the step by step video here

Hewson says the campaign resonates with Folláin: “Folláin’s tradition is imbued in the time honoured skill passed down through generations in Cuil Aodha, Co. Cork, of preserving fruit and vegetables, evoking the joys of nature all year around. In today’s throwaway society food does not carry the same value and preservation skills such as curing, drying, smoking, bottling, pickling, fermenting and conserving are not used as much. Folláin believes that new approaches can be adopted to modern day living fitting in with our busy lifestyles to value food as Irish people once did and become less wasteful. “

The Folláin Food Project Website includes information about food waste in Ireland today, with easy to follow guidelines on how to avoid food waste in the home, as well as utilising the list of top ten food waste offenders to demonstrate how you can save squidgy fruit and veg before they are relegated to compost heaps and rubbish bins.

Folláin features three different ranges of traditional preserves, including; Folláin ​Extra Fruit Traditional Irish Preserves, Folláin No Added Sugar Preserves and Relishes and Folláin Premium Preserves in small 180g jars. The ranges are available from leading supermarkets and independent retailers nationwide, log onto Folláin for more information.

Stop food waste with this sinfully moist Courgette Cake.
Check the step by step video here

The smaller sized Folláin jams are available in 180g jars in a range of gourmet flavours, of which two were awarded stars at the Great Taste Awards for 2014, and include; Raspberry & Vanilla (2 Stars at the Great Taste Awards),  Orange & Apricot, Strawberry & Passion Fruit (1 Star at the Great Taste Awards) and Rhubarb & Fig. The jams are available at retailers nationwide for RSP €1.69.

And there’s more. Follain have created a series of recipes, which show people how to create beautiful dishes and avoid food waste at the same time and these are available to view here. Some going for the small family company from Coolea!

Stop food waste with Baked Banana and Apple Chips
Check the step by step video here

To see Ronnie Delaney winning the 1,500m gold in Melbourne, click here 

Seaweed Bread Debuts in Midleton Farmers Market. Irresistible Salads also.

Seaweed Bread Debuts in Midleton Farmers Market

Irresistible Salads also.

New to Arbutus: Seaweed loaf (left) and San Fran sourdough

Arbutus Bread, pioneers in the real bread field, are on the move again. Called in to Midleton Farmers Market last Saturday morning and a delighted Dee was on hand to show me their new Seaweed Bread and I was delighted to taste this beauty.

Dee and Declan are rightly proud of this loaf but very keen too to acknowledge the contributions of Galway’s James Cunningham, who produced the seaweed ingredient, and also the help given by John and Sally McKenna.

Brilliant really, isn't it, how people in the real food area (also in the craft brewing sector) cooperate with one another, in the style of the old time meitheal. More and better products are the result and we (the customers) are all winners.  James Cunningham summed it up over the weekend:  “I love that someone can take my produce and give it a life in their produce. Pretty cool.”

Might be some tweaking to be done yet - the final loaf may be a little higher on profile but it is good. As Dee says this is “We will be doing it in a  Boule sourdough to start. A work in progress, first loaf today, so lots more trials to do.”

Salads galore

Dee says the salt content has been reduced to allow the seaweed flavour shine through. But don't worry, you won't be tasting seawater here or anything like it. Just an excellent well made bread. In any event, and I'm quoting the McKenna’s here, seaweed doesn't absorb a lot of salt - just sea minerals and vitamins.

Why seaweed bread? And what exactly is the “magic” ingredient? Dee explains: “Noribake, which we are using, is a natural organic Irish product which we have in abundance. The benefits are:

Natural immune stimulant & gut flora modulator;

Lowers GI index of baked goods;

Allows salt and sugar levels to be reduced in line with EU trends;  

Anti-staling effects of formula extends shelf life of baked goods;

Alginate content gives consumer the experience of being   ‘fuller for longer’.”

And Arbutus haven't stopped at that. They have also introduced a new sourdough, moving away from the French style that has served them, and us, so well, to a new more folded San Francisco version. So there you are. “Two healthy loaves for you,’ says Dee.

Jason Carrell’s Ginger Room Salads is a new attraction at this pioneering East Cork market and I had lots of recommendations to call to his stall. And he has an inviting display, a huge range of salads, all in colourful matching bowls (brought back from his travels in Fiji, I’m told).

Organic veg from Ballymaloe

Just had a quick chat as we made our purchases (Jason was very busy and sells out every day). But do note that his huge range of “tasty healthy funky style salads” are also available at Wilton (Tuesday) and Kinsale (Wednesday) as well as Midleton (Saturday).

Got to call to some of the long-standing stalls as well including pioneers Ballymaloe who had a fine display of, among other things, organic vegetables; Hederman's close by had no shortage of their quality smoked fish, got a lovely piece of pork from Noreen of Woodside, fish from O’Driscoll’s, a selection of mushrooms from Lucy of Ballyhoura Mushrooms and a bag of big juicy red apples from another stall. All the while the music played, the coffee flowed as did conversations and laughter. Will only get better on the Saturdays ahead!

Fish & Wine on the Double. Recipes from the Lettercollum Cookbook

Fish & Wine on the Double

Recipes from the Lettercollum Cookbook

Grilled Cod

Dipped into the fish section of the newly published Lettercollum Cookbook  twice over the weekend and came up with two beauties! And matched them with two lovely white wines from Supervalu.

Enjoyed the Moncrieff Show from the Midleton Distillery on Friday afternoon; no shortage of whiskey and tasty canapes, even wine. Still, ever mindful of the next meal, our first call on the way out was to the Ballycotton Seafood shop on main street and here we bought some scallops and cod.

The scallops, an impulse purchase,  were done this time, not with bacon, but with black pudding. The black pudding was really good but a bit on the strong side for the shell fish and I think the Truly Irish bacon is a better match! 

The cod was deliberately bought for the Lettercollum Recipe: Grilled Cod with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Basil. It is the kind of dish we've made lots of times on holidays (easy to get the basic ingredients). Indeed, Karen Austin’s book says “this recipe is great in summer and very quick to make”. But the result, with the super fresh cod, was also excellent on the last Friday of November.

The wine:

Portico da Ria Albarino 2013, Rias Baixas (Spain), 12.5%, €10.00 SuperValu.

With its light gold colour and fresh aromas, you get to like this one immediately. Fresh and fruity, it is quite intense on the palate, lively and lovely, and with an ample finish. It is the perfect match for simple fish dishes, including this one and the one below. Very Highly Recommended. Lovely label too! Rias Baixas is an area in North West Spain, around the Atlantic city of Vigo. Albarino is its dominant grape, also the easiest to pronounce!

Suquet de Peix. Tasty in any language!

Fish Two

We were soon back in Midleton, this time for the Saturday Farmers Market and joined the queue at O’Driscoll’s Fish stall, again shopping for a Lettercollum recipe, this time the Suquet de Peix, better known around here as Catalan Fish Stew!

We got a bag of fish bones from O’Driscoll’s to make the fish stock and also Monkfish (you may also use Hake) and mussels, the other main ingredients. Onions, red peppers, garlic, waxy potatoes and tomatoes, even a drop of brandy, also feature in this very tasty dish.

Karen says they first came across it in Cadaques on the Costa Brava, the town where Salvador Dali lived for most of his adult life. “Essentially, it’s a one pot dinner but a great dish for entertaining as the basic stew can be made and then left aside until the guests arrive when you can reheat the stew and pop the fish in. It is served with a parsley and almond picada - a sauce similar to a pesto”.

It turned out very well, thanks to the chef de cuisine here.

The wine

Macon Lugny Les Coteaux des Anges 2013 (Burgundy), 13.0%, €10.00 Supervalu.

This is an excellent Chardonnay from the home of the variety. There is even a village called Chardonnay, not too far from Lugny. Like Rias Baixas, most production here, in the Mâconnais part of Burgundy, is on a small scale. Again, the match was a good one and the wine is highly recommended, especially at the discounted Christmas price.

Colour is a light honey, really bright, and the white fruit aromas hint at peaches, nectarines, apples, a little citrus too. No shortage of inviting flavour on the palate, concentrated fruit, crisp but with a good weight and a long finish.

The Book

The Lettercollum Cookbook, by Karen Austin, is widely available in bookshops nationwide (including Waterstones and Bradley's) and in the UK . Great too that it is printed in Ireland by KPS Colour Print. It is published by Onstream in Cork and available online here.

Moncrieff’s Pot On In Midleton. Cocktail of Whiskey, Food, Music, Nostalgia and Politics

Moncrieff’s Pot On In Midleton Distillery

Cocktail of Whiskey, Food, Music, Nostalgia and Politics

At home: Brian Nation (left) and
Peter Morehead, both of Midleton Distillery.

 Positive Ireland got an outing on the Moncrieff Show last Friday. The programme was broadcast from the Midleton Distillery and the Production Director there, Peter Morehead, had good news: “There is a huge renaissance in Irish Whiskey...25 years of solid growth.” Expansion continues at the East Cork plant which started life as a Woollen Mill, then became a Barrack before distilling started here in 1825.

Brian Nation, the Master Distiller, confirmed that Midleton has the “biggest operational pots in the world”. The size is not just for show: “Shape and size are very important to the development of whiskey.”

Enough of the history. We were here to sample two of the Redbreast Single Pot Still series, starting with the 12 year old. Twelve years, by the way, is the age of the youngest whiskey in the bottle. Peter likes it at this time of the year because of its “Christmas-y aromas and flavours”, some of which arise because it is matured in Sherry casks. Indeed, all casks from fortified wines areas - Sherry, Port, Madeira, Marsala - can be used by whiskey makers.

Brian was our guide on the 21 year old Redbreast. Again 21 years is the age of the youngest in the bottle, the oldest is 28. If it was in Sherry casks all the time, you wouldn't recognise it as whiskey, so it is in Sherry casks for the final three years only. It is a gorgeous drop with a very smooth mouthfeel. As Brian said: “There is a step-up in age and a step-up in complexity.”

Moncrieff (right) with Jerry Buttimer.

Delighted to see and hear Giana Ferguson of Gubbeen on the show. Giana, a blow-in to West Cork over forty years ago, has just had her book, also Gubbeen, published, said that travel, “a lot of rambling in Europe”, helped guide her towards a love of “the richness of food”.

Forty years back, she and some of her friends in West Cork were “known as the lunatic fringe”. These individuals, on the retreat in the 70s from Thatcher and the Cold War, were idealistic. Some put down roots there and “it worked for us with food”. Cheesemaking was Giana’s chosen field.

It wasn't easy but help was at hand. “There was an amazing degree of trial and error and a need for a serious core of knowledge in cheesemaking. We were lucky to have UCC - they opened their doors to the West Cork cheesemakers”.

Sean Moncrieff, a sympathetic interviewer (knows when to say quiet and when to butt in), asked her about sales and marketing. “I did the marketing by the seat of my pants,” she said. “I think the secret to marketing is telling the truth. Even then we needed good luck and that, with ‘synchronicity’, led to international sales. Now we have a micro economy down on the farm and it is trickling down to the village.”

Giana Ferguson of Gubbeen tells her story.

Alice Taylor is another West Cork based lady with a book on the shelves. This is called Do You Remember?

Sean asked her what did she remember about the run-up to Christmas in the good old days. Alice recalled going to the wood for holly (it had to have berries) and plucking the geese with her sisters. “I loved Christmas Eve..there was a wonderful sense of waiting … very peaceful.” A couple of good turnips came in handy: one to support the Christmas candle, the other to hold the tree. The tree was really just a branch as her father wasn't too keen on cutting down a whole tree saying a tree took thirty or forty years to grow and any fool could cut it down in five minutes.

The show had started with a interview with local Fine Gael TD Jerry Buttimer. Jerry was very impressive, especially on his being gay and his coming out. Referring to the upcoming referendum (May 2015) on same sex marriage he said “it is beyond politics” and “about the lives of our people”.

The show finished with the regular Movies and Booze slot, with both Sue Murphy (movies) and Martin Moran on hand. Earlier, live music was provided by Nicole Maguire. Talented Nicole has a new album called What You Really Mean but the song that she sang, with a Christmas touch, was Joni Mitchel’s classic The River. All part of a lively and engaging afternoon's entertainment.

Cheers Moncrieff!

** To know more about Single Pot Still Whiskey (you can even become a member of the Stillhouse) click here.

You'll find podcasts of the Moncrieff Show here .

Amuse Bouche

We had a light stretch and then returned to the hotel for a lunch of chicken or steak, fish and some beans. For some reason there was always plenty of toast. No bread, no rolls allowed, just stacks of toast. You could have 300,000 pieces of toast, but no bread. I never did work that out.

Liverpool’s Phil Neal quoted in Match of My Life (editor: Ben Lyttleton)