A Simply Better Continental Cheese Selection.

Continental Cheese Selection

From Simply Better By Dunnes Stores

Gorgonzola Piccanta

A Christmas present of cheese put me thinking of a Swiss holiday and an excursion to the town of Gruyères, and aliens! There were fabulous views, a church, a chateau, and the famous cheese!

There was also a strange museum – based on the film Alien. The HG Giger Museum is based on the work of the graphic artist of the same name, who did the special effects for the film and others (such as Poltergeist 11).

This way for cheese!

A similarly themed bar is adjacent and it was here that we had coffee and minuscule meringues made with Gruyère. Then a short drive downhill to an “industrial” cheese manufacturer where a robot is usefully employed turning, watering and replacing big wheels of cheese in the racks.

Gruyère was included in Continental Cheese Selection by Simply Better Dunnes Stores at Christmas and it was quite a pleasant and tasty surprise, not least because some were “new” to me, as the vast majority of the cheese eaten here in this house over the past few years has been Irish. 

Babies in the bar.
G'us a drink, now!

So it was nice to see and taste what is going on the continent. And there was a good bit of variety in the selection. There were two fairly familiar cheeses, the Gruyère and the Gorgonzola. The other two were completely new to me, the soft rind Langres from Champagne and the L’Edel de Cleron from Franche-Comte. Also included was a little jar of Fig and Macadamia Nut Chutney from Girona in Spain; the nuts from Australia the all-spice from Jamaica.

One day last week, we made a fruitless run to try out the Cork Marina Market again but the large car park was full and lots of pedestrians coming in as well, plenty of  families around with schools still on hols. Quite a gang already eating out on benches under the full sun. We had to beat a retreat. 

What now for lunch? I thought of this selection and we opened the L’Edel de Cleron produced by Jean Perrin. I was reading about it and saw that Perrin makes it with milk from Jura Mountain Montbéliarde cows, the same milk used for Mont D’Or (both are wrapped in spruce bark). 

In the belly of the beast! Inside the pub in Gruyeres

So we heated up the cheese in its little round box and, when warm and soft, scooped it out with fingers of toast. Very delicious indeed, lusciously creamy and it vanished very quickly. Just the job though for lunch and I drizzled some of local honey (Leamlara) onto the last few scoops and that added to the pleasure.

Langres Cathedral

Langres is named after a little town in Champagne and is distinguished by a wee hollow on top of its small drum shape designed to hold a tiny pool of brine while maturing. Our producer, Fromagier Schertonleib,  went a spirited step beyond and this is matured with Marc de Champagne!  A touch of class.

It is a cows milk cheese with an edible orange coloured rind. It is creamy and smooth and melts on the palate. There is a delicate pungent aroma while the flavour is light, though the intensity of aroma and flavour can change as it matures. It is excellent on its own or when used in cooking.

By the way, we did use the multi-national chutney with all the cheeses (plus some Hegarty’s Cheddar that we had in the fridge) and it was excellent. The versatile Spiced Plum and Port Jam (by The Big Red Kitchen) also saw plenty of use and really starred with the Gorgonzola, as did the lovely Toro Albalá Marqués de Poley Oloroso (from O'Briens Wine).

Gorgonzola (via Pixabay)

Speaking of Gorgonzola, this Piccante Gorgonzola (AOP) was produced by the Arrigoni family in Lombardy, a region where nowadays the famous blue is made mostly in commercial plants. It traditionally has a white moist paste with green/blue veining and a sharp lactic smell.

The chateau at Gruyeres

Our Piccante has a beautiful smooth texture and a rich spicy flavour - so little bits are best! The rind is inedible. There are two types of this cheese, Piccante (savoury) and Dolce (sweet), with the latter (less blue-veined with a more delicate taste) representing some 90% of the production (ref: The Oxford Companion to Cheese).

French Onion soup with Gruyère (at Market Lane)

And the Gruyère? Characteristics of this famous Swiss cheese are its dry, firm and chewy texture and a moderately tangy flavour and with a nutty sweet finish - no need for any chutney here. A good one for the cheeseboard and a superb cooking cheese. The rind by the way is inedible.

Ours, a 15-month cave aged cheese, is made in traditional copper vats by the Margot family in the heart of the Jura Mountains and it is slowly matured in caves. The texture is firm and smooth and the flavour is rich and intense. 

Hegarty's copper vat

Gruyère is made mainly from Holstein milk and its long-time cross-mountain rival Comté (or Gruyère de Comté) from Montbeliarde. Just a few miles north of my house in Cork lies Whitechurch where Hegarty’s make a superb Templegall that can rival the Swiss and French; they use milk from their Freisians and, yes, they make it in a beautiful copper vat (over 60 years old).

Taste of the Week. O'Flynn's Mexican Chorizo Sausages

Taste of the Week

O'Flynn's Mexican Chorizo Sausages

Pure pork, pure Cork. That's O'Flynn's Mexican style fresh chorizo sausage, our Taste of the Week, made with chorizo, red wine and mixed herbs.This sausage has a minimum of 90% pork and is gluten free and is ideal for many recipe ideas. 

We added ours to a much used hearty Spanish Rice recipe and it worked a treat. The long-grain rice is cooked with vegetables (onion, pepper, frozen peas),  chopped canned tomatoes, chicken stock too. Turmeric gives it a warming colour these dull mid-winter days. The rice and chunks of the sausages are all cooked in the one pan.

It is not the only spicy sausage that O'Flynn's sell. An adjacent basket contained their Habanero & Green Chilli version. And if you are buying gourmet sandwiches from them, you may add a spicy sauce such as Tabasco or Sriracha.

More info on the widely available O'Flynn's Gourmet Sausages here.

A Couple of Highly Recommended Organic Wines, from Bergerac and Campobasso.

 A Couple of Highly Recommended Organic Wines

From Bergerac and Campobasso

Tour Des Gendres Cantalouette Bergerac Rouge (AC) 2020 14.5% 

€19.45 64 Wine Dublin, Bradley’s of Cork, Greenman Dublin, Le Caveau Kilkenny

This is a blend of 50% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc, 25% Malbec. Not too sure about the name, though there is a bird (not like any lark I’ve ever seen!) on the label, and there is a town of this name about 30 minutes from Ribagnac where Tour des Gendres is based.

Very glossy and deep red in the glass. The nose is intense, a bouquet of vibrant small red fruits. And the fresh fruit flavours are also intense, juicy cassis and other darker fruits, a touch of moderate spice too. Tannins have a tender grip and this is an easy-drinking soft and balanced wine with good length. Really gorgeous, well made (typical of Tours des Gendres) and Very Highly Recommended.

The grapes come from the Tour des Gendres’ organic certified vineyards. The grapes are Malbec, Merlot and Cabernet Franc (noted for its quality of freshness), grown on a mix of sand, clay and limestone soils. Luc is looking for purity and intensity in his wines, relentlessly searching to reach the maximum potential of each vintage.Viticulture is organic and biodymanic and yields are low.

Le Caveau tells that Luc de Conti is a wonderful character and one of the finest wine-makers of his generation, he feels passionately for his wines, his 54-ha vineyard and his Bergerac region.”Luc is looking for purity and intensity in his wines, relentlessly searching to reach the maximum potential of each vintage.”

Over the years Bergerac winemakers have been overshadowed by those of neighbour Bordeaux who historically controlled the ports and so the  exports. As Robert Joseph said a good few years back: The second class status of Bergerac today owes more to the efforts of Bordeaux merchants to discriminate against it than to the quality of its wines.

As a result, to this day, Bergerac doesn't command the same price level as Bordeaux. So watch out for Bergerac reds (and the whites also) and you should save yourself a few euro without sacrificing quality.

Fattoria di Vaira Vincenzo Bianco 2020, 11% abv 

€18.45 64 Wine Dublin, Bradley’s of Cork, Greenman Dublin, Le Caveau Kilkenny

This white blend comes from southern Italy (not from the deep south); inland Campobasso, where the vineyard is located, is roughly equidistant from Rome and Bari but nearer the Adriatic then the Tyrrhenian.

Colour is an orange/gold, a haze cloud in the glass. Aromas offer quince and sweet peach notes, along with floral hints. The complex palate is full of lively fruit flavours (apricot, peach, even apple). Mouthfeel is a little tingly. Fresh and well structured, this is a delicious wine and an excellent introduction to the style of skin-contact white (also known as orange wines). Highly Recommended.

The blend sees light skin-contact Fiano grapes in with some direct press Trebbiano. The fruit for the Vincenzo wine is sourced from Fattoria di Vaira, one of the largest biodynamic farms in Italy, with more than 500 hectares, just 40 of which are planted to vines.

There is a wonderful diversity here, a very clean environment, with animals, fruit plants, cereals. Shepherds, farmers, cheese makers, vignerons all work in harmony on the farm.

You can visit if you are in the area. Not alone visit, stay as well. And you’ll be well entertained with wine tours and evenings of wine, food and music. Check it all out here.

Spice 'n Sweet and Sixties Beats. The Glass Curtain Rocks The Kitchen

Spice 'n Sweet and Sixties Beats

The Glass Curtain Rocks the Kitchen 

Three hotties: Corn Salsa(left), Pico de Gallo (bottom right), and Chipotle Aioli 

We had a little Latino-Irish Fiesta on the table at the weekend, thanks to the talented crew in The Glass Curtain. While the popular MacCurtain Street restaurant itself is out of action for a few weeks (you know the culprit), they are offering an At Home with different meals available on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. (Keep an eye on their social media for updates as things keep changing. Just heard, they'll be doing at home for the next two weeks. Updated menus will appear here).

Viva Mexico. (via Pixabay)

Our pick this time was the Friday offering of Panko breaded cod, pico de gallo, sweetcorn salsa, shredded cabbage, flour tortillas, bravas potatoes with lime chipotle aioli. And a dessert of Chocolate custard, blood orange jelly, spiced churro pieces.

Instructions come with the box which you collect at a specified time. There is a little work but there is also The Glass Curtain playlist. Check it out on Spotify and your cooking will be lifted even higher with Jackie Wilson. The likes of me though may have to Knock on Wood (more than once).

Patatas Bravas

The music went down well, though I got a nasty look when I played You Keep Me Hanging On. And the dog’s begging routine was interrupted briefly when Rufus Thomas started belting out Walking the Dog. As you may have gathered, the songs and singers are mainly from the 60s though, remarkably, Bing Crosby had a hit with Try a Little Tenderness in 1933!

Getting messy!

Anyhow, music or no music, the At Home work takes about 15 minutes, the time it takes the Patatas Bravas to heat and crisp up in the oven. In the meantime, the Tortilla dough has been rolled out and cooked in a dry pan. And the cod goujons (or Sweet Potato and Halloumi if you’re on on the veggie option) take 4-5 minutes.

Dessert

The Official Blog Chef’s coordination is as impressive as ever and it all came good and soon we were south of the border, spooning the shredded cabbage (white), pico de gallo, and chipotle aioli to assemble the Taco. The spicy stuff wakes you up, something different on the table to enliven a dreary wet and cold evening. Also took the opportunity to try out a few of those Chilli & Lime White Corn Tortilla Chips from Clonmel’s Blanco Niño.

Chilli & Lime White Corn Tortilla Chips

Portions are generous here and a “gap” was organised before dessert was tackled. The churros has to be heated (a couple of minutes) and coated in the chilli sugar before they met the delicious chocolate custard and the even more delicious Blood Orange Jelly. The remarkable sweetness added to the already feel good factor and I just got more and more comfortable in the soft chair. Time to switch up the recliner.

Menus Available Last Weekend

• Friday 45 for 2 sharing

Panko breaded cod, pico de gallo, sweetcorn salsa, shredded cabbage, flour tortillas, bravas potatoes with lime chipotle aioli,

Chocolate custard, blood orange jelly, spiced churro pieces

• Saturday 40 for 2 sharing

BBQ brisket, house slaw, jalapeño cornbread, mac n’cheese

Chocolate chip cookies salted caramel sauce

• Sunday 50 for 2 sharing

18oz dry aged Angus striploin, home fries, whiskey pepper sauce, chargrilled baby leeks, roasted cauliflower

Classic tiramisu

• Veggie all weekend 35 for 2 sharing

Panko breaded halloumi and sweet potatoes, pico de gallo, sweetcorn salsa, shredded cabbage, flour tortillas, bravas potatoes with lime chipotle aioli

Served with desert of the evening

A Quart of Ale± #85. On the craft journey with Whiplash, Lineman, Lough Gill and ToØl.

 A Quart of Ale± #85

On the craft journey with Whiplash, Lineman, Lough Gill and ToØl.

Lough Gill Mac Nutty Macadamia Nut Brown Ale 5.5%, 440ml can O’Briens Wine

The team at Lough Gill admit to having hand-toasted “trays upon trays of macadamia nuts” for this brown ale in its early days. No doubt about the colour here, a rich dark reddish brown (though you can spot the Christmas tree lights through it!) And a foamy tan head. Rather handsome overall from the introduction that deposits bags of flavours. It has an excellent body and a nice balance of hops and malt.

Macadamia nuts, by the way, are native to Australia and are full of healthy fats. Lough Gill, having roasted the nuts, soon found that thanks to top quality malts and hops they had a luxurious brown beer, with a rich nutty flavour, on their hands.

The current edition has a nose packed with nuts, cocoa, caramel milk, and a dusting of cocoa. More of the same on the smooth palate, fruit and chocolate too with enough of a contribution from the hops to enable balance.

I first came across this tempting easy-drinker back in 2017 and was very impressed. Glad to report that the lover affair is resumed. 

Whiplash Das Model Vienna Lager 4.8%, 440ml can Whiplash Online

Vienna Lagers, according to the producers of Das Model, are wonderful for their allowance of generous malt aroma, flavour, full body and balance. Das Model is no exception.  An amber/orange colour, like Tanora for the Cork readers, greets you in the glass, a soft foamy head slipping away. 

And speaking of Cork… it is now to be the base of Jake, the man who made this beer for Dublin’s busy Whiplash. It is, they say, a fine addition to this year’s lager series. “We've been lucky to have him as part of team Whiplash for the last 10 months but he's now on to adventures anew... To Cork! We're already planning a Whiplash invasion down there to visit. Be warned. Sancho Forever.”

Let us know folks when you make that visit and we’ll join with Jake in the welcome! 

 

Malts are key in Vienna lagers and here Jake and Co have used Melanoidin and Carapils and they help give that striking colour plus the aromas of honey sweetness and  an expected light touch of bread and toast.

Whiplash were on guard against too much cloying and so more hops were enlisted to get the balance right. That secret weapon was the Bruce Blend, a combination hop blend of “our favourite New Zealand hops like Nelson, Motueka, Pacific Jade and Pacifica.”  And Mr Bruce enlivens the malt base with lime zest, citrus and floral character, even notes of Sauvignon Blanc. So there you are. Generous malt aroma, flavour, full body and balance. What’s not to like?

And there’s more! Das Model gets their house lager yeast, WLP833, treatment during its “good cold lagering for a pleasantly crisp finish that rounds out this stylish modern lager, bringing it back to session-ability among all that heft”.  Sounds more or less perfect. Tastes that way too!

Lineman Fluid Dynamic Extra Pale Ale 4.8%, 440ml can O’Briens Wine

Lineman has been getting some serious attention recently and they keep up the good work with this Extra Pale Ale. It is named Fluid Dynamic and the hops chosen were the all American trio of Citra (citrus, mango, melon), Idaho 7 (pineapple, pine, berry) and Chinook (grapefruit, pine, spice).

I’ve included their characteristics in the brackets above and the beer follows through and delivers across the range of aromas and flavours from citrus to mango to pine with a little spice thrown in for good measure. This unpasteurised and unfiltered beer is a soft and pleasant one on the palate, brewed deliberately using barley and wheat malts to make it light and clean and let the hops take centerstage but without taking over.

Colour is a bright yellow/gold, almost totally clear, with no shortage of bubbles. Besides, the  pale ale (not quite certain why the extra is employed here) is both very satisfying and sessionable in a style that could well have wide appeal. Well done to the crew at Lineman.

ToØl Implosion Non Alcoholic 0.3%, 330ml can O’Briens Wine

Colour is a hazy yellow. Aromas hint of the yeast, a hint too of fresh pine. No explosion of flavours on the crisp palate but quite a pleasant balance and a good dry refreshing finish.  Doesn’t seem that much has changed since a late 2020 tasting.

They then sympathised with drinkers stuck with lack-lustre non alcoholic beers. So, they threw out the rule book away to make Implosion beer. “We used a yeast that, when it ferments, doesn't create alcohol but still gives off amazing, ale esters. We then added hops to create a delicate, aromatic profile - and therefore didn't need to boil off the beer at the end of the process and risk losing all those amazing flavours.”  Still some work to do, I’d say.

Irish non alcoholic beer versions - at least those that I’ve tried - are also falling that bit short while the German Weihenstephaner “Original Helles” <0,5% abv, is worth a try. If you fancy cider, the Stonewell (Zero) and Highbank (Driver’s) are very satisfactory indeed.

Beer of the Year 2021. The Reveal!

Beer of the Year 2021

Very difficult to separate the contenders but the nod for my Beer of the Year goes to the Brehon Brewhouse Oak & Mirrors Cask Aged Imperial Porter. Brehon: "Whiskey-aged porter from a collaboration with our good friends at TWO STACKS using their freshly emptied single malt cask to mature our brew. Of course, getting it right took a few tastings with the lads. This is a superior whiskey cask-aged imperial porter that will please the most discerning of whiskey-loving palettes. Limited edition.."

1 - Cask-Aged Brehon Brewhouse Oak & Mirrors Two Stacks Whiskey Cask Aged Imperial Porter

 2 (joint) - Yellow Belly “Red Noir” Dark Red Ale

                  Whiplash “Melodie Noir” Baltic Porter

4 -       Mescan Brewery Old Brown 

5  (joint) -   Western Herd Flora and Fauna 10 Hop DIPA 

                 - Hope “Limited Edition No 25“ Classic Gose

                 -  Dungarvan “Mahon Falls” Rye Pale

8 - Galway Bay NZ Pils Motueka Dry Hopped Pilsner

Mescan's Old Brown

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Below are more of my favourites from the past 12 months. I'm lucky to have a great supplier here in Cork City and virtually every brewer in the country will know of Bradley's in North Main Street. There's a wall of beer there but I'm conscious that quite a few others don't make it this far south and so I've used various online shops to broaden my scope. If you feel, your beer is missing out, do please let me have a DM with info as to where I can buy it.

Category favourites 2021

Pale Ale:  White Hag “Magic Mist” Juicy Pale Ale (from a very competitive section)

IPA (also very competitive!): Blacks St Tropez IPA Summer IPA 4.8%

Session: Eight Degrees Seisíun IPA 4.5%. No shortage of competition here.

Lager: Galway Bay NZ Pils Motueka Dry Hopped Pilsner 4.9%, from a crowded field

Less competitive categories, even sub-categories

Coffee and Oatmeal Stout: Dungarvan Brewing.

Cask-Aged: Brehon Brewhouse Oak & Mirrors Two Stacks Whiskey Cask Aged Imperial Porter 7.5%; 

Porter: Whiplash The Sup

Rauchbier: Kinnegar 20÷2 Anniversary Rauchbier 5%

Barleywine: Eight Degrees Irish Oak-aged Barleywine 12.2%

Old Brown: Mescan

Spon: Land & Labour Crimson Kriek Framboise

Baltic Porter: Whiplash Melodie Noir Baltic Porter

Wheatbeer/Witbier/Wheat: Curious Society Wheat Beer

DIPA: Western Herd Flora and Fauna 10 Hop DIPA, 9.45%

Black IPA: 9 White Deer Black Lightning; 

Rye Pale Ale: Dungarvan “Mahon Falls” Rye Pale Ale

Bitter: Lough Gill Five Candles Extra Special Bitter

Stout: Ballykilcavan Blackwell Stout.

Kolsch: Rye River Grafters Clocking Off Kölsch Style

Red Ale: Yellow Belly “Red Noir” Dark Red Ale 4.5%

Gose: Hope “Limited Edition No 25“ Classic Gose

Non Alcoholic: Stonewell 0% Cider

Amber Ale: Kinnegar Devil’s Backbone 

Sour: Wide Street “Peach Berliner”Sour or Wheat? 

Brown Ale: Whiplash “The Ocean Wide” 

NEIPA: Heaney New England.

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Favourite beer in brew pubs:

Crew “Polly” IPA.

Also enjoyed:

Cotton Ball "Lynch’s" Stout (Cork City); Elbow Lane's "Angel" Stout (Cork City); and Tom Crean's "Six Magpies" Stout in Kenmare.

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Favourite Cider 2021: 

Stonewell Cask

Also enjoyed:

Johnny Fall Down Rare Apple Cider 2019. Longueville “Mór” Cider 8%.

Others to note:

Mac Ivors Traditional Dry Cider; Viking Orchard Cuvée; Con’s Irish Cider; Viking Hop It Craft Cider; Highbank “Proper Irish Cider” 2016. 

Irish Perry

Cockagee Cider Piorraí Irish Sparkling Perry

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