Amuse Bouche

I love you from the bottom of my liver.

-- François Rabelais (c. 1494 – 9 April 1553).  Rabelais is considered one of the great writers of world literature and among the creators of modern European writing. His best known work is Gargantua.

Midleton Food Festival

Midleton Food Festival

Festival Faces

Midleton Food Festival

 Enjoyed my stroll in the sun down Midleton’s Main Street yesterday as once again the Anuual Midleton Food Festival drew a large crowd, and the sun! All the stalls are now on one side of the street and that makes it easier for the punters, especially those with push-chairs. But, in any case, no one is in a rush; it is all easy and relaxed.

Marco's

Lebanese food

Great to see Harrington Bakers of Youghal coming up with some old favourites on their stand, including a terrific Brack with lots of fruit. Sorry I bought the small one as that had more or less vanished by Saturday night, should have went for the large size. Must try their Tiger Loaf sometime.

TheTiger Loaf

There were at least three ice-cream stalls on the stretch and I’m sure they all enjoyed a good day. I certainly enjoyed my cone of Caramel and Fudge from Baldwin’s and indeed it was a delight to meet up and have a short chat with farmer Tom himself.

Made a few more calls as well but only had a couple of hours to spare there. Next year, I’ll just have to book lunch in one of the many good spots in the town and make a day of it. 

Checking the menu!

Telmo sees future of Spanish Wine in the past

Telmo sees future of Spanish Wine in the past

Magnificent Seven

Wine lover Telmo Rodriguez, he doesn’t particular like being called a wine-maker, declared in Ballymaloe last evening that wine in Spain “had been in the wrong hands, now it is starting to be in the right hands. I am between a boring generation and an exciting generation”.

To find the brighter future, Telmo went back to the past. He could have had comfortably slotted into the family winery Remelluri but, after an intensive wine education in France, he eventually headed off on his own.

And to the most unlikely places. Barren hillsides where vineyards had been abandoned. Sometimes a few survived with practices dating back five hundred years, including “beautiful bush vines”.

“I support the bush vines,” he said and, pointing to the wines he was showing, “I am proud that none of these were on trellis. Small bush produce rich concentrated wine. And the bush protects the grapes from the hot sun. Grapes on trellis are like a sun-burned Irishman in Marbella.”

He deplores the New World concentration on the grape variety as the most important element. “In the Old World, the grape is the loudspeaker to show a place”, a medium to convey “the taste of a place”. Oak he sees as an enemy of that taste. “When oak becomes cosmetic, we are destroying the taste of the place. None of my wines are called Crianza – doesn’t matter to me.”

He spoke fondly of the family vineyards at Remelluri which have a history dating back hundreds and hundreds of years – in the 16th century the monks were already producing wine there.

Telmo remembers the mules coming in and working in the vineyards and also when his father bought the first tractor. After France, Telmo worked there for a while before moving out from what was considered the first Bordeaux style chateau in Rioja.

But now he is back. And has been for some years. The big estate, which had always tended that way, is now “absolutely organic, with plenty of grass and flowers, and we are always working to be more pure, more radical. The sense of history and place is very important to me.”

Yours truly and Telmo (right)

He showed seven wines in all and each had a story. Perhaps the strangest was that of his Mountain wine, the Malaga Molino Real, a sweet wine. This was a dream he pursued, having heard references to it via the unlikely pairing of Shakespeare and Hugh Johnson.

But it had disappeared and off he went to Malaga and began to search for the high altitude old vineyards and, as is his habit, talked a lot to the old people and in particular to the old women drying grapes by hand and they told him that “every single grape was massaged by hand” in the old days.

He didn’t go that far but, in 1998, settled on an area and with advice from Château Y’Quem, started production. He secured a plot and then planted it with Moscatel.  It took three or four years. He finally got it right and the exquisite result was in our glasses last night. “Never did any business with this wine but I’m proud of it.”

Reckon Telmo has quite a lot to be proud of. And, with a record of longevity in the family, he has quite a future ahead of him and is sure to keep Spanish wine-makers on their toes, to all our benefit.

WHITES

GALICIA:

Albariño de Fefiñanes 2012

MALAGA:

Mountain blanco 2011

REDS

GALICIA:

 As Caborcas 2010

CEBREROS:

Pegaso granito 2008

RIOJA:

R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Rioja Reserva  2001

Remelluri Gran Reserva 2005

Lanzaga 2008

SWEET WHITE

MALAGA:

Molino Real 

During the tasting, we had some lovely Spanish nibbles provided by Sylvia and Olga of La Cocina who can see at local Farmers Markets, including Douglas (Saturday) and Blackrock (Sunday).

White Gems from NW Spain

White Gems from NW Spain

 

Samaniego, an old village in Rioja
taken thorugh the glass of the Baigorri winery

Vina Tondonia Blanco 1996 Reserva, Rioja Alta, 12.5%

When I first noticed this 100 per cent Viura, with a rich honey colour, on the shelf in Tondonia in Haro, I thought “this has to be a dessert wine”. I said as much but was quickly corrected: “All these whites are dry,” said the lady in the bodega, who had learned her English in Dublin.

So we had a taste and yes it is dry. And so much more! There are gorgeous floral blossoms on the nose. On the palate, there is a soft explosion of beautiful exotic flavours but, while rich, the aged wine is well crafted and well balanced, all leading to a very pleasing, lingering dry finish. Indeed, there are constant reminders of sherry. This is surely something different and very highly recommended.

I had accidentally come to the right place for old whites! “To talk in our bodega of white wines being exclusively young and uncomplicated, would be asking for trouble. We have never been averse to ageing white wines in oak for as long as reds, and the result is much more surprising than might be expected.”

“ When this type of wine has spent a long time in contact with oak, the oaky tastes and aromas are overly noticeable and even unbalanced. Nevertheless, when left for a few more years in bottles, the rough edges of oak become sufficiently polished and balanced to create a seductive bouquet of spice, bitter almonds, vanilla and walnut, trademarks of the majestic and opulent Viña Tondonia whites.”

Tondonia or, to give it its full title, Bodegas Lopez de Heredia/Tondonia, is run by two sisters who proudly protect the reputation and practices (sometimes they use material from a previous year to “correct” an unsatisfactory vintage) of this long standing family firm.

Whatever they do, they do it well. Just to finish with a quote from The Finest Wines of Rioja and Northwest Spain: “..the reason Tondonia deserves a position of prominence on the Rioja podium is the sheer quality and seductiveness of its wines, across virtually the entire portfolio”.

2011 Bodegas Rafael Palacios Valdeorras As Sortes Val do Bibei, 13.5%, Ballymaloe Wines at BT.

This was the star of the wines featured at the Jancis Robinson appearance in this summer’s Ballymaloe Literary Festival. And indeed Jancis herself is a big fan: “This is clearly the most wonderful harvest of a great wine. Great length and balance, although still very young. ..... A lovely wine with elegance to be deployed for many years.” Alas, my bottle didn’t last too long!

Jancis is not the only one to approve. The authors of The Finest Wines of Rioja and Northwest Spain (worth getting your hands on a copy) are also major fans of this Godello and the results that Palacios has achieved.”This is one of the finest whites, not only in Valdeorras or Galicia, but in the whole of Spain.”

High praise indeed, so there is hardly much need of my tuppence worth which just confirms that it is a very good wine indeed and well worth a trek into Brown Thomas in Patrick Street.

Palacios, just like Thursday’s Ballymaloe visitor Telmo Rodriguez, seeks out what look like poor hillside terroirs from which he extracts gems like this one. Indeed, the name As Sortes has to do with small plots, the result of inheritance being drawn by lot, often out of a hat, and called sorte in Galician.

Martin Codax Albariño 2011, Rias Baixas, 12.5%, €15.85 Karwig Wines

Martin Codax was a famous troubadour in Galicia in the 13th century. When 270 wine makers of the region banded together in 1986, they took the name as a symbol of the region and of its culture. Thanks to the local winemakers and in particular to the local grape Albariño, Martin is now the best travelled of all Galician troubadours.

Hope this Albariño keeps travelling in this direction. Albariño is the main grape of the appellation and now one of the best known of Galicia. Its bunches and berries are small, allowing for an early ripening. It is a sweet and lingering grape, with high levels of sugar and acidity which give the wines an amazing freshness. Traditionally cultivated in “emparrado”, it is one of the main symbols of Galicia.

This 2011 is bright and clean, full of flavours and complex aromas, a little tingling on the palate and a good dry finish, a very good example of the Albariño, pretty much an unknown grape until that coming together in 1986 when it began to emerge as a varietal, both locally and internationally.

Punters line-up at Pam's Perry Street Cafe

Perry Street Market Cafe

Good news gets around Cork City quickly if the lunch-time line of customers at the recently opened Perry Street Market Cafe is anything to go by. But Chef Pam Kelly and her team are well prepared for the rush and the line moves quickly and soon you are at your table with your food.

And there is much to choose from. You’ll see the big daily board as you enter the light airy and spacious place and, as you progress up the line, you’ll be further tempted by the well presented food in the display cabinets. And, if you just want a sandwich, well they have a big list of those as well. And they look massive and tempting.

But we were in for a big lunch and boy did we get it and what made it even more satisfying was the fact that the local input is huge here. Names like Ummera, O’Connell’s Fish, Jack McCarthy, G’s Jams and so on feature either on the menu or in the food shop or in both!

I do like my chowder so I picked the O’Connell Seafood Chowder, chock full of chunky bits of fish enhanced by a lovely creamy soup and a gorgeous brown bread. CL was also delighted with her starter: the Creamy Celeriac Soup with Crispy Sage.

She changed her mind in the queue and picked the Quiche for here mains once she saw that it was packed with that fabulous Ummera Smoked Chicken with lots of other good things. It was a great choice. Not that I was disappointed with mine. On the contrary, I was delighted with the Fillet Beef Stroganoff and red rice. The beef was absolutely top notch and besides I also got a brilliant side-salad (that wasn't listed on the board).

Prices are pretty good here, €12.95 for the Stroganoff, €12.50 for the quiche. Service is friendly and excellent. They’ll help you find a seat and indeed it all works very well indeed.

There is a lot of space in the former furniture store and there are a few pop-up shops around the margins (including a Best of Buds outlet) and more to come. Perry Street may be a strange name to many but it’s just at the back of the Savoy so is really city centre. The location is not a problem as the numbers of customers there for lunch on Tuesday underlined.

Taste of the Week

Taste of the Week

A magnificent combination of flavours and textures.
Available, with much more, at the
Bee Sensations stall at Doneraile Farmers Market.

Blas na hEireann update on Bee Sensations July 2015 here

French Holiday Prices August-September 2013

French Prices August-September 2013
(based on recent Loire Valley holiday)

Shows are often included in admission prices to chateaus.

If you’ve ever driven in France you’ll know the best place to get petrol is at the larger supermarkets. This year, we got a fill in a Leclerc for 1.55 per litre while a regular garage up the road was charging 1.70. Another advantage of the supermarket set-up is that you put in your credit card and enter your pin and that allows you to fill up; once full, just drive off, no delays.

You may spend as much or as little as you like on eating out. A three course meal in a good quality regular restaurant costs about 23 euro but you will find an evening menu du jour there (with little choice) for 15 euro. If you move up in class, expect to pay between 27 and 30 euro for an excellent meal that may well include a cheese course.

Lunch menus can also vary quite a bit. In the busy tourist town of Azay Le Rideau, at the Creperie du Roy, we paid 21.10 for an excellent meal for two that included one glass of wine. At Sunday lunch, in a small village, two main courses, two coffees and a half bottle of wine came to 27 euro. 

We got a lovely two course lunch in Cafe au Coin in Saumur for €12.50 each. One day, in Vendome, we needed a snack and got it at a sandwich takeaway (a packed sandwich, a drink eg Coke or Orangina, and a big cookie) and the cost was less than four euro each.

Admission charges, especially if you have a family in tow, can be quite expensive but are generally worth it. Even the French are complaining and in some cases you should watch out for combination tickets or other discounts if visiting more than one attraction in an area.

Here are a few examples, without discount. The most expensive we came across was at the Chateau Close Luce and Park in Amboise which is dedicated to Leonardo Da Vinci. Normal entry fee is €13.50 but an extra fee to see a special enclosed exhibition on the great man brought the total to €18.50. It is an amazing place and I thought it was worth it!

The fantastic Abbey Fontevraud is €9.50, Saumur is €9.00, Chenonceau is €11.00 (13.00 if you add in the Wax Museum), Villandry is €9.50  (6.50 for gardens only) and Azay Le Rideau charges €8.50. Young children often go free and there are various concessions for students (up to 26 years!) but no discounts for pensioners as far as I could see! We all have our priorities!

Amuse Bouche

When he was expecting us, he often prepared our favourite meal, melocheya – a kind of specially prepared Egyptian green – with baby pigeons, which he would serve on his table after having spread newspapers instead of a tablecloth on his bare table. We ate with aluminium cutlery, and we ripped the pigeons apart with our hands. The melocheya with the rice was worth the trip.

From The Lost Gospel by Herbert Krosney.

Larry "McPinot" in Dublin next Month

Great Flavours from Traditional Portuguese Grapes

Great Flavours from Traditional Portuguese Grapes

Corgo da Regua, Douro Valley Portugal 2012, by Quinta do Judeu, 14%, RRP €12.99, Stockists 

Four traditional Portuguese grape varietals are used to make this excellent red in the Douro Valley by Quinta do Judeu: Tinta Roriz 35%, Tinta Barroca (35%), Touriga Franca (20%) and Touriga Nacional (10%). In another bow to tradition, they are foot trodden in granite lagares (usually with dimensions of about 4 x 4 m with a depth of about 1 m).

This is quite a deep red wine with a pleasant nose of dark fruits and hints of spice. The fruits follow through on the palate in a supple flow of concentrated flavours but with an excellent balance, and a long dry finish.

Earlier inhabitants credited the River Corgo with powers of speech. This wine is not shy and will match your robust red meats and mature cheese. Might be a good idea to grab a bottle or two for the upcoming game season. Highly Recommended!

Wines of the Clare Valley at The Hayfield

It’s a long way from Clare to here

 – wines of the Clare Valley

with John McDonnell at Hayfield Manor Hotel

Next up in the WineGeese series is a wonderful tasting with John McDonnell.

John is one of the legends of the Irish wine scene and has many years of experience in the wine trade, especially in relation to the wines of Australia.

John will talk about winemaking and winemakers in the Clare Valley in Australia and will give a guided tasting of six wines from this beautiful part of the world. John has a wonderful, engaging presentation style and is deeply passionate and knowledgeable about Australian wine so it promises to be a memorable tasting.

A super tasting deserves a super location and where better than the beautiful surroundings of Hayfield Manor.

Booking in advance is highly recommended as this event is expected to sell out very quickly.

Date : Wednesday 18th September 7pm

Venue : Hayfield Manor – Cost €15

Bookings : Contact Michelle Donovan. Events Manager.

Hayfield Manor. Phone (021) 484 5900

Free Lunch for Visitors to A Taste of West Cork Food Festival!

Free Lunch for Visitors to A Taste of West Cork Food Festival!

As part of the Gathering initiative and to welcome international and local visitors, the popular Taste of West Cork Food Festival 2013 (now in its 10th year) is offering guests a delicious West Cork lunch – absolutely free! From the 6^th-15^th September participating restaurants in Skibbereen, Baltimore, Glandore, Union Hall, Leap and Casteltownshend will each showcase a specific product from West Cork; a nationally recognised region with a proud reputation for producing some of the best artisan food in Ireland. Discerning gourmands can, with proof of travel or accommodation, obtain vouchers for their free lunch (sponsored by Field’s Supervalu) from the Festival Box Office.

Cornstore ‘September Mussel Festival’ Returns

Cornstore ‘September Mussel Festival’ Returns

The Cornstore Group are getting set to serve a myriad of mussel dishes this September as their annual Mussel Festival returns for its third consecutive year. This autumn celebration of local mussels and seasonal flavours will see fresh Atlantic Mussels, sourced locally from Jamie O’Dwyer in Haven Shellfish, Kinsale, and Sea Lyons in Carrigaholt, Co Clare, served in over 10 different styles, take centre stage across the group’s menus.  

Restaurant goers can look forward to daily specials such as Mussels with carrot & orange with curry butter and coriander, Mussels with sake & pickled seaweed, or the popular Chorizo with tomato, chickpea and basil dish, along with current menu favourites such as the The Full Irish - Mussels with craft cider, Jameson whiskey, black pudding and chive cream.

‘Our September Mussel Festival has proven to be one of the tastiest and most popular times of the year with our customers,’ said restaurateur Padraic Frawley. ‘We’ve got an array of dishes with something to please all palettes, and if you’re not a mussels fan our current menu options will also be available.’  

Specialising in seafood and dry-aged steak, the group’s restaurants are located in both Cork and Limerick. Just last month they launched their Summer Seafood and Infused Cocktail Collection, which has seen both restaurants become a pilgrim destination for many seafood and cocktail lovers.