Cahill's Cheese off to Paris with Bord Bia

Cahill's Cheese off to Paris with Bord Bia

A selection of Cahill's cheese

Cahill’s Farm Cheese from Newcastle West, County Limerick, are one of the Irish cheesemakers being hosted by Bord Bia at Salon du Fromage, the leading cheese trade fair.

Helen Cahill is looking forward to the Paris event: “Participation in Salon du Fromage affords us the opportunity to showcase our quality Irish cheeses to international buyers. We have been supplying the renowned Rungis food market, outside Paris, with our Porter and Whiskey cheeses for sometime. We are really looking forward to meeting existing customers, as well as hoping to make new connections during the course of the show.”

It is a first for Bord Bia who will host fourteen Irish Farmhouse Cheesemakers. Bord Bia will showcase one of the only two non-French national pavilions at the show by exhibiting up to forty artisan cheeses from the 23rd to the 26th February. The well-established Salon du Fromage,  will be held alongside the Salon de l’Agriculture, the international agricultural show, where more than 170 exhibitors and over 6,000 visitors are expected to attend.

The Irish Farmhouse Cheese sector is a contributor to the dairy industry’s high quality and sustainable reputation, with over 50 farmhouse cheese makers producing in excess of 150 types of cheese. The total Irish artisan cheese sector is currently valued at more than €12 million per annum at farm gate level since growing from a small base in the 1970’s. Exports have become a focus for the sector in recent years due to the upcoming abolition of milk quotas in 2015 which is expected to increase milk supply by up to 50% in Ireland by 2020 and the number of dairy farms adding value on farm in the form of Irish Farmhouse Cheese.

According to Bord Bia’s French Market Manager, Noreen Lanigan, “The recent growth in exports of Irish artisan cheese to approximately €4.5 million is an invaluable endorsement of the quality of Irish artisan cheese internationally. Europe, and of course France, the acclaimed epicenter for cheese, have become a priority for Irish Farmhouse Cheesemakers in their export targets.”

She added, “In Ireland, as each cheese is unique to each producer, this allows for innovation and creativity while respecting the values of traditional cheese making. This differs greatly to cheese available on the Continent where they are made by many farms and dairies under strict guidelines to ensure consistent standards such as Camembert. Our European counterparts see it as unique and unusual that each cheese is the result of the passion and dedication of one farm and family.”

List of Participating Irish Farmhouse Cheesemakers:

1.       Ardrahan

2.       Bellingham Blue

3.       Cahill's Cheese                                                            

4.       Carrigaline Farmhouse Cheese

5.       Cashel Blue Cheese     

6.       Cooleeney Farm                                                           

7.       http://www.corleggycheeses.com/

8.       Durrus Cheese

9.       Knockdrinna Farmhouse Cheese

10.   Milleen's Cheese

11.   Old Irish Creamery

12.   St. Tola

13.   The Little Milk Company                                                

14.   Wicklow Blue

Five Star Night in Bridge Street

 Five Star Night in Bridge Street
Star Anise*****

Clockwise from top left: Duck, Terrine, Turbot, Apple trio.

Six plates presented. Six sent back without a scrap on them. A vote of confidence or what? It is always the same high standard at Star Anise, one of the very best restaurants in Cork. Don't know how Virginie and her team come up with winners all the time. Long may the magic last.

The temptations, for Bridge Street passers-by, start with the lovingly decorated window and the display on the sill. The inside too is full of charm, including art works for sale. And, a warm welcome, of course.

Soon you are at your table, with menus, water and bread and any aperitif you fancy. The A La Carte has about seven starters to consider. On the night, CL choose the Terrine of Chicken and Jack McCarthy’s Black Pudding with Piccalilli and Crostini, a perfect combination of flavours and textures and it didn't look too bad either. Cool on a cold night, but a warmly received winner.

  

My pick was the nicely presented Irish Venison Sausage and, with the classic roasted beetroots and mustard jus, it was a flavoursome delight, intense and delicious. Virginie herself was keeping the tables going on quite a busy Tuesday night but she still had time for a chat now and then and told us the sausages came from O’Flynn’s in Marlboro Street and you know they make them good there!

Now for the main event. I went for the first on a list of seven: Barbary Duck Breast with carrot and cardamom puree, duck risotto croquettes with roast potato and jus. Cooked to perfection, this was another five star dish and those tasty croquettes were a bonus.

Our other mains was the evening’s fish special: Pan Fried Turbot with a saffron cream sauce, crisped potatoes, glazed carrots, parsnips, broccoli and roast potato. Bring out the superlatives again, sublime, divine…. And those potatoes caught the eye and better still kept the taste buds very happy as well. Terrific dish.

Time for dessert now and the eye catcher here was the Trio of Apples (Tarte Tatin, Apple posset and Apple Sorbet). A delight on the palate also. Stylish as well and a great alternative to the ubiquitous apple tart. A lovely sorbet also featured on my special: the Strawberry cheesecake served with a mix of juicy black and red currants.  Happy out!

Star Anise

• 4, Bridge Street
• Cork 021

Phone	(021) 455 1635
Email	staranise@eircom.net
Website	http://www.staranise.ie

Amuse Bouche

‘I was swimming this morning at six....

In the sea. I went down alone. There was no one there at all. I slipped into the water. It was wonderful. Then I went home,’ she said, banging the car door on her side, and taking off with a little whoosh of sand from the roadside, ‘and I ate some strawberries and cream. Katherine Mansfield describes a woman in one of her stories as eating cream with a “rapt inward look”. That is so good. It is exactly like that.’

From On Canaan’s Side by Sebastian Barry

Taste of the Week

Taste of the Week

Jurancon, Ballet d'Octobre, Domaine de Cauhape, France 2009

Been celebrating this week and finished off a gorgeous midweek meal in Star Anise with a glass of this lovely wine from the Basque country.

My first experience of Jurancon was the very good dry white from the area and that is what I thought I was getting when, in a rush to stock a Dordogne gite, I put my hand into a carton marked Jurancon on the floor of a Lidl in Sarlat and pulled out a bottle.

It was only when unpacking at the gite that I noticed the deeper colour. But no problem. It is a lovely medium sweet (moelluex) wine and quite versatile. It may be used as an aperitif, with some patés and foie gras and with certain cheeses and fruits desserts. And why not have a glass after the meal as we did in Star Anise. Certainly, worth a look and an ideal first step into the world of dessert wines. Very Highly Recommended.

Available at Star Anise and via James Nicholson Wines

Say Hello to Ruby Kraut

Say Hello to Hayley’s Ruby Kraut

The ancient art of food fermentation was highlighted at last year’s Ballymaloe Literary Festival when Sandor Katz was one of the stars of the event. Known as a “fermenation fethisihist” and also as “Sandorkraut” (for his love of Sauerkraut), he wrote the Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods (Chelsea Green, 2003) which Newsweek called "the fermenting bible".

Sandor talks the talk and walks the walk and in Skibbereen you’ll find another who is making a name for herself in the field. This is Hayley Milthorpe of The Cultured Food Company and I am loving her Ruby Red Raw Sauerkraut at the moment. Her aim is to make “Hand crafted raw fermented foods - reviving the ancient tradition of natural food preservation through fermentation. Real foods with real culture!!”. She makes the Ruby Red, available at the Fresh from West Cork stall in the English Market and other outlets in West Cork itself, with red cabbage, cumin seeds and sea salt.

I know, from experience, that Sauerkraut is not everyone’s cup of tea. Once, on a trip in Austria, I tried it in the restaurant in the monastery at Melk. It had enough vinegar to discourage. But a couple of days later, in a wine-tavern in the Vienna Woods, I tried it again and hit the jackpot. Indeed, the people with me thought I was mad but, in the end, they were looking for tasters! The lesson is to keep trying.

If you haven't tried it before, I recommended that you ease yourself into it. I did this today. Get a roll or better still some sourdough. I added a sausage and a rasher and just a little of the sauerkraut for a start. It was there, a background player.

Then I repeated (the rolls were small), adding a little more of the sauerkraut this time. Very nice and this time the sauerkraut played more of a role (forgive the pun), adding some lovely spice to the rasher and sausage.

You’ll find lots of articles on the internet, including on Hayley’s site here  about the benefits of fermented foods and saurkraut in particular. Indeed, I haven't found any article against. A few excerpts follow.

Red cabbage is rich in compounds called anthocyanins that give the vegetable its distinctive dark color. They are also powerful antioxidants which are believed to have anti inflammatory properties. Lacto fermentation naturally boosts the antioxidant content. So red sauerkraut has some serious antioxidant power!

Do you suffer from wind & bloating? Did you know that these are signs of inadequate digestion? Eating raw fermented foods such as sauerkraut with meals can help support your digestion to help you overcome these embarrassing symptoms! Tip: to stimulate digest eat a spoonful of sauerkraut 20 mins before meal.

On its own, the Skibbereen Ruby is a crunchy bite, full of tart flavours. Add to sandwiches and salads, use with grilled sausages or even a burger.  Kraut is served with roast turkey, fresh pork roast. Some like it on hot dogs; others with any pork product and mashed potatoes; also on spare ribs and with apple sauce. Perhaps Hayley will get a few pointers up on her Facebook page soon!

Mountains, Football, Nutella and Good Wine!

Stars of Northern Italy

One well known, the other not so.

“The haunting Nebbiolo has no rival as the first red grape of Northern Italy,” says the current World Atlas of Wine. But, you do have to wait for it, according to the authors of Vino Italiano:  “Nebbiolo is more about complexities revealed over time”. Difficult to grow too and often late.

Both wines below come from Piedmont, famous not just for its wines but for its mountains, its football (Juventus), its Nutella! Red wines are mainly produced but the Roero area is the home of the little known Arneis, a fragrant pear scented old local white.

Bosio’s Boschi dei Signora, Nebbiolo D’Alba 2009, 14%, €16.99 Curious Wines

The fruit of 40 year vines is used for this wine. Vineyard practice encourages a low yield and a final thinning means that only the best grapes make it through. The wine-making uses a mix of modern and traditional methods and the product is refined in Slovenian and French oak barrels before a wine that befits the noblest Piedmontese vine is released.

Colour is ruby and there are aromas of red fruits, even blackberries and indeed some floral elements. It is full bodied, velvety with some spice but generally mellow with a very pleasant mouthfeel, and is further enhanced by a long dry finish. This one would be a good sub for a more expensive Barolo and is Very Highly Recommended.

Fontanafredda Pradalupo, Roero Arneis 2010 (Piedmont, Italy), 12.5%, €18.36 Karwig Wines

I don’t come across the Arneis variety very often but, going by this bottle, it is well worth looking out for.

Colour is that of a light honey, invitingly clean and bright. It has beautiful aromas, both floral and fruity. On the palate it is vibrant and full of flavour with an almost creamy mouthfeel, yet it possesses a lively acidity that gives a beautiful balance and a very pleasant clean finish. Very Highly Recommended.

Amuse Bouche

Obviously, I couldn’t avoid Farrow anymore once shooting started... He started right in on me. At night, after filming, Farrow would show up at our home with gourmet dinners from the Brown Derby. He even brought the waiters with him. Mammy would be there alone when he arrived. The director and crew always leave the set before the actors do, as we have our makeup removed and hair set for the next day, so he always beat me home. When I saw that he was at my house, I refused to go in, and instead had to drive around the neighborhood for hours, waiting for him to leave..... I never ate a single meal with him.

From ‘Tis Herself, a memoir by Maureen O’Hara.

Bean & Gone. Coffee on the Move

Bean & Gone. Coffee on the Move

At this month's Pride of Ireland Awards: John (l), John Paul and

Gretta Clifford of Bean & Gone.

Met up with the Clifford family behind Bean & Gone at the recent Pride of Ireland Awards in Ballina (Co. Tipperary) where the Cork based mobile coffee company won an award for  “outstanding quality, price and customer service”.

Surprised that I hadn't met this father (John) and son (John Paul) team before as they turn up everywhere that there’s a need for a cuppa. Mostly you'll find them at farmers markets, mainly in Cork.

Not alone are they valued by the customers but the stall holders just love to see them coming. Once, just once, they didn't make it to the Fermoy market and this is what one stall holder wrote: “There was a week, not so long ago, that he couldn't make it. We were bereft.”

Good morning Columbia. ¿Cómo está?

It is not just any old coffee that they do. They do excellent coffee. John Paul: “Primarily we provide a range of Italian coffee to suit all tastes, including espresso, cappuccino, mocha and latte amongst others. The sourcing of our coffee is very important, and where possible our products are ethically sourced, supporting the coffee farmers who supply us with such a high quality product.”

That rich classic Italian Nero now has a flavoursome companion, a full bodied delicious Colombian Supremo Roast that I’ve been happily sampling the past week or so. If you can't make it to the markets or indeed to any of the other events they attend, you’ll find their coffees on sale in the English Market at the Roughty Fruit King.

Watch out too for Signature Roast: “Our signature Roast is a wonderful coffee made up of beans from 5 different regions giving it a very distinctive taste. It’s a truly brilliant coffee, medium bodied with a fruity, acidity and clean finish.”

And it isn't just coffee either. They also do hot chocolates, soft drinks and teas. And some rather special teas at that. You can get a spiced Chai Latte, an aromatic blend of tea, milk and spices. Maybe you'd prefer the Vanilla Chai Latte, a fragrant blend of sweetened tea, milk and creamy vanilla. They are both 99% caffeine free. Well worth a try if you like your teas sweet.

The Chai range of teas is proving popular and available at Cafe Ninni's in Carrigaline and at their regular markets and events, events that include the likes of agricultural shows and the annual Ballydehob Jazz festival. They also do weddings and corporate events. And John Paul tells me they also supply their coffee and other drinks products, chai lattes etc, to businesses, “so we're available for that also”.

Bean & Gone contact details:

Phone: 087-2744070

E-mail: Beanandgonecork@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bean-and-Gone

Twitter: https://twitter.com/beanandgonecork

Website: http://www.beanandgone.ie/

Reds from the Edges

Reds from the Edges

Thanks to the independents

Some unfamiliar grapes figure in these two excellent reds from the edges of old Europe, one from Austria, the other from Portugal. Not many of us, even if regular customers, will have heard of either the Blaufränkisch or the Alfrocheiro. The names of these grapes, excellent in their original areas, are not an advertiser’s dream (much easier to dream up a slogan for Merlot or Chardonnay).

But they survive, thanks primarily to the local winemakers and thanks to the independent wine merchants, of which we have a fair share in Ireland. They know, and more of their customers are coming to realise, that the bigger picture is made up of little gems whose names may not lend themselves to a catch-all slogan. Best of goods come in small parcels! (Not a bad slogan, come to think of it.)

Wohlmuth Aristos 2009 Burgenland (Austria), 13.5%, €20.59 Karwig Wines

You won’t find Wohlmuth in Hugh Johnson’s current handbook but, thankfully, you’ll find their wines in Karwig’s of Carrigaline. The Aristos, a blend of the local Blaufränkisch and Cabernet Sauvignon, is a product of the Neckenmarkt vineyard, one of a few owned by the Wohlmuth family, winemakers since 1803. The “most rigorous quality criteria” are applied while the terroir is regarded as ideal for the two varieties.

Austria is predominantly white wine country but it is a different story in the Mittelburgenland (close to the border with Hungary). Here the continental climate is ideal, especially for the juicy Blaufränkisch which also brings relatively high acidity to a blend.

Two thousand and nine was a good year in the area and it shows in this Very Highly Recommended wine. It is clean and bright with a medium red colour and aromas of dark berries. On the palate, you find the berries again, spice too, soft tannins and, yes, that balancing acidity, all the way to a long dry finish. Went well with steak the other night and the producers also recommended trying it with Lamb cutlets, also duck breast on lentils.

Flor de Viseu, Tinto Selection 2009, Dao (Portugal), 13%, €12.99-13.99, Wine Alliance stockists

Most people with a passing acquaintance of Portuguese wine will have heard of Touriga Nacional but Alfrocheiro, the main grape here, will no doubt raise a few eyebrows. Both are local grapes and popular in the Dao region.

The region, named after the local river, is the home of juicy friendly wines and this is one of them. You find red fruit aromas and a healthy looking ruby colour. The wine itself is warm, fruity and spicy. It is rather smooth with mild tannins, very engaging at all points of the palate and has a persistent dry finish. Very Highly Recommended.

WSET Level 2: Intermediate Certificate in Wines & Spirits

WSET Level 2: Intermediate Certificate in Wines & Spirits (9 weeks)

Tuesdays 7.00pm-9.00pm from 18^th February – 15^th April

Price: €395

This course will run for 9 weeks and is Ideal for those with a grá for the grape, those with an interest and passion for the

world of wine and fine spirits and also for those in the hospitality industry looking for professional advancement.

The course is €395 and there is a payment plan in place if you wish to avail of it.

To register please contact Deirdre - deirdre@odonovansofflicence.com , info@odonovansofflicence.com or 021 4296060

Taste of the Week

Taste of the Week

It has been a good week at the table but pride of place goes to this magnificent Beef and Potato Pie from West Cork Pies in Schull. A hungry three man jury gave this flavour packed pastry a unanimous thumbs up! They also produce Pork Pies, Steak and Kidney Pies and Scotch Eggs. They say: What you’ll get from me are good quality, very tasty, products full of substantial ingredients not just cheap gravy and the odd lump of something indistinguishable. Glad to agree. The pies are available at various outlets in West Cork, in various pubs around the city (check the link above) and also at the Fresh from West Cork stall in the English Market.

The verdict may have been unanimous but it was very close. Other top class contenders this week included the award winning Steak Rub from the Cornstore, the fantastic Amodeo salad dressing from Tuscany Bistro and also the gorgeous Wild Smoked Salmon Butter by Woodcock Smokery (Sally Barnes).

Wine and Cork 2013

David Bryson, Morambro Creek, a photo by CorkBilly on Flickr.

David Bryson, Morambro Creek, just one of many wine visitors to Cork last year. Click image for similar pics

A Couple of Old World Whites

A Couple of Old World Whites

Burg Ravensburg, Kraichgau Baden, Riesling Trocken 2012, 11.5%, €16.40 Karwig Wines 

Riesling, often mis-pronounced (the Ries rhymes with the dies in diesel), is the best known grape of Germany. Whatever you call it, this superb bottle from Karwig’s is a gem and Very Highly Recommended.

Kraichgau (in the Baden region) is a small district south-east of Heidelberg and the Ravensburg family, winemakers since 1251, is rated as one of the top producers. Quality is the motto here. The grapes on 28 hectares are “hand-picked and the wines are full of character” and the terroir is allowed shine through.

This Riesling is a very good illustration. It is a pale gold colour and bright with micro-bubbles galore clinging to the glass. It is strongly scented, peaches and citrus prominent in the attractive mix. On the palate, it is fruity for sure, a little tingly with lovely fresh flavours and then quite a dry finish.  

Paul Mas, Terrasse du Moulinas 2012 Blanc Elegance, Pays D’Oc IGP, 12.5%, €10.61 Karwig Wines

For quite some time now, the Languedoc has been leading France in innovation and coming up with some exciting wines. White wine accounts for about one fifth of the region’s production and sophisticated blends are on the rise. This one, by Paul Mas, one of the best local producers, is quite successful and Highly Recommended. His aim is to make “elegant wines full of Languedoc character”.

This cuvée is a blend of Grenache Blanc, Chenin, Mauzac, Chasan, Vermentino and Sauvignon Blanc.  Love my Vermentino but with five other grapes in the bottle? No worries. This is a delight on the palate, fresh and fruity (notes of white and citrus fruits) and well balanced. Ideal as an aperitif or with fish and white meats.