Taste of the Week. Smoked Shiitake and Oyster Mushrooms

Taste of the Week

Smoked Shiitake and Oyster Mushrooms

Lucy and Mark of Ballyhoura Mushrooms have been serving us delicious stuff since they started out. Year after year it just got better. Soon Michelin star chefs wanted their mushrooms and now you can get them abroad, in prestigious outlets such as Fortnum and Mason.

Fortunately you can still get them at the farmers markets where they started off five years ago. And I spotted our Taste of the Week there in Mahon last Thursday, their delicious smoked Shiitake and Oyster. These beautiful mushrooms are always good from Ballyhoura, now they are at a whole new level of flavour.

Starting off. November 2011 in Douglas Farmers Market

They are a must try and I’m sure cooks and chefs all over the place will be striving to get their hands on them. We got just a few for a quick lunch, fried them up and served them on toasted Arbutus. As they say on Twitter: OMG. Amazing! Our simple lunch was all of that and I was thinking they would make a fantastic ingredient in a pasta dish. But I'll leave all that up to you chefs out there.

By the way, Mark and Lucy have an excellent website up and running here.  You may read all about their mushrooms (cultivated and foraged) and products (eg Cep Oil). There are a few recipes there as well. And, of course, you can order the likes of Porcini Dust and Wild Garlic Vinegar from their online shop. But don’t forget the farmers markets in Mahon and Midleton!

Taste of the Week Gubbeen Farmhouse Cheese

Taste of the Week

Gubbeen Farmhouse Cheese

Gubbeen is one of the original Irish cheeses and one of the very best. It is made in West Cork from the milk of Tom and Giana Ferguson’s mixed herd of cows and is a firm rind washed cheese; the cheese itself is softer than the rind though it has a real bounce. 

It is widely available and I got my most recent wedge, our Taste of the Week, from the Cinnamon Cottage on the Rochestown Road in Cork.

The Fergusons make just one type of cheese and the variations are down to age and smoking. Well, what does it taste like? At the younger stage, it is milky, creamy even, and is mildly pungent. That changes as it gets more mature so the best thing is to try it at different stages, perhaps at a Gubbeen stall in a Farmers Market, and see which suits you best.

Much the same can be said about the smoked version, done in the Gubbeen smokehouse by son Fingal. Again, the youthful version is mild while the mature has a stronger flavour. Some people like the younger cheese, others prefer the mature. Over to you. You may well like both, as I do.

Read all about Gubbeen on their website here.

Taste of the Week. Skeaghanore Hot Oak Smoked Chicken Crown

Taste of the Week

Skeaghanore Hot Oak Smoked Chicken Crown

Skeaghanore has long been associated with duck and now this new fabulous chicken product (not up on their website yet) is our Taste of the Week.

The smoking has been very nicely judged and the overall flavour is brilliant; texture is spot-on too, lovely and tender, even juicy. Eat it with a salad or with pasta. And, besides you get a lot of bang for your buck. It is a rich and succulent food and very good value as well.

Skeaghanore products are widely available and I got my smoked chicken in Bradley's, North Main Street, Cork.

Skeaghanore West Cork Duck

Skeaghanore

Ballydehob

Co. Cork

Tel: 028 37428

Web: http://www.skeaghanoreduck.ie

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SkeaghanoreDuck

Twitter: @SkeaghanoreDuck

Taste of the Week. Loughbeg Farm Oat Bread

Taste of the Week

Loughbeg Farm Oat Bread

From Loughbeg Farm, west of Schull, comes a by now rather famous Oat Loaf, our Taste of the Week. Famous because it has filled a gap in the gluten free market and because Walter Ryan-Purcell, the man behind the venture, made a memorable appearance on Dragon’s Den last year, leaving with the support of not one but two of the dragons.

It started off on a very small scale with Walter and wife Josephine experimenting with the recipe in their farmhouse. But gradually they got it right and then Loughbeg benefited from the Supervalu Food Academy and now the loaf is widely available. 

The ingredients are milk, gluten free oatlets (41%), olive oil, bread soda, lemon juice and salt. I picked up a loaf in Bradley’s (early supporters of the venture) recently and enjoyed it very much indeed. The early versions were very crumbly but this holds very well together and is full of flavour with a gentle crunch. I like a slice with a good cover of butter but you can add any spread you like. Enjoy.

And when you do come across it, ask too about their delicious Oat Tea Brack (soaked in tea and cider!). 

Taste of the Week. Seymours Biscuits

Taste of the Week

Seymours Biscuits

So you like coffee? Well here is the perfect partner, Chocolate and Hazelnut biscuits from Seymours.

We go the extra mile by freshly roasting the hazelnuts beforehand, using Belgian chocolate chips, stone ground local oatmeal, fresh eggs and butter and a nice splash of bourbon vanilla to finish! Each biscuit is seriously wholesome and the flavours come to the fore when eaten with coffee for those well deserved relaxation moments.

Seymours Irish Biscuits is a family owned specialist bakery producing individually hand-cut biscuit products. Their bakery, in Bandon town,  is about 8km west of their dairy farm from where the fresh milk goes in to making the creamery butter for the biscuits, "imparting a genuine taste difference no other biscuit bakery can match".

That Chocolate and Hazelnut is our Taste of the Week. It is exquisite. But there are quite a few more where that comes from. You can taste the butter in the shortbread and, if you want something really special, try Social Circles. I got mine in Bradley's, Cork, but these treats are available in Ireland, Europe and the US. All the details here. 

Seymours Fine Foods Ltd, 

2 Cloughmacsimon Business Park, Bandon, Co. Cork.

Contact Philip O'Connor 

Land line: +353 21 733 1129

Mobile:       +353 86 330 9378

 

e-mail:  info@seymours.ie

Taste of the Week. Koko Chocolate

Taste of the Week

Koko Chocolate

Frank Keane, owner and producer at Koko of Kinsale, has a website but you won't get much info there. He is a man that prefers to chat rather than write, though he does "chat", sometimes cheeklily, on Facebook - find him @kokokinsale. 

Francis makes his handmade artisan chocolate in the heart of Kinsale. Also sells "Delicious coffee, teas and most importantly real hot chocolate and our signature chocolate shots". To find out a bit more about Koko, see the article I did about him about a year back.

To find out more about his chocolate, just call to his place on the Pier Road in the town and buy. Just like I did for this delicious Taste of the Week. As you can see, the embedded ingredients, the nuts, the raisins, the orange are all classic with chocolate and you may get this bar in milk or dark versions. I really enjoyed this one and the real treat was the pieces with the orange. Magnificent!

Koko on little break at present; will re-open Friday 13th Jan '17

Koko Chocolate

Pier Road

Kinsale

Co. Cork

Tel: 087 6110209

Email: kokokinsale@gmail.com

Taste of the Week. Davidson’s Crusted Rack of Lamb

Taste of the Week

Davidson’s Crusted Rack of Lamb

The dog needed a walk and we needed something for Saturday’s dinner. The walk took us past Davidson’s, our local craft butchers. They are well known for their rack of lamb and that was how we came by our Taste of the Week.

The rack was crusted, the combination of Parmesan and walnut not that usual. It was a gem, the lamb tender and delicious and the crust a revelation, enhancing the meat with crunch and flavour. Oh, and there was a lovely wine to go with it: Ascheri Coste & Bricco Barolo, marked well down in O'Brien's Fine Wine Sale.

Davidson’s, the Craft Butchers’ National Champion Speciality Foods for 2016, are also very helpful and we were told how to cook it to get the best out of it: Oven roast for 40 minutes. It was a winner, a terrific Taste of the Week, set to be repeated!

Lamb with roasted veg (Carrot, butternut squash, parsnip), a winter warmer!

Davidson’s Craft Butchers

7 St Christopher’s Drive

Montenotte

Cork

Phone: 353 (0) 21 451 8184

Email: davidsonscb@gmail.com 

Facebook: @davidsonscb

Twitter: @davidsonscb

Open: 8.00am - 6.00pm Monday to Saturday. Closed Sunday

Taste of the Week. Cuban Black Bean Meal Soup

Taste of the Week

Cuban Black Bean Meal Soup

Looking for a warm pick-me-up these winter days? Then check out the Just Food Soups. The Cobh based company, run by founders Deirdre and Kevin Hilliard, uses fresh locally sourced produce and is a multi-award winner at Blas na hÉireann and Great Taste.

Deirdre started off sharing a market stall in Midleton in 2004. A few years later, she is one of a number of producers featured on a big advertising hoarding on the wall of the local SuperValu overlooking the market venue. Her soups and salads are widely available.

Some of the soups are highlighted here on the website and they include Winter Minestrone, Moroccan Chickpea, Spicy Lentil (one of the originals and a big favourite of mine), Carrot and Coriander, Tomato and Roast vegetable. 

Our Taste of the Week isn't up there yet but we thoroughly enjoyed the organic Cuban Black Bean Meal Soup on a recent chilly day and no doubt will be tucking into it again as the winter progresses. You can also use the soups to make up a full meal - that's why you see meal in the soup title. Loads of recipes and hints on their Facebook page (see below).

Just Food

Seashore

Ballybrassil

Cobh

Co. Cork

Phone: 353 (0)21 481 5516

Email: orders@justfood.ie

Facebook: www.facebook.com/thejustfoodcompany

Twitter: www.twitter.com/JustFoodCompany

Blog: www.organicjustfood.wordpress.com

Taste of the Week. Creeny Irish Sheep Cheese

Taste of the Week

Creeny Irish Sheep Cheese

I bought this cheese at the Donegal Food Festival from the cheesemaker herself Silke Cropp of Corleggy Cheese in County Cavan. She told me it was six months old and made from raw sheep’s milk. It is rare enough as it is made only for four months each year.

At two months this is a mild cheese but as it matures (up to 12 months) it becomes a very sharp cheese indeed. I sampled a wee bit of the six month old cylinder and thought it was amazing, not a million miles away from a Pecorino, with a distinctive piquant pepperiness. It is indeed, salty, sharp and funky (as the Americans say).

It also has a distinctive rind but one that you may eat as Silke emphasised that it is formed naturally in the brine. “Creeny is always very slightly salty, the reason is that the sheep graze the grass to the very earth, full of salts and minerals from all the rich rain.”

Sheep milk is the richest milk of the three main milks and high butter fat and protein content makes for the rich luxurious taste. Like goat milk, sheep milk products are suitable for people with cow’s milk allergies.

It is my Taste of the Week. Use it as you would a Pecorino. It is suitable for grating and cooking and good for fondues, omelettes, sauces, salads, soups, pastas and pizzas and for sprinkling over savoury dishes. Go on, give it a try.

Corleggy Cheese 

Corleggy

Belturbet

Co. Cavan

+353 (0) 499522930

info@corleggycheeses.ie

Twitter: @CorleggyCheese

Taste of the Week. Torc's Raspberry & Vanilla Sour

Taste of the Week

Torc Brewing Raspberry & Vanilla Sour, 4%, Bradley’s of North Main Street exclusive.

What is a sour beer? Don’t want to overcomplicate this and put you off. Think of a very dry cider or that gripping Basque wine Txakoli and you won't be a million miles away. Just be aware that in sours, as in ales and lagers, you’ll have quite a range. So you’ll have to try for yourself and this is a good one to start with.

I couldn't find an entry for sour in Slainte (The complete guide to Irish craft beer and cider).Perhaps they weren't any Irish sours when the book was published two years ago. Now there are quite a few. Yellow Belly and Eight Degrees had examples at the recent beer fest in the Cork City Hall. Perhaps the most high profile recent example for me was the Rodenbach at the Franciscan Well October Beer fest. By the way, people looking for cider at the festival, were offered this and there was a great reaction to it.

And this limited edition Torc is the newest Irish on the sour scene. While waiting for the revised edition of Slainte, I checked Wikipedia. Sour beer, they say, is beer which has an intentionally acidic, tart, or sour taste. The most common styles are Belgian lambics, gueuze and Flanders Red Ale, gose too.

This sour, by Killarney based Torc, is a collaboration with Bradley’s and is brewed with fresh raspberries and vanilla pods. The fruit, of course, is there to give a balance plus flavour.

The beer is tart, no doubt, yet not that mouth-puckering tart. It is refreshingly fruity, yet not overly so. I must admit I was well into the conversation with this well balanced cloudy beer before coming round to the idea that we could be friends! Well worth a try for yourself.

Taste of the Week. Hederman’s Hot Smoked Salmon

Taste of the Week

Hederman’s Hot Smoked Salmon

Just one look and I was hooked. Frank Hederman’s side of smoked salmon lay temptingly on the bare boards of his market table in Midleton. The gorgeous rich shades of red/orange, from the smoke and the added Kashmiri chillies, were enhanced by the autumn sun. There was no need to even taste a sample. Knowing that it had come from an old authentic smokehouse a few miles away and knowing how carefully Frank sources and handles his fish, I bought a piece.

And there was no putting it in the fridge when I got home. No, this was to be used within hours. It can, of course, be refrigerated and later served at room temperature or gently re-heated. If you want to slice, that is best done straight from the fridge. It is flakier than cold smoked and indeed is easy to flake for your plate.

You’ll find while flaking that every second piece is going into your mouth. Maybe I should have bought more? In any event it is absolutely delicious and succulent and our Taste of the Week. Aside from Midleton, you may also buy it in his shop in the English Market and of course he has it for sale online as well.

The salmon is farmed organically on the west coast of Ireland. It is Kiln-smoked by the master smoker over a live beech wood fire in Cobh and sprinkled with mildly hot Kashmiri Chillies. The chillies are more a condiment than a spice in this case. Enjoy

Frank Hederman

Belvelly Smoke House

Belvelly

Great Island

Cobh

Co Cork

Ireland

Phone: +353 (0) 21 481 1089

Enquiries: shipping@frankhederman.com

Web: https://www.frankhederman.com/smoke-house

Taste of the Week

Taste of the Week

Athula Peri Peri

You can't go wrong with Peri Peri, not with the spelling. It’s also spelt Piri Piri, even Pili Pili. Three chances of getting it right.

Whatever about the spelling, Athula has got it all right with his range of Peri Peri sauces, now available in local Supervalus and indeed in Mr Bell’s in the English Market. He does a mild version, a version with lemon and herb and also a hot one (it is just that - but used sparingly, it works well, especially with roast chicken). They come in handy 125g bottles and so you are less likely to have waste.

Chef Athula, from Sri Lanka, now in Cork, has “worked in 5 star restaurants across the world” and has put that experience to use with this range bringing “true restaurant quality to your kitchen”. 

I’m very happy with the Lemon and Herb and found it great with fish and chicken (after cooking). It can also be used as a dip and to liven up a salad. There are tips for this and the others on the bottles. Indeed, it livens up everything we’ve used it on so far and is Taste of the Week.

Athula Fusion Foods,

Unit 1&2, J Street, 

Carrigaline Industrial Estate, 

KilnaglKilnagearyeary Road, 

Carrigaline, Co. Cork

Tel: 087 136 7525

Web: http://athulafusionfoods.com

Taste of the Week. Kerala Buffalo Curry

Taste of the Week

Kerala Buffalo Curry

When staying in a French town, I found there were two essentials that had to be located immediately. One was the Tourist Office and the other was the local traiteur.

The latter was a source of top notch prepared or semi-prepared dishes. And so I was delighted to see a notice in O’Mahony’s Butchers in the English Market quietly proclaiming that they had Kerala Buffalo Curry on offer.

And not alone that. Eoin O’Mahony himself was on hand to offer all the info needed on how to handle the dish at home. Add onions, a can of tomatoes and coconut milk (available a few yards away at Mr Bells). The buffalo meat, from Macroom, looked good and, with the additions and some slow cooking, proved to be a real treat and our Taste of the Week.

Well worth a try. And lets hope that Eoin comes up with a few more.

O’Mahony Butchers

Unit 37 Grand Parade side

English Market

Cork

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/omahonysbutchers/?fref=ts

Twitter: @guilderdbutcher

Tel: 021 4270254

Taste of the Week. Aran Islands Goats Cheese

Taste of the Week

Aran Islands Goats Cheese

Gabriel in Donegal

I found this Taste of the Week at A Taste of Donegal where Gabriel (you might know him, as he also does bus tours on Inis Mor, the largest of the islands) had a stand and was handing out samples of his Aran Islands Goats Cheese.

I tasted three in all: the soft cheese, the same soft cheese with Dillisk added, and a Greek Style cheese (not unlike Feta). Each was delicious and I came away with a container of each. These are just some of the range from his herd of Nubian and Saanen goats that graze on the unique pastures of the island.

From Gabriel's gallery

The climate is perfect for the grass and herbs as the island is warmed by the Gulf Stream. The diet of the goats gives the cheese its unique, delicious flavour with a beautiful tang and a gorgeous soft and creamy texture.

Already top chefs from the likes of the Twelve Restaurant in Barna, The Lodge at Ashford, The Ardilaun Hotel Galway, and The Strand Hotel, are using the cheeses. For stockists, check here

Aran Islands Goats Cheese

Oughill

Aran Islands.

Co. Galway

Tel: (087) 2226776 or (087) 8635327

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Aran-islands-goats-cheese-Cáis-Gabhair-Arann-497317160399598/?fref=ts

Web: http://arangoatcheese.com/index.htm

Email: gabriel@arangoatcheese.com

Taste of the Week. Carrigaline Original Cheese

Taste of the Week

Carrigaline Original Cheese

Despite so many new Irish food products appearing on a regular basis, sometimes it's best to go back to the originals. I did just that recently when I picked up a wedge of the Original version of the Carrigaline Farmhouse Cheese. This is a semi-hard cheese and is very bit as creamy and mild as ever, a local classic with delicious flavours and our Taste of the Week.

After the original, they developed other versions, including Smoked and a very popular Dillisk Seaweed. You may read all about the range here

“I love the smoked cheese”, declared Padraig O’Farrell during my last visit to Carrigaline Farmhouse Cheese. “It is indigenous to Carrigaline. The milk is local, and the wood, old beech, is local. And we smoke it out the back.” And it is not only Padraig that likes it as the Smoked is an award winner.

The Carrigaline story began close to thirty years ago when Ann and Pat, Padraig’s parents, first produced their semi-hard cow’s milk cheese from their own herd, after Pat had undertaken a six month cheese course at UCC.

Carrigaline Cheese is widely available in small shops and big. See the full list of stockists here

Carrigaline Farmhouse Cheese

The Rock.

Carrigaline

County Cork

Tel: +353 21 437 2856

Website: http://carrigalinecheese.com/