Flavours of Christmas (but may be tried at any time of the year!)

Flavours of Christmas

(but may be tried at any time of the year!)

Bubbles from the Loire

Ummera Smoked Chicken (served with a Cajun Potato Salad). Lovely contrast after days of turkey!

Rwandan Coffee, the Cup of Excellence award winning Maraba Sovu 2012 lot #14,  via Robert Roberts Connoisseur Club.

Organic Pink Bubbles (made from Cabernet Franc) from Chateau Miniere and Domaine du Clos d’Epinay Vouvray Brut. Souvenirs of the summer holidays in the Loire Valley.

Mella’s Rum & Raisin Handmade West Cork Fudge.

Ummera smoked chicken.

Cashel Blue mature and Warre’s LBV Port (2002).

The Cornstore’s Plum infused Whiskey.

Dungarvan Coffee and Oatmeal Stout, by now a Christmas standard.

Eight Degrees Zeus Black IPA, 7%. Looks like a rich dark porter but tastes like a pungent IPA.

Fleming's fantastic Orchard Chutney.

Fleming’s Orchard Chutney (Apples, Pears and Green Tomatoes from their own orchard).

Barrie Tyner’s Pates (from the local Farmers Markets, inc. Mahon).

Pandora Bell’s Honey Nougat with Almonds and Pistachios.

Cashel Blue

My Curious Case

My Curious Case

Pouring or posing? Mike Kane gets into the swing of it.

Close to a hundred wines available at the very successful Curious Wines Christmas Fair in the Gresham Metropole on Saturday. Spent a very enjoyable couple of hours wandering among the nine tables, two representing Spanish vineyards, and was highly impressed with the quality available.

Now, how would I fill my case? I did start the tasting, as you do, with the whites but it was the reds that really stood out for me, four in particular. And, if I had to pick just one, it would be the Tim Adams Bluey’s Block Grenache 2009 from the Bibendum table, light (not just in colour) and lovely, a velvet touch with an unexpected 14.5% abv!

And then I found, at table four, a new Portuguese star with an intense fruity palate, a full bodied wine with a seriously silky long finish, the Quinta da Lagoalva. Think we’ll be hearing more of this, a blend of Castelao and Touriga Nacional.

Paul Kiernan of Curious had tipped me off about the Château la Négly La Falaise 2011 and he was right. This, from the Languedoc, has it all: aroma, palate, finish. Another absolute gem from Curious.

Tom from Bodegas Exopto has some serious contenders too and the red that really caught my attention here was the Dominio del Viento Crianza 2010. From La Rioja, it is fruit forward and deliciously drinkable.

Some people ignore Rioja when looking for whites. That is a mistake. And Tom had just the bottle to prove it: Horizonte de Exopto Rioja Blanco 2011. This Viura has spent a year in old barrels and is a beauty.

Love that Enchanted Tree label. And their wines too!

And there were another couple of top-notch whites at the adjacent Castelo de Medina stand where Ivan was the host. Both the Castelo de Medina Verdejo 2012 and the Real Castelo Rueda Verdejo 2011 were excellent.

Other whites, that I would be very happy with, include the Viñedos de la Posada Fairtrade Torrontes 2012, the King’s Bastard 2011 Chardonnay, and the Enchanted Tree Semillon Sauvignon 2012.

I think that leaves just two to make up my mixed case. No problem. Back to Curious Mike and his wine of the year: Boschi dei Signori Nebbiola d'Alba DOC 2009 and finally, at Curious Matt’s high class table, we’ll take the Enchanted Tree Pinot Noir 2012.

Man does not live by wine alone, of course, and the Kanes had, as usual, a few local food producers on hand. Ummera Smokery and Ballymaloe Relish are by now well-known to most of you but I hadn’t come across Christie’s Celtic Kitchen before.

In 2011, they started off with flavoured Oatcakes, Cured Salmon and Relishes. Now they have expanded their range of ready prepared foods – I enjoyed some spiced up Cous Cous balls on Saturday – and are into home catering and delivery, and have won gold at the 2012 Blas na hEireann Awards in Dingle. Check them out here and on Facebook.

Back to the wines. If you didn’t get your order into Curious last Saturday, you still have plenty of time to order a case or two before Christmas. You can call out to the warehouse at the Kinsale Road Roundabout or indeed order online. See all the contact details here.

Christie had some nice bites! Nice smile too.

Super Saturday. Castlemary Farm. Midleton Farmers Market. The Food Emporium.

Super Saturday

Castlemary Farm. Midleton Farmers Market. The Food Emporium.

Olive and one of her goats.

This super Saturday started with a visit to Castlemary Farm. Great to meet up with the hard-working Olive Hallahan and her goats (who have a very comfortable life, especially Dan the Man!). Olive’s small shop on the farm opens every Saturday morning and today, for the first time, she had her Smoked Goats Cheddar on sale.

Frank Hederman did the smoking here so that cheese was top of our list but we also got a  few other bits and pieces including a Goat Cheese Fruit Yoghurt and a lovely brown loaf made with goat buttermilk! She also sells produce by the neighbours, including honey and eggs. The smoked cheese, by the way, tastes like a success, the smoking very finely judged indeed.

Olive meets another Billy

You may also buy Castlemary products at the regular Friday Country Market in Midleton and at the nearby shop recently opened by Helen Aherne. Olive tells me that Helen is a talented baker and her cakes also feature in the Midleton shop.

From Castlemary, I made my way to Midleton and to the regular Saturday morning Farmers Market. We were still reasonably early but O’Driscoll’s of Schull were rapidly running out of fish. Still we managed to get some fresh cod. Mushrooms from Irish Shiitake, Smoked Mackerel from the aforementioned Mr Hederman, and a lovely sweet Almond Brioche ring from Arbutus Bread were among the other products to find a way into the sturdy shopping bag. Lots of choices for lunch and later!

Gurnard

The sunshine was giving way to rain as I headed downtown in the afternoon to the Food Emporium at Brown Thomas. Lovely to meet Darina Allen who was signing copies of her most recent book, 30 Years at Ballymaloe (with over 100 new recipes), and to renew acquaintance also with Anthony Cresswell of Ummera Smoked Products who had samples of his brilliant produce for tasting.

Ballymaloe have a pop-up wine shop here and some of their wines were open for tasting with Peter Corr of Febvre Wines doing the honours and opening some terrific wines including a Vacheron Sancerre, a lovely pure white wine, mineral rich and zesty, produced by biodynamic farming.

That was good but the star of the show was undoubtedly the 2008 Raveneau Chablis. It was a rare pleasure to sample this Classic Chablis 1er Cru from Reveneau’s Butteaux vineyard.

The tastings here are of a very high standard indeed and that will continue next Friday evening at 6.00pm when Chris Forbes of Taylor's Port, one of the oldest of the founding Port houses, and Sarah Furno, of the magnificent Cashel Blue and Croizier Blue Cheeses, are the distinguished visitors. Should be a lovely evening.

Darina Allen, Ursula Bosman (Brown Thomas) and Yours Truly at the
Food Emporium.

Try the Taste of the Week at Brown Thomas this Saturday.

Taste of the Week

This smoked chicken, from Ummera in Timoleague, is a top top product. And very versatile too,. We used it in a paella last weekend and it was a treat. There are quite a few more recipes on the Ummera website here

If you are in Cork City this very Saturday, November 9th, Ummera will be up on the 2nd Floor of Brown Thomas in their new Food Emporium offering tastings as Darina Allen signs copies of her new book, "30 Years at Ballymaloe". Peter Corr of Febvre Wines will be tasting a selection of wines from the classic French wine regions. Time: 2pm to 4pm

Three Friends at my Table. West Cork Paella

Three Friends at my Table

West Cork Paella

I had three friends at my table for Saturday night dinner. Well, not really. But I did have the fantastic produce from Kanturk’s Jack McCarthy, West Cork’s Anthony Cresswell and the Loire’s Sebastien du Petit Thouars.

Anthony’s Ummera Smoked Chicken, bought in the Brown Thomas Food Emporium, was the main ingredient of the main dish. Ummera is the only Irish producer of smoked chicken and we used it in a special recipe by Clodagh McKenna: West Cork Paella.

When checking the list of recipe items, we found ourselves short a few and that led to a tour of the local shops. Supervalu had the Risotto Rice but no Chorizo. Coolmore, our local butchers, were out of a possible substitute, O’Flynn’s Gourmet Mexican or Italian Sausage, so we ended up in Aldi and got a Spanish Chorizo. Hard, if not impossible, to get Desmond cheese these days so Castlemary Farm’s award winning Goat Cheddar substituted and played  a blinder!

Indeed, though I forgot the lemon wedges,the whole dish was excellent, full of great flavours. You can take it will be done again, this time with the Gubbeen chorizo! So well done to Anthony for the chicken and to Clodagh for the recipe! This link will also take you to four or five other recipes for the smoked chicken.

Chateau du Petit Thouars . Is that a Cork car in front?

Jack and Timmy McCarthy are doing great things in Kanturk with Irish charcuterie and we started with a platter. Highlight here was their non-smoked Pastrami with special peppers. Simply outstanding and well worth getting your hands on.

We met Sebastien du Petit Thouars at his Chateau in the Loire in August and enjoyed a couple of visits. We had a great tasting with Sebastien, Darcy and their baby daughter Elizabeth, and one of the wines we brought home was his Selection 2009. This is a superb Cabernet Franc and one of the matching recommendations on the label was for curry. So why not Cloadagh's paella, we thought! And, glad to say, it worked a treat.

Brown Thomas Launch Food Emporium

Brown Thomas Food Emporium

Birgitta Curtin

Cork’s Brown Thomas  launched their Food Emporium with music, wine and, of course, food in the store last evening. And it turned out to be a very enjoyable occasion.

Cheese producers were there in force. Great to meet, however briefly, Padraig O’Farrell of CarrigalineCheese  but we’ll see him again next week on their open day. Also there were Cooleeney,  Durrus and Gubbeen, the latter with their cheese and impressive Cheese Oatcakes.

Arun Kapil

Got a glass of wine on the way in and was soon comparing it in various glasses under guidance from Martin Turner of Riedel, in town especially for the event. The proper glass sure makes a difference – you can take that from an ex-sceptic! And the experience was repeated later with a lovely Pinot Noir (innocent Bystander) from Ballymaloe Wines , who have been in the Emporium for the past few months.

Ballymaloe  indeed strongly supported the event last evening and there was a sweet finish with their pastry chef JR Ryall  providing us with some gorgeous chocolate truffles to match with the dessert wine.  

But before that we had some great tastings. The Castlemartyr Resort even had a menu of good things to try and there was no shortage of volunteers. Tom Durcan, delighted with his Gold at the Blas as the weekend, had his corned and spiced beef on show.

Met Burren Smokehouse's Birgitta Curtin again, after the Blas Awards in Dingle, and this time got to taste her glorious smoked salmon. There too was Arun from Green Saffron  dishing out a perfect Chicken Korma. By the way, look out for his new Spice Blends and those luxurious Cook-in Sauces, so easy, so good.

Gubbeen

It is a busy time too for Timoleague’s Anthony Creswell of Ummera Smokehouse. He smokes salmon, duck, bacon and chicken, all terrific and regulars on menus on top restaurants, now at the Emporium and also available online. And then we had Una’s Pies, a really top product as her regular awards at Blas Na hEireann underline. Una is also a regular at Mahon Point Farmers Market.

Ummera

And from the kingdom itself came Sam of Cloudberry Bakery who make artisan cakes and desserts - anything from colourful cake pops and cupcakes to show-stopping wedding cakes. Cloudberry was a  Blas winner in 2012. So pop into the Emporium and treat yourself.

Very good but better in Riedel

We were very well treated last night – even got my pic taken with Rachel Allen – and there was a bonus of a goodie bag on exit. Well done to the folks at Brown Thomas and best of luck for the Christmas season.

Sweet finish!

Chef Bryan up for Greene's Challenge

Chef Bryan up for Greene's Challenge

Wine and Waterfall

West Cork chef Bryan McCarthy is back in Cork and at the helm in Greene’s in McCurtain Street. And he is looking forward to the new challenge. You can expect to see foraged items on the menu but his aim is for “simple food from the best of ingredients, cooked in a contemporary Irish style”.

Bryan is something of a forager himself but he will rely also on Ballyhoura Mushrooms and on Michelle Walshe for sea foraging. Greene’s have long used top local suppliers such as Ummera Smokery and Ardsallagh Goat Cheese and they continue to feature on the menu. The newly installed head chef has added Jack McCarthy (pork, bacon, including the famous black pudding, of course) and is looking forward to using even more of the fantastic vegetables from Waterfall Farm.

Jack Mac certainly stood out in my starter during last weekend's visit. Here the Black Pudding and Pork Belly featured with scallops, all served with apple and cider in a flavoursome combination.

Our other starter was also top drawer, featuring the Ummera Smoked Salmon served three ways, with Lemon, Beetroot, Crème Fraiche, Cucumber and Organic Leaves enhancing the superb West Cork product.

Bryan McCarthy is almost synonymous with the slow cooked Feather Blade of Hereford Beef in these parts and, served with Onion, Shiitake Mushroom and Mashed Potato, this tender tasty treat was impossible to resist and was as good as ever.

Pork Belly, Scallop and Black Pudding.

A superb dish also was the Duo of Lamb, with Beluga Lentils, Chorizo, Ballyhoura Oyster Mushroom and Ardsallagh Goat Cheese. By the way, in case you are getting worried, the menu still features a selection of fine fish dishes (after all, Bryan is from Leap). Poultry too, including Skeaghanore Duck, and Pigeon was introduced last Sunday!

No shortage of choice here. And they have a great Early Bird deal going, €27.00 for four courses up to 7.00pm at the weekend and all night earlier in the week. Service here is friendly and quite informed about the food. Helpful also. Just a small example. When we ordered herbal tea, they brought a whole box over to the table so that we could choose at our leisure.

We got a nice table by the floodlit waterfall and indeed there were two groups that got even closer, choosing to dine outside as the night was so mild. Almost forgot to tell you about the Amuse Bouche, well detailed by our helpful server. It was a Spinach Mousse with Smoked Duck. A good start to an excellent meal.

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.

A twinning proposition: Timoleague and Samaniego

A twinning proposition: Timoleague and Samaniego

Timoleague (above) and Samaniego

Let us twin the ancient villages of Timoleague (West Cork) and Samaniego (La Rioja). Maybe I can’t pull that off but I sure can get Ummera and Baigorri together. Ummera is a famous state of the art smokehouse in Timoleague while Baigorri is a renowned state of the art winery in La Rioja.

Indeed, I have already brought them together, stumbling on a fantastic wine food pairing, as an unforeseen postscript when I recently opened a bottle of Baigorri Garnacha that I had purchased in Samaniego last summer.

Approaching the end of this bottle, I remembered that I had a few slices of the fantastic Ummera smoked duck to be finished off. Thought to myself that they might make a match.

For once, heaven agreed with me. Chewed a sliver of the duck and added a little wine. Eureka! The "chemistry"  revealed depths of smoky flavour, hitherto unsuspected. Amazingly, products from two ancient villages met on my palate and turned it into a flavour filled paradise.

Baigorri Garnacha, Rioja 2009, 14.5%, €19.54 at the winery in Haro.

Baigorri tend to experiment a bit and they even have a “garage” wine. This Garnacha has been influenced by the winemakers, a vin de l'auteur they call it. A well made wine for sure and highly recommended (very highly recommended if you add the smoked duck!) but a little pricey in comparison with their excellent Tempranillo Reserva.

Quite a dry introduction and then a bubbly rush of fruits. A flavoursome wine then with a stirring persistence. It has a rich red colour with calm fruity aromas, especially plum, plus hints of spice. Overall, the experience in the mouth echoes that of the bouquet.

Operation: Transform the Chicken!

Operation: Transform the Chicken!

Back in the jour, there was poulet fumé. En vacances in France, it was a treat but nothing to write ( it was long before Twitter) home about. 

Indeed, we had to come home and fast forward a fair bit to find something to write home about. And that was the smoked chicken from Anthony Creswell in Ummera. Indeed anything Anthony smokes is worth not just writing home about but bringing home with you.

Sampled a fair few of his delicacies over the recent holidays before getting down to the chicken. What to eat with it? That was the question until I began browsing through the latest Aldi newsletter and spotted the potato salad they had printed as part of their association with RTE’s Operation Transform.

This has proved to be quite a popular programme and the 6th series gets underway this very Tuesday evening. Dr. Eva Orsmond is one of the key people and her recipes appear in the Aldi booklet and all the info will be on the programme’s website. 

In the meantime, I have attached a copy of the potato salad that did indeed go very well with the smoked chicken, even though Eve suggested you use it with her pan-fried salmon dish. In any event, it is quite versatile and very tasty!

Speaking of matches, I tried another one over the holidays and indeed, must say I am very pleased with it. Have you still got some Christmas pudding in the house? Good. Don’t use it until you get your hands on a bottle or two of A Winter’s Ale from Mitchelstown’s 8 Degrees Brewing Company.

The Ale, which is “reinforced” by some Green Saffron Spices, is stronger than usual. But don’t worry. This doesn’t call for a lot. We shared a bottle between each pair. Pour into a small glass, even a wine glass, and sip it with your steamed pudding. Gorgeous. That was the verdict here. Well worth a try.

Operation Transform starts Tuesday 8th January at 8.30pm on RTÉ One

Food and Drink Spotting

Food and Drink Spotting

Visiting Ummera Smokehouse

Ummera have always welcomed visitors to the smokehouse but, as it is tucked away up the Argideen Valley, hidden by trees and bushes, not too many people find them! Now there's a challenge!

Owner Anthony Cresswell: “But when you do find us, and we are actually here (please call ahead if you can to make sure), then we will happily give you a simple tour and tell you something about how we smoke our organic salmon and other smoked products.

We do try to make it as easy as possible to find us with maps and directions on our website, but asking the way in the village is still the best!

And while you are visiting our area, do look out for the Bandon Food Trail members. Details and a map are on their Facebook  page.”
Check on all the other things that Ummera are up to by reading the newsletter.


Gary takes up West Cork Cook-Off Challenge


Paul Flynn had agreed to represent Ireland in this year’s event, but force of circumstance has meant that he has had to withdraw. Gary O’Hanlon of the VM Restaurant in Co. Longford has gallantly stepped in to take Paul’s place.

Gary O’Hanlon hails from Ramelton in Co. Donegal. Gary's career began in The Rosapenna Hotel in Downings at the tender age of 15 and from there Gary moved on to the famous Tourism College Killybegs before working his way around Ireland from Dublin at La Cave to Belfast's Stormont Hotel and then on to Boston, Massachusetts, where he spent 6 years opening and establishing Devlin’s Restaurant.

At the age of 23, he was named Best Chef in Boston. Check out all the details of this accomplished chef here.

Slow Food Ireland
East Cork Convivium - Tuesday 17 July - at 6.30pm - Farm Walk at Dan Ahern's Born Free Organic Poultry Farm, Ballysimon, Midleton, Co Cork. Bring appropriate weatherproof clothing and footwear.  Light Refreshments.  Donations to support the East Cork Slow Food Educational Project.
Contact: Dan for directions 086 1659 258    
Keep in touch with Slow Food Ireland here

Hotels


Guests at Macroom’s Caste Hotel regularly praise the food available there and Chef Pat Ryan’s delights will be on show when the popular venue holds a Wedding Afternoon on July 22nd.

And another highlight will be award winning tenor and contestant on ‘The Voice Of Ireland’, Dan Twomey (right), one of many wedding suppliers who will be showcasing their talents on the day.

More info on the hotel and the big day event here while Dan’s contact details are available here.

Barbecues, Restaurant offers, Roof Top Dining, are among the offerings available at Limerick’s award winning Strand Hotel this summer. Details here.

Shorts


To apply for National Organic Week funding, complete the Online Organic Week 2012 Form by Monday, 16th July.  Thanks to ‏@Bordbia on Twitter.

Hasn’t been quite the weather for dining al Fresco but I’m sure many of you have sheltered corners where it is all possible. In that case, and besides there is quite a lot of the summer to come, you’ll be interested in a host of summer recipes provided by All Recipes UK and Ireland here.

Help save the sandwich! The tuna in your sandwich needs help. The World Wild Life Fund is working with the industry to get more sustainable seafood in your sandwich.  Check it out here.

Bavette Steak and Graffiti Aubergines

AT THE MARKET

Must say I enjoy my trips around the EnglishMarket . So much to see. Just a selection from a weekend visit in the collage above. Some strange ones, such as the Graffiti Aubergines (top left) and familiar ones such as the Swedes (bottom left).

And while it is fun to look, it is much more satisfying to bring your bags and buy. One man I called to was Eoin at O’MahonyButchers. Have taken a shine to his Italian sausages but also like his bavette steak, now “the most popular cut in the shop, though it was a hard sell at the start”. Tasty, and economical!

The Real Olive Company is a regular stop and there was no exception this time. A wee bag of olives was the number one call but also stocked up with semi-dried tomatoes, a couple of packs of Iberico ham (the pigs feed on acorns) and I also chanced a tin of Portuguese Sardines. Next time, I’ll be going for those Feta Stuffed Sweet Peppers (Bottom right). 

The ABC bread stall is a must visit and quite often, the pick is the Country Baguette by Tom’s Bakery in Kinsale. Quite a healthy choice as it is Sugar Free and Dairy Free. Obviously, I like the texture and taste of it; it keeps longer than most sourdoughs and like most sourdoughs, it toasts up very well (useful to know if it starts to stale!).

Speaking of sourdough, I think Arbutus make the very best around, though some come close, and that and so much more is available at On the Pig’s Back. 

Another foodie treasure trove is the nearby Good Food Shop. They stock the excellent Ummera smoked products and I treated myself to a pack of Smoked Back Rashers. Looking forward to working my way through those!

So, lots to see in the English Market. But don’t forget to bring a couple of sturdy bags! I never do.

Ummera Smoked Chicken

Smoked Chicken @ Urru Culinary Store, a photo by CorkBilly on Flickr.

One of my all time favourites, one of the brilliant products from @ummera in Timoleague

FOLLÁIN RELISHES

FOLLÁIN RELISHES

Many of you will know that West Cork company Folláin make a range of gorgeous jams. Their blackcurrant and raspberry are particularly good and their blackberry is a gem while the marmalade is a regular on our table.

But did you know they also make some excellent relishes? Tomato, Exotic Fruit, Fire Roasted Pepper feature in the range and I got a chance to sample the Exotic Fruit recently with two other top class West Cork products.

It was something of a supper meal over the weekend and we put the relish together with that excellent smoked duck from Ummera and a salad. Absolutely gorgeous, really tasty and quite filling.

The relish stayed on the table for the next course, basically some crackers and the top-drawer cheese from Gubbeen. Once again, we enjoyed a well balanced combination.

If you want to check out some recommended recipes why not visit the Folláin site here

With that kind of food at hand, wine was called for and I selected a Côtes du Rhone from the dwindling haul we brought back from Provence this summer. You may read all about the Plan de Dieu in the next post.

GOURMET RAINBOW AT END OF BOREEN

GOURMET RAINBOW AT END OF BOREEN

Anthony Creswell with his 2010 UK Great Taste Gold and newly delivered salmon being processed.

On a boreen at the back of Timoleague, the back if we agree the front faces the estuary, there is a fork and if you take the left, even before you take the left, you will see a modest timber building below you.

It looks like a big hut but this is a state of the art smoke house and is the home of multi-award winning Ummera. Some of the awards are displayed outside. I had a guide here last week, none other than the owner Anthony Creswell.

Not only is this building a state of the art organic smoke house, it is also a highly efficient production unit, very streamlined indeed with the raw material arriving at one door and the tasty finished products leaving at the other end.

On the day I arrived, a delivery of salmon from Clew Bay had been made. The ice-packed boxes were being opened and the salmon, all individually tagged, were being filleted in preparation for the smoking. At the end is the packing and the dispatch, a room from which these high class products are sent to destinations all over the world.

The much sought after Ummera Smoked Products include Smoked Organic Salmon, Organic Gravadlax, Smoked Eel, Smoked Chicken, Smoked Duck and Smoked Dry Cured Bacon and are available at a range of outlets in Ireland. Sea Salt from Portugal and Raw Cane Sugar (Organic) from Costa Rica are used in the process but no artificial preservatives.

Ummera products have even ended up in Hawaii but they are also appreciated locally and indeed I enjoyed a gorgeous plateful of them in Dillon’s Restaurant (highly recommended) in Timoleague village before meeting Anthony.

Aside from being a very efficient “production line”, the smoke house is also extremely environmentally friendly. There are armies of worms working out the back in the vermi-composting unit set up to dispose of production waste and the site has a natural wetland for water waste.

The business goes back to the early 70s but this new house was built in 2000 and modified in 2004 to meet the demanding standards required by the Irish Government and the EU for the export of meat and poultry products. This enabled Ummera Smoked Chicken and Smoked Dry Cured Bacon to be exported throughout the EU in compliance to EU regulations. The Ummera Smoke house is the only one in Ireland licensed to smoke both fish and meat (including poultry).

Check out all the fascinating details here. http://www.ummera.com/