Friday, January 12, 2018

Amuse Bouche



They hadn’t finished the champagne, yet Nat had ordered another bottle to go with the starters, brandade of smoked trout for her, fruits de mer in aspic for him. He’d also asked for a jar of caviar on the side……..
The waiter had poured, and departed.
‘Puligny,” Nat supplied, unable to stop himself giving the glass a pompous swirl and sniff. ‘When you dream of France, you’re really dreaming of Burgundy.’


from Eureka by Anthony Quinn (2017). Recommended

Thursday, January 11, 2018

Busy 2017 for Johnny Fall Down. Killahora Orchards Operation Expands.

Busy 2017 for Johnny Fall Down.

Killahora Orchards Operation Expands.
Barry (left) and Dave

This time last year, most of us heard about Johnny Fall Down for the first time. Their Rare Apple Cider was hitting the shelves. And not staying there very long as it was being snapped up.

I first visited the orchard at Killahora, near Glounthaune, last March and met Barry and Dave. Dave has a particular interest in trees and plants while Barry is the man that turns the fruit into alcohol. The combination is a natural, has expanded and is expanding. Watch these warm south-facing slopes for more delicious developments.

Then they had over forty apple varieties. Now, on last week's visit, they told me thay have over 114. They also have about 40 pear varieties here, the latest a bundle of young Welsh pears. A similar bundle is on the way from Austria (Barry is thinking schnapps!).

They now have three products available commercially, including the latest edition of Johnny Fall Down, their award winning Bittersweet Cider. They have also created a uniquely Irish Rare Apple Port (Pommeau), and the first Ice Cider created mainly from Bittersweet varietals. 

I came across the Pom’O and the Rare Apple Ice Wine at SpitJacks on Washington Street where they form part of the amazing Cheese and Fortifieds Menu. More details about the Pommeau here .

The Ice Wine which may, in the future, be barrel aged, is made from the juice of their rare apples, concentrated using freezing temperatures and slowly thawed. The resulting beautiful deep and rich must is slowly fermented for a year and stopped before completion, leaving half of the apple sugars intact…nothing is added, so the abv is a low 10.8%.

The south facing land exposed to the Atlantic, “gives us the opportunity to create an infinity of expressions of the land itself, that will surely change year to year, but we hope will retain a familiar style and optimum quality”.
Dave, with his Welsh pears

The pair are hugely enthusiastic about the future, Barry always thinking about the various blends that are possible and that will become possible as the trees mature. 

And it is not just the apples and the pears in their neat lines. The hedgerows around their 30 or so acres include fifteen old crab trees, all with different characteristics that show in the fruit (apple babies don't grow up resembling their parents). 

Even months after the crab crop had been gathered in, there was still enough solid fruit on the ground to taste last week. The first one we sampled was close in taste to a normal green apple, the second on the opposite hedgerow, was much sourer.

And, as if the 15 crab trees (some of them quite large) aren't enough, they have planted other fruits in amongst them. Early days yet! But it’s not all plain sailing. Storm Ophelia did some damage to the established fruit trees in the orchard and one or two in the hedgerow have been chewed by the local wildlife! 
The Future.

OS Maps from 1838 show an orchard in the same place as it is today, with the same old walls bounding it, and the same south facing slopes slowly ripening the best of fruit. The revival is moving forward impressively and with help from Mother Nature! A beekeeper, Mick, has been recruited to set up hives around the orchards and we met him during the visit.


The bees will be helping with pollination. Already though Barry is looking forward to an interesting honey. I think some of it will end up in bottles rather than jars! 

What is also interesting is that the operation has found a natural ally in the mixologists at Cask. They bounce ideas off one another and often find out that two heads are better than one. Recently,  with help from others, they combined to make the world’s first single field cocktail! 
View of Cork Harbour from the Orchard: Fota Island stretches along centre from the left. See its folly (the tower on the point) just beyond the railway bridge on the Cork-Cobh line, both in right hand quarter of pic.
Barry thinks Cask is a marvellous place, one of the best in Ireland and the UK, and was not at all surprised that the McCurtain Street venue swept the boards at the Irish Cocktail Championships.

Dave is just as enthusiastic (and knowledgeable) in his field. Last year, he showed his skill with tongue and groove grafting. While not quite the season for it, this time we got an example of Chip budding which is one of the easier forms of grafting. 

A bud, rather than a shoot, is attached to a rootstock to produce a new plant. With practice, this technique can be mastered by anyone and, as just one bud is needed to make a tree, it is very efficient. Amazing how one tiny bud contains all the genetic material necessary to take over the host.

If there’s a lot going on outdoors, there’s a hell of lot going on indoors. In the cidery itself, there all all kinds of containers quietly getting there. No doubt some “experiments” will be cut short but others will succeed. There are three ex Bourbon casks employed here. We got a taste of one, a very encouraging taste indeed with the promise of whiskey notes to come in some future Killahora product.

So what can we expect next from Glounthaune? An apple champagne, no less! It is underway. Lots of bottles standing upside down in the cool cellar, a 180 year old shed. Just like champagne, the sediment will be frozen in the neck of the bottle, disgorged and then replaced with a dosage (a little sugar). The mind bubbles. 
Beekeeper Mick



Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Curious. Orange.The Fourth Wine?

Curious: Orange
The Fourth Wine?

You’ll read that orange wine is like rosé. Not really. Not at all. Many wine novices could start with rosé and like it straight off. If they start with orange, they may never drink wine again. 

I reckon you have to serve a general apprenticeship, a rather pleasant broad-based one like I did, before you are ready for orange, at least the orange I've been tasting the past year or so, beginning with La Stoppa’s Ageno.  Well, I did start at the top as this wine has been declared, by Decanter, as the best orange in the world.

The orange colour of these wines, obtained by leaving the skins in contact with the juice, is not uniform for various reasons to do with varieties, geography and time in contact (weeks, even months). The Ageno above spends 30 days on the skins, the Dinavolina below has had four months of contact, the Baglio just four days!

Essentially they are white wines - both examples below are labelled bianco - but they also have a higher level of tannins, more like a red wine, and indeed can match foods where previously red would have been the only choice. Welcome to the fourth wine!

Baglio Bianco Catarratto Terre Siciliane (IGP) 2014, 12%, €19.50 Le Caveau, Bradley's Cork.

Bianco is certainly a bit of a misnomer here as this is most definitely an orange wine, a cloudy deep amber in colour, unfined and unfiltered. And Le Caveau say it is a “fantastic introduction” to orange, “both from a flavour and price point of view”.

A nose of baked apple, cinnamon, and nutmeg is promised and delivered. There are strong reminders of a flavoursome dry cider as this wine spreads across the palate. A fantastic concentration of the flavours follows through to a lip-smacking finish. Highly Recommended.


Pairings suggested by the importers are free range pork with apple sauce; a herby roast chicken; and cheeses such as Durrus. Catarratto, by the way, is Sicily’s, and Italy’s, most popular white wine grape.

Azienda Agricola Dinavolo Dinavolina Bianco Vino D’Italia 2013, 10.5%, €21.65 Le Caveau, Bradley's Cork.

And now, from a vineyard height of 1,500 feet, with no added sulphurs, we bring you Dinavolina, the personal project of Giulio Armani, the winemaker at La Stoppa in Emilia Romagna, where Ageno is produced. This “left of centre” wine is a blend of Malvasia di Candida Aromatico, Marsanne, Ortrugo and an unidentifiable ancient local grape.

The amber colour here is clear, unlike the cloudy Baglio. Again there are hints of the apple orchard in the aromas but not as pronounced as in the Catarratto. The acidity is certainly a striking feature, reminiscent of the Basque wine Txakoli.

Fruit flavours are spare but insistent - four months on skins have seen to that colour and the tannins. The finish replicates the palate and one can see how the Dinavolina would go well with the recommended dishes: salt cod; ricotta filled pasta; or hard cheese. Personally, I’d add pork. The wine itself is Highly Recommended.


Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Taste of the Week. Oriel Sea Salt

Taste of the Week
Oriel Sea Salt

Taste of the Week comes from County Louth and is the Oriel Kiln Dried Sea Salt. It’s Irish, it’s natural, nothing has been added. And it is top class.

 I’ve had the chance to sample the Oriel salts over the past six weeks or so and this particular one, free flowing and fine grained, has appeared on the table non-stop. This mineral rich sea salt has a powerfully smooth taste and allows you to use up to 25% less with no compromise on flavour. It has been endorsed by some of Ireland's top chefs, Ross Lewis of Chapter One among them.

This totally Irish salt has a deeper richer flavour yet is doesn't overpower your dish. Even if you add a little too much, it means more flavour, not saltier. Ed O’Donnell of O’Donnell Crisps: “..the taste profile of Oriel Sea Salt was supreme..”. 

It dissolves and disperses rapidly in recipes. No wonder the country’s chefs are praising it. The chefs will be also be happy with Oriel’s Whiskey Smoked Sea Salt. This has been smoked over Teeling Irish Whiskey freshly emptied 90 year old Nicaraguan Oak barrels to produce a “smokiness that is simply spectacular”. Read Joe McNamee’s hymn to it here.

The third product, all three are available in 250 gram tubs, is their Mineral Sea Salt Natural. This is slightly moist with a powder like grain. “For those who like to pinch.”

Whether you use the Oriel as a finishing or as an ingredient, you’ll be moving on up the flavour scale. It’s a little like changing from mainstream beer to craft - you’ll never go back!

Port Oriel, Clogherhead,
Drogheda, County Louth,
A92 V97C, Ireland.


Monday, January 8, 2018

Three Excellent Wines. From Beaujolais to Italy to Austria.

Three of the Best. From Beaujolais to Italy to Austria.

Dominique Morel Fleurie (AP) Vieilles Vignes 2015, 12.5%, €23.99 JJ O’Driscoll’s Cork, Manning’s Emporium Ballylickey, Wine Online, World Wide Wines


Fleurie, like all ten crus, is in the east of the Beaujolais region. Here Gamay, always refreshing and never short of acidity, thrives on the granite soil. Fleurie is an excellent partner for a wide variety of lighter dishes.

Here the colour is mid ruby. Very aromatic with delicate cherry scents, floral notes too, an inviting melange.The silky palate is bursting with fruit flavours and tannins close to velvety, very elegant indeed with no shortage of the concentration expected here, more heft indeed than you'd expect, and with a long and satisfying finish.


This is an excellent example of the expressive Gamay, no doubt helped by the fact that the fruit was well ripened in the good 2015 vintage. Serve at 15 degrees to get the best from this Fleurie. I found it easy to make my mind up here. No need to wait for the second glass - though that did come - Very Highly Recommended.

Loimer Langenlois Loiserberg Grüner Veltliner Kamptal (DAC) 2015, 13%, RRP € 23.99 JJ O’Driscoll, Cork; Wine Online

The first thing I really noticed* about this bottle was its glass closure; plastic is also used in the seal. It is marked trocken (dry) and made by Fred Loimer in the Kamptal area of Austria. Kamp is a river, a left bank tributary of the Danube which it joins near Krems, about 45 minutes north-east of the famous monastery of Melk.

They have been organic since 2006 and admit to having been inspired by the natural scientist Rudolph Steiner. “this has brought us, we admit, criticism from some quarters”. Their wines though have not, on the contrary. You’ll find the typical Gruner characteristics of herb, spice and apple here in this refreshing example.

There is a good yellow colour and a mixed nose of fruity and herbal notes. There is a peppery touch on the lively palate, along with mellow fruit flavours (2015 was a warm vintage), nice acidity too and excellent balance. A mineral character is prominent in a good long finish. Highly Recommended.

* One of the last things I noticed was the cheeky little fellow embedded in the glass closure!


Alpha Zeta Valpolicella Ripasso (DOC) Superiore 2015, 13.5%, €19.99 Bradley’s, Cork; JJ O’Driscoll, Cork; McKeoghs, Killaloe; Wine Online; World Wide Wines.

I know quite a few of you are Ripasso fans and this is another fine mouth-watering example of the technique and indeed has been described as a “mini-Amarone”. Grapes used are Corvina/Corvinone (70%) and Rondinella (30).

Ruby is the colour. Aromas speak of cherry and you may note the slightly raisin-ed notes familiar from Amarone. It has a rich concentrated palate, the cherry staying prominent, spice too, well balanced though with a fresh and dry finish, long too. Highly Recommended.



Sunday, January 7, 2018

West Cork Burger Company A Bit of a Mouthful

West Cork Burger Company

A Bit of a Mouthful
Burger of the Day (pic: WCBC)

The West Cork Burger Company is a bit of a mouthful. A really tasty mouthful, whether you go the Angus or Wagyu route!

That is the first serious choice to be made when visiting the new burger outlet on Washington Street. Well, not quite new; the Henry Hegarty led company has been operating here since October. 

Bantry-based Henry will probably be familiar to you from his Wokabout stall, a very popular stop for quality Thai style street food at Irish markets and festivals. Also in the West Cork team is Macroom Butcher Michael Twomey, a supplier to many local chefs, Bryan McCarthy and Martina Cronin for example.

You may pick your burger direct from the menu or, flip the card over, and you may go the DIY route. Choose your bun (four options), your meat and weight, your cheese (again four options).

Toppings is next. You could get confused here as there are no less than eight options including mushrooms, onions, even pineapple! Step Five is the sauce, no less than nine choices here. 

If all this decision making is proving too much for you, then have a look at the regular offerings: The Japanese, Classic Bacon Cheese, Chilli Burger, Chicken Burger, and Portobello (no meat). And there’s also a Kids Menu.

We just come in as Storm Eleanor hit, so were looking for something fast. I choose the six or eight ounce Japanese. So, six ounces of Angus (could have had Wagyu), with Miso Slaw, Shiitake Mushrooms, smoked chilli jam, crispy lettuce, gherkin, and Irish Cheddar cheese.

Angus
CL spotted the Offer of the Day and that meant she got the Chicken Burger (with cucumber pickle, grilled pineapple, lettuce and garlic mayo, along with a portion of fries for just ten euro). My beef, with fries as a side, came to fifteen.

The fries are top class, no excess oil, and again you have a choice of sauces specifically for them. And there are a few other sides as well, including Kimchi. That Thai and general Asian influence from Henry’s wok is at work here in Washington Street too, deliciously so.

Fancy a drink? There is a short wine list and also some very local beers (from the Rising Son Brewery in nearby Cornmarket Street) while the cider is by Stonewell from Nohoval.

The furniture is a bit on the rustic side, with raw timber used on the walls and in the booths for both seats and tables. The burgers are as good as you’ll get and service is friendly, helpful and efficient.

West Cork Burger Company
6 Washington Street Cork
Phone number (021) 241 0300


Friday, January 5, 2018

Amuse Bouche

All in all, football is a perishable product, its use-by date is immediate. It must be consumed straight away, like oysters, whelks, langoustines, prawns (I will spare you the exhaustive composition of the plateau). It must be enjoyed fresh, in the intensity of the moment, in the heat of immediacy. Football does not age well, it is a diamond that only shines brightly today… Even legendary finals are faded. Their perfume has vanished into the dust of time..


from Football by Jean-Philippe Toussaint (2015). Recommended.

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Excellent Spanish Organic Wine at SuperValu.

Flor de Anon Garnacha Campo de Borja (DO) 2015, 14.5%, €11.99 SuperValu

Red cherry is the attractive colour; quite light and could be mistaken in appearance for a Pinot Noir or Gamay. Nothing shy about the intense and complex mix of red and dark berries in the aromas (floral notes too). On the rounded palate it is engaging, the lingering concentrated fruit is well balanced by the acidity and the flavours fade hardly at all in the long soft finish. Easy drinking and Very Highly Recommended. Good value too, by the way.

So a quality organic from a  supermarket! Whatever next? It is not the first organic from Kevin O’Callaghan and his team at SuperValu but is one that has been highly anticipated. It is produced from the fruit of 20 year old vines and you are recommended to serve it between 14 and 16 degrees.

Campo de Borja doesn’t exact spring to mind if you are asked to name a Spanish wine region. I looked it up for you! It is an inland area in the north east, some 45 minutes north-west of Zaragoza, 75 minutes south-east of Logrono (Rioja). Your Supervalu though will be easier to find!


*Just noticed, on a leaflet via our post box, that SuperValu have an interesting organic wine from the Languedoc as Wine of the Month. You can get the Grain De Bio Des Terres De Gaujac for ten euro, marked down from €12.99. Great colour, great nose, full and smooth, according to the blurb. Sounds good. Must get my hands on one.

SeaFest Rotation Gone by the Bord? Millions Slip Through Cork Nets as Galway Gains

SeaFest Rotation Gone by the Bord?

Millions Slip Through Cork Nets as Galway Gains
Rory O'Connell, a regular at SeaFest

Ireland’s national maritime festival SeaFest attracted 101,113 visitors to Galway Harbour during the three day event in 2017, generating €6.3 million for the city.

The figures, details here, showed a phenomenal 68% growth in attendance in just one year. The 2016 SeaFest saw 60,000 visitors attend the festival in Galway, and in 2015, its inaugural year, it netted 10,000 visitors.

It has been confirmed that SeaFest 2018 will take place in Galway from 29th June to 1st July.  It incorporates a series of marine-related business and research events, the annual Our Ocean Wealth Summit, as well as a maritime festival.

Run by the Marine Institute, with major partners BIM (Bord Iascaigh Mara) and Bord Bia, the initial Seafest was held in Ringaksiddy, County Cork, in 2015 when The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, was Simon Coveney TD. Report on the Cork event here.

There was much more than fish demos in Ringaskiddy with linked events around the harbour including Captain Your Own Ship in the Simulator of the National Maritime College, the base for the event. There were SeaFest Science Talks, the BIM Beaufort Scale Hurricane Experience, Marine Recreation and Tourism and much more. 

It was a two day event and the impression given then was that this festival would “tour” Ireland annually and “plans are in hand to bring it to Galway in 2016”. So Cork is not the only loser as the Festival now seems set for a permanent stay in Galway. Fishing places such as Killybegs (Ireland’s largest fishing port), Dingle, Kilmore Quay, Howth, Greenore, Castletownbere, Burtonport, Dunmore East and Greencastle, and Cork of course, will be wondering and, one suspects, waiting.

Read all about SeaFest and its success in Galway here

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Two French Reds. An Old One. And A Wild One.

Two French Reds. An Old One. And A Wild One.

Domaine Aonghusa The Wild Bunch (Vin de France) 2014, 14.5%, €20.50 Karwig Wine

From Wexford, Pat Neville has proved to be something of a rebel at Domaine Aonghusa (where his partner is his wife Catherine McGuinness) in the Languedoc. Some of his wines are somewhat off piste as is this one, outside the Corbieres appellation rules so a Vin de France  (as are many good wines in this region). But he also, for instance, produces Cuvée Laval which is AOC.

While he does buck the appellation, he is not into biodynamique either. “Our approach is based on common sense, not cosmological tomfoolery. …. This sometimes results in untidy looking but living vineyards.” 

So where does he fit in in the scheme of things. Quotes from an old independent.ie article may help. "I want to make a wine where the third glass is more interesting than the first, not one where everything you want to know is in the first mouthful." "I know the kind of wine I like; good wine to be taken with food, not wines for sitting on a terrace with and sipping.” 

Okay, we can live with that! And this Wild Bunch too, a blend of the vineyard reds which include Grenache, Carignan, Syrah, Cinsault and Lledonner Pelut. There may be wild, scrubby notes in the mainly savoury aromas, a little bit maybe, but this mid-purple wine seems to have settled nicely since 2014.

As you might expect, there is a pretty good concentration of fruit on the palate. It is a really well balanced blend at this stage with a long dry finish. A very interesting wine indeed. Nothing to be apprehensive about and might even improve over the next year or so. “The most fantastic blend,” according to Karwig’s. Highly Recommended.

Chateau Peybonhomme Les Tours Premières Côtes De Blaye (AOC) 2001, 12.5%, €15.20 Mary Pawle Wines

This charming elegant red is organic and is predominantly Merlot with a small percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon. The Chateau overlooks the Gironde estuary and they suggest matching it with Ossobuco or a Risotto with porcini mushrooms.

It is quite a lovely mid ruby colour (considering its age); there is a bit of fade towards the edge and the legs are slow enough to clear even though the abv is not that high. There is red fruit on the nose, a bit of spice too, nothing extreme in either case. Well rounded fruit and tannins on the smooth palate, an excellent balance and a pretty good finish as well. Not bad at all for an old-stager. Highly Recommended. Well priced too by the way.


Monday, January 1, 2018

Crawford Gallery Café. Christmas Cheer and Happy New Year

Crawford Gallery Café 

Christmas Cheer and Happy New Year.



Cork, December 28th. The month and the year 2017 is running out. Fast. It is cold in the city. Not even a smoker to brave the cold in the outdoors section of the Crawford Gallery Café where the seats provide some colour in the grey day. Veering towards zero degrees, veering towards a white day as snow appears and threatens to stay.

So I hurry past the outer railings, through the gallery doors, past the nude Greek and Roman sculpture casts (brrrr). Then I go deeper into the building (once the city’s Custom House) where there is a hot spot, the Gallery Café. 

It is warm for sure and close to full, a lovely rounded buzz of conversation, no sharp tones here, must be the acoustics, more likely a soft chorus of Christmassy contentment! It was the first time that the café has opened in the period between Christmas and the New Year - don't think it will be the last time. 

A smile and a nod and I'm directed to a table. Another smile as head chef Sinead Doran waves from the counter. Warming up already.

The menu, it changes daily (Sinead has, as usual, been out to the nearby English Market), arrives just as my raincoat comes off. The glasses go on and I see it is full of choice, full of good things. Still chasing warmth, I  immediately decide on the Thai Spiced Tomato Soup. It is comfortingly warm and the heat of the spice is not in any way extreme, no shock but rather an pleasant aid to the recovering system.

Lots of warm stuff throughout the seasonal menu. Breslin’s Beef and Red Wine Stew tempts as does the tart of Warm Sweet Onion and Crozier Blue (my favourite cheese ever!). 

The Devilled Kidneys tempted me sorely and would have been CL’s choice but I had given her the day off to bond with (mind!) our latest grandchild. The Roast Marrow Bone made a recent visiting critic drool. And the same Marrow Bone makes an appearance in the Steak and Chips.


I will have chips but with the hake, green mayonnaise lemon and organic leaves too. Presentation is neat and tidy but there is quite a pyramid of food on the plate as Sinead arrives. A gasp of surprise from me. Think she's heard a few like that before; she is confident of a clean plate finish. This particular deep-water fish can grow to a max of 140cm; don't think that record-breaker was on the plate though, packed and all as it was.

So, ignoring the two guys (a pair of sculptured heads) peering through the Christmas greenery on the window sill alongside, I concentrate, mainly on the gorgeous fish, its pearl white flesh easily found once the veneer of batter is disturbed. And then it is easily pleasurably eaten, especially with a dab of the mayo. And on I went, bite by bite, superb sweet fish and superb potato, all the way to an empty plate!
"Nice bit of hake he has there."

The main event may have passed but there were still some Christmas items on the dessert section of the menu.  I gave the sweet bits a skip this time; I had eaten well of the sustaining and sustainable hake and said goodbye to Sinead and her crew and made my way through the packed restaurant out to the cold, no snow though (the earlier threat to stay was not maintained), to resume spending the vouchers. 

Happy New Year!

The Crawford Gallery Café
Emmet Place
Cork
021 4274415
Open: Mon to Sat 8.30am to 4.00pm 

Friday, December 29, 2017

Amuse Bouche

Chaplin (right!)
Raymond Griffith can’t get a job in talking pictures because Raymond Griffith has no voice. Raymond Griffith is incapable of speaking above a whisper, and is therefore the perfect silent comedian. Eventually, Raymond Griffith chokes to death over dinner at the Masquers Club because he fails to chew his food properly.
But these ones do not concern him, or not as much as Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd.
Not as much as Chaplin.


from he by John Connolly (2017). Very Highly Recommended.