Showing posts with label Black Pudding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Black Pudding. Show all posts

Sunday, March 8, 2020

Kelly’s Putóg for St. Patrick’s Day

press release
Kelly’s Putóg for St. Patrick’s Day
 
Kelly’s Butchers won a gold medal for this ‘pint of pudding’ made out of Kelly’s Pudding and garnished with shamrocks.
St. Patrick’s Day is all about tradition – and there’s nothing more traditional than a Putóg. The ‘Putóg’ is the traditional Irish black pudding made in every farmhouse in the West of Ireland. The filling was a combination of oatmeal, onions, suet, blood, salt and pepper and other easily sourced ingredients. Originally it was made in the time-honoured casing of a sheep’s stomach. Award winning butchers, Kelly’s of Newport, are keeping tradition alive by producing the ‘Putóg’ in its original form. The word ‘Putóg’ actually translates from Irish as ‘gut’, or ‘belly’. Kelly’s Putógs are flying off the shelves coming up to the big day itself, ready to grace breakfast (and dinner tables countrywide).

In recent years there’s been a trend for Irish embassies worldwide to bring in Kelly’s puddings and sausages to impress their St. Patrick’s Day guests. This year is no exception – 1200 Kelly’s sausages are winging their way to the Irish Embassy in Helsinki, Finland and the Druid Chef, Rory Morahan is heading off to Cyprus with a stack of Kelly’s puddings under his oxter ready to cook up a storm for the celebrity guests.

Kelly’s Butchers, Newport, Co. Mayo are a traditional artisan butchers with a thriving retail shop. They still run their own abattoir, buy local stock and manufacture all their own products onsite. They do not outsource manufacturing. Products are available through specialist shops and supermarkets countrywide as well as through the website. Kelly’s are proud supporters of Newport 300, the town’s tricentenary celebrations. 

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Taste of the Week. Kanturk Pudding from McCarthy Butchers


Taste of the Week
Kanturk Pudding from McCarthy Butchers

The McCarthy family of Kanturk have been making blackpudding for generations. For the past decade or so, they’ve been picking up awards for it, including gold from the La Confrérie des Chevaliers du Goûte Boudin in 2010 and 2013.

It’s a regular here and so I knew I was on a good thing when I picked up a pack in Bradley’s (North Main Street, Cork) just before Christmas. One of those “just in case” purchases I made at the time - just in case we got fed up of the turkey.

The turkey, truth to tell, went down well but still the pudding was a welcome alternative when it made its appearance. Full of flavour as always and our Taste of the Week. 
Ingredients for this rich and smooth pudding include Bacon trim, spices, seasoning, rusk, blood, oatmeal, water, onion and pearl barley. We used it with a couple of fried eggs as a snack but you’ll see lots of variation in the restaurants. 
If you’d like something more adventurous at home, then check out this recipe on McCarthy’s website for BLACK PUDDING WITH PEARS FLAMBÉ AND ROSEMARY CINNAMON CARROTS
McCarthys of Kanturk
Main Street
Kanturk
Co. Cork












Monday, September 21, 2015

Taste of the Week

Taste of the Week
Black Pudding with Teeling Whiskey
 by McCarthy's of Kanturk
 The picture below shows most of the ingredients you need to make black pudding. Add water and blood and you have it. But if you want something extra, then add some special ingredients just like McCarthy's of Kanturk did as they made this one (left), our Taste of the Week. As well as the blood and water, cream and some of the superb Teeling's whiskey were mixed in. We had a taste in Nash 19 on Culture Night and will soon be getting more. It is soft and flavoursome, spicy but not salty, crumbly and moist, just irresistible!


Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Taste of the Week. De Róiste 6 Minute Breakfast

Taste of the Week
De Róiste 6 Minute Breakfast


De Róiste, based in Baile Bhuirne, are perhaps best known for their black and white puddings, made in the traditional way with fresh pork and fresh blood. The products are widely available and you’ll also come across them at markets and food fairs.


And indeed, that was how I came across their Breakfast Loaf, one of their newer products, which they were exhibiting at the Cork Summer Show last weekend. This, our Taste of the Week, is more or less the full Irish, containing streaky rashers, sausage meat, black and white pudding, egg and mushrooms.


It is sold in a pack that contains two slices and I'd recommended that you should always have  a pack or two in the fridge. Cooking is simple and very quick, fry or grill, just 2 to 3 minutes for each side, and there you have a satisfying breakfast or lunch, especially if you add a slice or two of brown bread or a salad. No brown bread? Use a bun!


More info on De Róiste here and here. Their Twitter handle is 


Monday, April 27, 2015

Treat Meat With Respect. Talking to Avril Allshire-Howe

Treat Meat With Respect
Talking to Avril Allshire-Howe


Avril, and books!
“Meat should be treated with respect.”

So said Avril Allshire during our recent visit to the Rosscarbery farm that she runs with husband Willie and their two sons William and Maurice. The small farm is home to two related enterprises: Caherbeg Free Range Pork and Rosscarbery Recipes. It is also the place where the young sons practice on their racing quads!

“Every little mouthful should be savoured,” she continued. “None of us can afford to gorge ourselves, we can't afford to waste meat.”
Pork Fruit Cake. Secret Recipe!
Avril was talking to me in her own home, surrounded by shelves and shelves of books, many of them food related. No surprise either to see that she is a big fan of Joanna Blythman, the English writer who constantly exposes the con-men of the big-food world and who will again appear at the 2015 Ballymaloe Lit-Fest next month.

Avril could well write a recipe book herself. She agreed with me that food producers should provide recipes to customers but only if they have something new to add.

She certainly has and you’ll see quite a few of them on her Rosscarbery Recipes blog. But there is one that she won't be publishing, won't be sharing! As we spoke we were treated to a slice of what looked like a normal fruit cake.

Spots (left) and Timmy
As we began to enjoy it, she revealed that it had “no eggs, no dairy”. She named this delicious creation, an exclusive one, Pork Fruit Cake, as one of the important ingredients is, believe it or not,  sausage meat! “It is an alternative to Christmas Cake, may well have been a forerunner of Christmas cake.”

Later, at lunch, she served us her Black Pudding lasagna, another of her originals, a flavoursome echo perhaps of the time when there were no convenience shops, maybe also a shortage of cash, and people had to use what was close at hand, what was in the cupboard. And indeed there was another echo of those days in her answer to the question What is your own favourite? “Depends on the humour,” she laughed. “But I’ll use whatever is in the house.”

“Has the success of any particular product surprised you?”, I asked.
“Yes, I have been surprised by the success of the black pudding, by the variety of people that like it, the young and the old alike. Eastern European peoples quite like it too. It is quite low in fat and useful for a variety of dishes.”

Awards galore
Husband Willie drove the rest of the family to the brink of frustration during the long 15 months he (and they) spent developing their black pudding, developing it to his and their satisfaction. But the passion paid off in a big way and the pudding has won a string of awards, mostly gold, in Ireland, the UK, Belgium and notably in France. “How do you know you have a good one?”, I queried. “The acid test,” she replied, “is to cut a sliver and eat it at room temperature.”


We discussed trends in the business.”Six or seven years ago, you could not give away belly of pork. Then the recession hit and everybody wanted it. The Caherbeg herd is quite small. We have limited numbers and not that much belly and so the Celtic Ross have exclusivity on our belly.” We had enjoyed that special dish in the local hotel the previous evening and it is worth travelling for!


Then it was time to take a tour of the free range pigs (a mixture of breeds including Gloucester Old Spot, Tamworth and Kune-Kune)  and we met some of the main characters including Spots, the mammy of many of them, and Timmy, the daddy. Pigs are not the only animals here. We met the dog and some of the five cats. And also Maa-aa, the growing lamb that they adopted from a neighbouring farm after its mother had rejected it. Maa-aa has been given a job! She'll be keeping the grass and weeds in control in their orchard! Two legs or four, you have to pull your weight in Caherbeg!


Read more about Caherbeg Free-Range Pork and Rosscarbery Recipes here
Rosscarbery Recipes Website: http://www.rosscarberyrecipes.ie
Rosscarbery Recipes blog: http://rosscarberyrecipes.blogspot.ie
Caherbeg Free Range Pork website: http://www.caherbegfreerangepork.ie


Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Black and White Pudding with an Oriental Touch

Black and White Pudding with an Oriental Touch

Last week we told you about the spiced up cheddar by Leah’s Gourment Foods. This week the focus is on their Black and White Puddings.


Leah has married into the Sweeney family in Kerry and they have a long tradition in food, in cheese, butter and smoked salmon.  Leah's husband is Billy and his grandmother Nell produced her own special recipe black pudding which was sold throughout the local area, and indeed Billy's grandparents on his mother's side, the O'Briens from Ballyduff, were quite renowned locally for their black pudding recipes which were handed down.

And there is also a strong black pudding connection on Leah’s side. Black pudding is a delicacy in her native Philippines. Throughout the years, Leah often made her black pudding recipe to be enjoyed by family and friends, and she was often encouraged to make it commercially. That came about a few years back. The solid base was provided by her own heritage and Billy’s family recipes. And now they have  a blend of the finest of both Filipino and Irish traditions.
I've been sampling the black pudding (and white) in recent days. The Kerry tradition has been given a spicy twist through the addition of fresh chillies, fresh ginger and fresh garlic to the blend. And it is amazingly successful. The spices are not at all overpowering; in fact they are quite moderate but their inclusion fundamentally enhances the pudding which, full of attractive flavours, is a delight on the palate, at breakfast or indeed at other other time. Besides, it doesn’t have the very salty taste of some other puddings.


Leah helpfully includes a few Black Pudding recipes on their website. She doesn’t include the Dinuguan (a very popular black pudding dish from her homeland) but she does include one for Black Pudding Scotch Eggs and that’s the one we tried.

The recipe is easy to follow and you’ll have no bother getting the ingredients. Besides, it may be made in advance. Have to say, we enjoyed it very much indeed indeed

Leah’s are included in the recently published Kerry Food Story and their products are available online and in the following places:
·         Cahill’s SuperValu, Ballybunion
·         Garvey’s SuperValu, Castleisland
·         Garvey’s SuperValu, Dingle
·         Garvey’s SuperValu, Listowel
·         Garvey’s SuperValu, Tralee
·         Lynch’s SPAR, Castlegregory
·         Cliff House Hotel, Ballybunion
·         Dingle Skellig Hotel, Dingle
·         Listowel Arms Hotel, Listowel

See last week's article on Leah's Cheddar here.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

The Woodford. Excellent Lunch.


The Woodford


Perhaps it is not overly surprising that we have many good black (and white) pudding makers in the region. The surprise is more in the robust resurgence of this old food of the poor and its emergence on the tables of the local restaurants, including the Woodford Pub  in Paul Street where I enjoyed a recent lunch.

Clonakilty black pudding salad - €11
Caramelised apples crispy potato skins, bacon, honey & mustard dressing
Clonakilty Black Pudding was the first to make a widespread breakthrough and I got a pleasing reminder of why in this salad. Here it combined very well with the segments of sweet apple atop each mini cylinder of the rich black pudding with a loose and crumbly texture, its full flavour tinged with salt.
The flavour of the bacon cubes was a lingering sweet ambush, so pleasantly potent on the palate and certainly a worthy addition to the salad. Not so long ago, patrons would have passed on this. Now, the pudding is back in foodie fashion.

Bluebell Falls goats cheese crostini -   €10
With beetroot relish, walnuts, tomato chilli jam & honey dressing 
The warmed Bluebell Falls Goat Cheese was served on crostini. Beetroot has become a standard companion of the chèvre and, shredded here, one could easily taste why. Tomatoes and sweet crunchy caramelised walnuts also played their part in making it a very satisfactory salad indeed.

These two salads were well put together, not just casual collections on the plates.

We were initially somewhat disappointed to see the Specials Boards make an appearance about six or seven minutes after we had ordered (and some 35 minutes after lunch serving time had commenced). But that was wiped out by the two splendid salads that we enjoyed before finishing off with some decent Illy coffee. The friendly staff were on the ball here and the service was excellent.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

KANTURK'S ROYAL BUTCHERS

MCCARTHY’S OF KANTURK
Jack (left) and Timmy

When Queen Elizabeth visited Ireland recently, McCarthy’s black pudding was served at the state banquet.  It was chosen because of the quality and flavour imparted by fresh blood from free range pigs, coarse Macroom Oatmeal, fresh cream and butter from North Cork Dairy and Midleton Special Reserve Whiskey.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

MAYO PUDDING HITS GOLD

French food group award gold medal to Kelly’s Butchers
Triumph for innovative black pudding shaped like a pint of stout

Kelly’s Butchers, Newport, Co. Mayo have just been awarded a gold medal from The Confrérie des Chevaliers du Goute-Boudin (The Black Pudding Fraternity of Lovers of Good Food). Kelly’s winning entry was a black pudding made in the shape of a pint of Irish stout. 

The Normandy based food group run a full scale black pudding (or boudin) festival each spring in Mortagne-au-Perche, France. Last September 23 members of the Fraternity came to Ireland and made Sean Kelly, Avril Allshire (Rosscarbery Foods) and Jack McCarthy (Kanturk) members of the Fraternity.

“I am genuinely thrilled with this gold medal for Kelly’s Black Pudding”, said Seán Kelly, the charismatic spokesman for the Kelly family, “I can’t wait to go over to the Boudin Noir Festival in France next week for the presentation and of course the Irish-themed gala dinner”.

During the visit of the Fraternity to Ireland last year Seamus Commons, award-winning Head Chef in Knockranny House Hotel, served them a show stopping Kelly’s Black Pudding themed menu. As a result of this, the French foodies decided on an Irish theme for this year’s festival and gala dinner. Chef Commons and his team are heading to France next week to produce the dinner for 350 using the best of Irish produce including Aberdeen Angus beef and Kelly’s Black Pudding of course. The support of Fáilte Ireland and Bord Bia has been invaluable in putting this together.

Kelly’s Butchers is an artisan butchers shop located in Newport, seven miles from Westport, Co. Mayo. Best known for black and white puddings and the traditional Putóg, the Kelly family have been instrumental in putting Mayo firmly on the foodie map. Kelly’s have earned a string of accolades for their puddings and sausages from Good Food Ireland, the Associated Craft Butchers of Ireland, the Great Taste Awards, Blás na hÉireann and Food & Wine Magazine. Kelly’s are proud members of Good Food Ireland and in the Bridgestone Good Food Guide.


Thursday, February 4, 2010

MORE BLACK PUDDING

Many thanks to Nora of Inch House for this recipe and picture

Inch House Traditional Black Pudding topped with Gortnamona Goats Cheese on a bed of Caramelised Onion with Poppy Seeds & Drizzled with a Mixed Berry Compote.


Ingredients:

1 slice of Gortnamona Goats Cheese

1 slice of Inch House Traditional Black Pudding

1 Onion

3 oz Water

3 oz Sugar

Poppy Seeds

Sprig of Parsley

Selection of Seasonal Berries Sweetened & Softened



Method:



*Place onions & sugar in a Pot & slowly sweat them off, turning occasionally until soft. Continue to cook until Golden Brown. Add Poppy Seeds.



*In a Separate Pot place berries & sugar over a gentle heat. Bring to the boil & cook for 3-5 minutes.



*Pan Fry 1 Slice of Inch House Traditional Black Pudding on a very hot pan for 2 minutes each side. Place a slice of Gortnamona Goats Cheese on top of the Pudding & gratinate under the grill until Golden Brown.



*Serve on a Bed of Caramelised onions and drizzle with the Berry Compote. Top it with a Sprig of Fresh Parsley.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Inch House in Thurles


INCH HOUSE TRADITIONAL BLACK PUDDING
Disappointed with the generally salty black pudding available? Why not try something traditional.
I had that in mind on a recent visit to the Nash 19 food shop and hit the jackpot with a cube of traditional pudding (€4.95) from Tipperary’s Inch House (in association with Crowe’s farm).
The pudding does contain salt but not that you’d notice along with pinhead oatmeal and pearl rice. It has a really pleasant construction, feels and more importantly tastes good and indeed converted at least one previous black pudding hater of my acquaintance.
It can of course form part of your traditional fry but my preferred plate, another old dish, is with good eggs (fried) and a well made mashed potato. Next on the agenda is the Trevor Thornton Chicken and Black pudding recipe available on the Bord Gas website http://www.bordgaisenergy.ie/publications/recipes/

Check out my review of Inch House - I am cork - on Qype