Say Hello to Ruby Kraut

Say Hello to Hayley’s Ruby Kraut

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Taste of the Week

Taste of the Week

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

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

Fresh from West Cork. In the heart of the city!

Fresh from West Cork

In the heart of the city!

A big welcome from Walter.

Have you visited the Fresh from West Cork stall in the English Market? With over thirty producers from the area participating (more joining all the time), it's like have a mini-farmers market every day in the heart of the city.

Walter Ryan-Purcell is the friendly face of the project and he'll guide you through the many tempting products on offer. You’ll be familiar with many of the names: Ummera Smoked Products, Milleens cheese, Durrus cheese, Irish Atlantic Sea Salt, Glenilen Butter, Milk and Clotted Cream!, Rosscarbery Recipes, Gubbeen...

You’ll almost certainly have heard of Sally Barnes and her Woodcock Smokery products but do you know of her gorgeous Salmon Butter? Or have you heard of the gluten free cakes  by Caroline Weese from the Oasis Bakery in Durrus?

Walter is very proud (but you have to drag it out of him!) of the products coming from Loughbeg Farm, run by himself and his wife. Watch out in particular for their Yellow Zucchini Relish and the Courgette and Ginger Jam. There are other breads, brown (with oats) and currant, and a marvellous Tea Brack, there as well.

No shortage of vegetables either with fresh stuff coming in regularly from Peter Ross in Drimoleague and Kathleen Hilliard in Goleen. And meat? Try Madeleine McKeever’s organic beef and the gluten free sausages by Rosscarbery. And fabulous pies (you must try the beef and potato) from West Cork Pies in Schull.

Don't stop now. Keep filling that bag. Try the marvellous organic apple juice by Lisheen Organics, the red cabbage Sauerkraut from Hayley Milthrope of the Cultured Food Company, Mr Pettersen’s Raspberry Extra (a perfect present for the gourmet in your life), the hand made cakes (love the brownies) by Yummy Tummy from Schull, and the Mung Bean Burgers by April Danann of Skibbereen.

And still you have more to choose from like Goat’s cheese, milk and yogurt from Orchard Cottage, McCarthy’s yogurts and more, Union Hall kippers, Mella’s Fudge, various dressings from Glebe Gardens, Clonakilty Chocolate, jams from Hillcrest, marmalade by Casey’s of Baltimore……….

It is a small stall but there is a something of a revolution going on here, a surging tide of top class foods, available six days a week. Fresh from West Cork is new to the market and the stall should soon be improved with better shelving and layout.

Delicious Tea Brack

The enthusiastic Walter also told me about some other new developments. They expect to have a website up and running soon and one of the items you'll be able to order online will be their BoscAbhaile. You may fill this box from the market products; packaging and delivery to any part of the 32 counties will cost ten euro. 

And the good news doesn't stop there. A new base is being prepared in Ballydehob, in the heart of the west, and here producers will be able to share facilities, advice and experiences, and you can be sure even more products will be flowing from the west to the stall in the market. Watch that space!


List of suppliers (more to come!)

1.Loughbeg Farm Foods Limited, Schull, Co. Cork, Josephine Ryan-Purcell (Goats milk, goats milk soft cheese, soft cream cheese with herbs, goats milk yogurt, strawberry, raspberry, chocolate, vanilla and banana goats milk ice cream, fresh herbs, chillies, dried herbs, tomato chutney, apple chutney, cucumber pickle, courgette & ginger jam, and vegetable soups).

2. Rossbrin Foods, Ballydehob (vegetables including melons, butternut squash, peppers, broad beans, french beans, runner beans, rainbow and Swiss chard, peas, carrots, nero di tuscana kale, red Russian kale, curly kale, asparagus kale, potatoes, beetroot, turnips, celery, asparagus, watercress, fresh salads, herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, Romanesque, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, courgettes, and fruit)

3. John Pettersen, Goleen (Raspberry Vinaigrette, Raspberry Extra, and mustards);

4. West Cork Cheeses. Gubbeen, Milleens, Durrus, Ardagh Castle goats cheese. Also Gubbeen cheese biscuits.

5. Smoked salmon, duck, game and chicken, and salmon butter and pates from Sally Barnes, Woodcock Smokery, Castletownshend, Ummera Salmon, Timoleague, Union Hall Smoked Fish Company, and more fish products from Clonakilty Cuisine, and John Kearney, Fastnet Catch, Skibbereen.

6. Salamis, pepperoni, bacon, and Chorizo, from Gubbeen Smokehouse, Schull;

7. Strawberries from Busby’s, Rosscarbery.

8. Mella's Fudge, Lissavaird;

9. Oat Bread and Fruit loaf from June Kingston, Skibbereen.

10. Home produced biscuits and some bakery products (including tea brack, apple tarts, quiches, and almond cake): Caroline Weese ‘Oasis Baking’, Durrus, Patricia Love, Knockeen, Skibbereen, Eithne McCarthy, Skibbereen.

11. Crepe Francais, crepes and buckwheat gallettes;

12. Jams, chutneys, and apple jelly, Jean Perry, Glebe Gardens, Baltimore.

13. Apple Cider Vinegar and spelt bread, Gary and Eleanor Murphy, Ballydehob;

14. Irish Atlantic Sea Salt, Cahermore, Beara Peninsula;

15. Hayley Milthorpe, The Cultured Food Company, Skibbereen, Fermented food products;

16. Hillcrest Jams, Drimoleague;

17. Breads: The Baking Emporium, Dunmanway, and another small baker in Ballineen.

18. Waterbuffalo and free range meat products: Beara Pigs: Leo and Erin O’Shea.

19. Tim York, Lisheen Organics – asparagus and tomatoes (in season) and a good range of organic vegetables. Apple Juice;

20. Honey: Knockeen Honey, Noel Love, Knockeen, Skibbereen.

21. Pork Pies, Steak and Kidney Pies, Scotch Eggs, West Cork Pies, Schull.

22. Thornhills Organics, Skibbereen, organic vegetables – mainly bags of fresh salads.

23. Yogurt, cheesecake, farmhouse butter, lemonade, Glen Ilen Food Products, Drimoleague.

24. Frozen organic beef, Madeline McKeever, Church Cross (very limited supply).

25. Free Range Chicken, David Louks, Shehymore Poultry, Dunmanway (very limited supply).

26. Rosscarbery Recipes. Rashers, sausages, black and white puddings.

27. ‘Gnosh’, Richard Gostyn, Goleen, hummus, salads, coleslaw, potato salad, tomato salsa, beet salsa.

28. West Cork Garlic Company;

29. Roaringwater Bay Seaweed products – sausages, puddings;

30 Yummy Tummy Cakes, Róisín McCarthy, Schull;

31. Barry and Joseph Desmond – goats milk, yogurt and cheese;

32. Rebel Foods, April Danann, Leap, Co. Cork. Apple butter, elderberry juice, nettle juice (in season), herbal teas, and sugar free baking;

33. Casey’s Hotel, Baltimore – jams and marmalade;
34 Vegetables from Peter Ross in Drimoleague and Kathleen Hilliard in Goleen