Schull Country Market. Cornucopia in a Car Park

Schull Country Market

Cornucopia in a Car Park

Dave from Shehymore Free Range Farm

Sunday morning and the car park near the pier in Schull in transformed into a cornucopia, a profusion of good things to eat and drink from the locality. And not just food as there are also stalls that feature high quality crafts, also from the local  area. The Schull Country Market, one of the first markets in the country to be approved under the new Bord Bia ‘Good Practice Standard’, is well worth a visit as I discovered last Sunday after a ninety minute drive from the city.

While I had met some of the stallholders before, including Gubbeen and West Cork Pies, Loughbeg's Walter Ryan-Purcell, who runs the Fresh from West Cork stall in the city's English Market, made sure I knew most of the others before I left.

Modest Walter introduced me to his wife Josephine (together they run Loughbeg Farm)  and son Jack. You can get their gorgeous chutneys here and in the English Market and we were lucky on Sunday to get a taste of some products that they’ll have on the market soon.

Watch out in particular for their Goats Milk Ice-creams. They have a range of flavours, including a beautiful banana one. These are highly recommended. Another likely hit is their Num Num range, for juniors over 12 months. Not sure I’m qualified (well, I suppose I am over 12 months) but I got a couple of samples to taste. These are the Ratatouille with Steline Pasta and the Three Cheese Macaroni; these are gluten free with no added salt or sugar. Tried both and they are full of flavour. Lucky juniors!

Enjoyed a chat too with Willie McCarthy who now sells fish rather than catching it. His fish is fresh! His man does no more than two casts at a time and then makes for the shore and Willie. McCarthy also has a stall in Togher (Clashduv Road) and it is is proving a popular draw every Thursday morning.

Local grower Tim York produces a variety of chemical-free summer vegetables - specialising in tomatoes, French beans and mixed leaves and asparagus - with other fresh vegetables in season. On Sunday his Lisheen Organics stall was full of veg, including in season asparagus. That was irresistible but the first of his vegetables that we tried was a super fresh bag of Pak Choi that went very well indeed with a piece of smoked bacon from Fingal Ferguson of Gubbeen.

As you probably know, Fingal and his family produce delicious smoked meats, cheeses, salami, sausage, pork and burgers from their own farm and smokehouse near Schull. Like us all they were enjoying the sunshine on Sunday and all are looking forward to a great weekend at the Ballymaloe LitFest. By the way, we had a little of the bacon left over on the Monday and CL put it to good use in an omelette, a great way of further enjoying the flavour and texture.

Fingal introduced me to a new product made in Skibbereen by Scratch my Pork. The main ingredient is Irish Pork Pig Rind and it comes in various flavours, including Smokey Bacon, Mexican and Cajun. Crispy and very tasty stuff indeed!

I have sung the praises of West Cork Pies on this blog before. They are very good indeed and they don't stand still, new flavours coming onstream all the time. And they are having some fun with the names. On Sunday, I bought one called The Dragon Pie (chilli included!). It was hot for sure. And of a very high quality, like all their previous pies I’ve tasted. The ethos of the company is excellent as you can see from the photo.

Had a talk too with Dave Loukes of Shehymore Free Range Farm selling his poultry and eggs. He had some tempting whole chickens for sale but we bought a couple of breasts. At present Shehymore are selling just the chickens and eggs but coming soon are Free Range Pork and Young Beef and they’ll also be doing Marinated Chicken Fillets.

Frank Krawczyk is well known in West Cork and beyond for the quality of his charcuterie and we were looking forward to having one of his high quality sandwiches at the end of our turn around the stalls. But we left it a little late and Frank had run out of bread. Still he cooked up some of his flavoursome sausages and served us lunch in a bowl. We thoroughly enjoyed the meat and the salad, complete with flowers and sauce. A superb lunch. Well a superb main course, as a tub of Walter’s brilliant banana ice-cream served as a delicious dessert!

Bought lots of other bits and pieces including honey, brown bread and Wild Garlic Pesto. Would have liked a crepe from Lillian but Frank and Walter had filled us but we did enjoy a quality coffee from Shane who uses coffee from Badger and Dodo and who we met a few weeks back in Bantry.

Great to meet Shiona James as we were very impressed with the work of husband Nigel James. He  creates beautiful and functional vases, jugs, dishes and bowls, finished in his own attractive glazes. All items are hand-thrown, from stoneware and porcelain clays and are intended for everyday use, being safe for oven and dishwashers.

Not all the regular crafts people were there on Sunday but there was some excellent wood products from Gary (he works mainly with bog oak, also does small “wish sticks” called Unicorn Wands!) and by Malcolm (who works with all kinds of wood).

Peppermint Farm is a busy place but Doris Hoffman was concentrating on her herbs and herb teas at Schull on Sunday. She has quite a selection, all made in West Cork. I came away with a bag of her relaxing tea. Just had a cuppa there a few minutes ago….zzzzzzzzz

Glorious Foods

Glorious Foods

Wildberry's Raspberry Cheesecake. Good from any angle!

There was a lot of oohing and aahing going on in the English Market last week, especially inside the Fresh from West Cork stall. And the happy sounds soon spread as Water Ryan-Purcell, the man in charge of the stall, handed out samples.

It was a tough morning as I tasted cake after cake. They were made in the main by Wildberry Bakery and by Caroline Weese ; they were all of a very high standard,  absolutely gorgeous and, believe it or not, gluten free (gf).

Orange Polenta (left) and Chocolate and Almond

I sampled three cakes from Ballineen based Wildberry, one better than the other, though perhaps the Cheese Cake is my favourite..

(1) Choc and Almond:

chocolate , Bandon butter,ground almonds,sugar, free range eggs, vanilla seeds and essence.

(2) Orange polenta:

Bandon butter, sugar, ground almonds, polenta, free range eggs, lemons,oranges,G/F baking powder,cloves , cinnamon quills, walnuts and toasted almonds,ginger.

(3) Baked raspberry cheesecake:

cream cheese, sugar, free range eggs,raspberries,ground almonds,rice flour,icing sugar,cornflour, vanilla essence and seeds.

Three from Caroline (from left): Lemon, Chocolate and Coffee

Caroline Weese is another busy West Cork baker and we started off with her magnificent Carrot Cake. The Lemon Drizzle is also brilliant, full of the citrussy flavours but so well balanced. The Coffee Cake looks and tastes divine and that Chocolate cake is so gorgeous, so lusciously moist. A big lip smacking yum all around for Caroline. These are all gluten free but you just wouldn't know it. Go in and treat yourself. You'll get a large slice for just two euro!

Oh, she also makes a Gogi Bar, very concentrated and packed with textures and flavours. Ingredients include the Gogi Berries, dates, cocoa nibs, almonds, cinnamon and green tea. A recent Dutch visitor to the stall sampled one and bought the whole stock. But don't worry, it has since been replenished!

Not just cakes!

Most of us know someone who is on the lookout for Gluten Free food. I certainly do and I'll be tipping him off about the selection of fantastic cakes here. But I’ll also be passing on more information about other gluten free products at this packed stall including Clonakilty Chocolates, the Gubbeen salamis, Rosscarbery GF Sausages and the three Sauerkrauts from the Cultured Food Company (Juniper Berry, Ruby Red along with Carrot and Fennel).

Bradley's Have The Country Covered

Bradley's Have Your Food and Drink

Michael has the country covered

Amazed at the selection of Irish foods now available in Bradley’s, North Main Street, Cork. The customers are obviously enjoying it all and so too is Michael Creedon, a Bradley himself. It is turning out to be quite an adventure and Michael loves meeting the small producers and seeing what they have to offer. New ones are being added all the time; Wilkie’s Chocolates and the Amodeo Salad Dressing are among the latest arrivals.

From the south

Bradley’s started out as a dairy in 1850 but, in more recent years, became well known as one of the best drinks specialists in Cork. Wine or Whiskey, Vodka or Gin, Bradleys was and is yer only man. Then along came the craft beer revolution and the small producers soon found they had a friend in Michael and his collection of beers just grew and grew. Now they all talk about the famous “wall of beer”.

And just as Michael extended a friendly hand to the local brewers, he was at the same time doing the very same with regard to food producers. “The small producers have time to talk, take the trouble to ring back. The contacts are personal and encouraging.” And the result is that he is well on his way to covering the whole country. And remember, you can shop online.

The eastern bloc!

I picked, more or less at random, a few baskets during a recent visit. These photos represent only a small part of the offering of beers and foods (and, by the way, are not meant to be matching suggestions!).

In the South selection, you’ll see bigger names such as Gubbeen and Atlantic Sea Salt along with that new Amodeo dressing. Mella’s Fudge is a personal favourite as is that fabulous Lisanley Honey from East Cork. Seymour’s Biscuits, Cookies of Character and Ballybrado’s Crisp Breads are all recommended. And for drinks, you're spoiled for choice and we had room for very few in the shot.

West by North West

Let’s now have a look at that packed basket from the East. Not much room for beer but we did squeeze in a couple from the packed shelves. Second Nature's Rapeseed OIl and the versatile and delicious Highbank Orchard Syrup are prominent and then you've got the tasty products of Big Red Kitchen, Dalkey Mustard and Just Delicious. Goodness from the grain by Ballybrado and Ballyminane and, after all that, you might like a cuppa from Niks Teas or maybe one of the beers!

No shortage of beers in the North West selection with an explosion of brewers in Galway, Roscommon and Donegal. The Foods of Athenry are well represented with their granolas and crackers and no shortage of seaweed products by Carraig Fhada. And, of course, that well known Donegal Rapeseed oil.

Quite a selection, I’m sure you'll agree. But there is much more in the shop, so do drop in and have a look.

Thirsty now after all that but what beer will I have? Such a choice!

Dinner From Just One Stall. Market Meal #7

One Stall Dinner

Market Meal #7

This is the latest in a series of Market Meals. The difference here is that the meal comes from just one stall and that is the relatively new Fresh from West Cork initiative in the English Market, just opposite the renowned Chicken Inn.

And another difference is that I’ve had a  bit of fun matching the four courses to beers. Since four beers is hardly enough for a growing boy, I’ve done it twice. Match One is with Cork beers while Match Two is with Porterhouse Beers.

Thanks to the ever patient Michael Creedon of Bradley's Off Licence for his knowledgeable help with selecting the beers but the final pick was mine! Don't want you  going into North Main Street and blaming Michael if your local favourite is not on the list.

Back now to Fresh from West Cork. Walter Ryan-Purcell is the face behind this “cooperative” effort from the west and close to forty producers are represented so it wasn't that difficult to get enough for a four course dinner. Indeed there were many options.

It just illustrates that you can do all your food shopping in the English Market. Maybe not all at Fresh from West Cork - they don't do fresh fish, for example - but you’ll be spoilt for choice if you wander around the wider market

Starter: Union Hall Smoked Salmon with Lemon Labneh by McCarthy’s Natural Dairies.

Cork Beer: Green Bullet Ale (Mountain Man).

Porterhouse: Hersbrucker Pilsner.

The smoked salmon, served with a little salad, was quite rich and the creamy Labneh added to the texture. Might have been better served on a Ryvita cracker or similar. Both beers worked well though in different ways. The Ale added more flavour while the Pilsner, not lacking in flavour, provided a nice cutting edge, a contrast against all the creaminess. One up to the Porterhouse team!

Mains: Gubben Traditional Dry Cured Smoked Bacon with vegetables from Peter Ross.

Cork Beer: Blacks Black IPA (Blacks, Kinsale).

Porterhouse: An Brain Blásta Strong Ale.

The Gubbeen bacon, smoked and lightly peppered, was sensational, the star of the night. With its fantastic texture and flavour, it was out on its own. The beers were both good matches; the Black perhaps best taken with bacon on the palate, the PH between bites! An Brain Blásta (even at 7%abv) doesn't mean brain blaster. It is Irish for The Tasty Drop.

Cheese: Loughbeg Farm hard Goat Cheese with Yellow Zucchini Relish also by Loughbeg.

Cork Beer: Friar Weisse (Franciscan Well).

Porterhouse: Red Ale.

The gorgeous crumbly cheese didn't seem to be getting on too well with the spiced up relish. Until the Friar Weisse was introduced. The local wheat beer transformed the potential discord into a very edible treat. A terrific match. Porterhouse don't make a wheat beer and through no fault of its own their Red Ale couldn't quite replicate the feat of the Friar here. Still, it was a nice way to pass the longish interval to dessert. That makes it 1.5 each for the beer teams.

Dessert: Yummy Tummy’s Brownies with Glenilen Clotted Cream.

Cork Beer: Knockmedown Porter (Eight Degrees).

Porterhouse: Oyster Stout.

Let me get this straight. Yummy Tummy’s Brownies are ace. Glenilen Clotted Cream is ace. You're on a winner. Now, add Knockmedown Porter (Eight Degrees) and you have a jackpot combination! Irresistible! That gave the edge to the Cork beer team, 2.5 to 1.5. The Oyster Stout, a gem in its own right, didn't have quite the same impact in the sweet finale to a smashing West Cork dinner.

Hats off to Jacques!

Hats off to Jacques!

Hats off to Jacques.  Thirty three years on and the renowned Cork City restaurant, the oldest in town, is still setting the pace.

The Barry sisters, Eithne and Jacque, who started it all off, could be forgiven for sitting back and taking it easy. Not a bit of it. The award winning establishment, now with a small plates/tapas area recently added, continues to surprise.

“Every seven years!” said Eithne when we were in the other night. Every night really. I had started to look around for specials when I realised that the menu is really all specials. “We had a different menu last night. Depends on the market.” Now that takes some commitment.

Pigeon. Perfect!

And the commitment is extended to local producers, most of them named on the back of the menu. Some are well known, such as Breslin Butchers in the English Market, Gubbeen cured meats and Kanturk’s Jack McCarthy. Some are so well known, only the first names are used e.g. cheesemakers Giana and Jane. And the fish? “Well,” they say, “just look at the size of the Cork coast”.

And the sisters are delighted too to support the craft beer revolution which is quite strong locally with new breweries popping up all over the county. My choice in Jacques was the Kinsale Pale Ale, in its new and larger (50cl) bottle. One of the best ales I've come across (and I was in to Bradley’s the following day for more).

Now, for the food. Let’s take a look at the starters: Soup of the Day - Fresh Mussels with Chorizo Tomato and Garlic -  Crab and Apple salad - Salad of Blue Cheese and poached pear - Smoked Ummera Chicken.

The stunning KPA!

All tempting but I went for the Lambs Kidneys Dijon, with mustard, gherkins, apple and cream. The super sauce was one of the elements that made this a great success. And CL was blissfully happy with her flavour packed plate of Pigeon breast, white onion and thyme and Jack McCarthy’s Black Pudding.

We stayed on the game as we choose our mains. Mine was the Haunch of Venison on celeriac puree with some handsome robust kale, confit of shallot and red wine jus. A simply spectacular combination. so well executed.

And similar sentiments at the other side of the table as CL made her merry way through the Roast Pheasant, wrapped in pancetta, confit leg in potato cake, red cabbage and bread sauce.

A terrific choice too of main courses. Also on the list were: Scallops - Fresh Organic Sea Trout (with Goatsbridge Caviar) - Slow Braised beef short ribs - rib eye steaks - and a 7 vegetable Tagine.

Plum & Crumble

Seven temptations too in the dessert menu but, running out of space, we picked one to share and it was the gorgeous Plum and Walnut Crumble, well cooked and presented, underlining the immaculate attention to detail that prevails in this pleasant place. Here's to the next thirty three!

Tel : +353 (0)21 4277387        Email : jacquesrestaurant@eircom.net       Address : 23 Oliver Plunkett St, Cork

Jacques Restaurant is located at the heart of Cork City near the G.P.O. and is open Monday 10am - 4pm and Tuesday - Saturday 10am - 10pm. Lunch from 12pm - 4pm, side plates and tapas from 5pm to 10pm and the evening dinner menu is available between 6pm and 10pm.

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!