Taste of the Week. West Cork Food Company Pizza Sauce.

Taste of the Week.

West Cork Food Company Pizza Sauce.

Did a bit of a supermarket blitz on a recent morning, on the hunt for semi-sundried tomatoes but not a packet nor a jar to be had in the local SuperValu or Aldi. But what I did spot (in Aldi) was this jar of West Cork Food Company Pizza Sauce and that turned out to be a winner later that evening. No bother in nominating this as Taste of the Week.

We used it on a pizza made on the Gozney, using the Gozney dough recipe, adding this sauce, some of Johnny Lynch's Macroom Mozzarella, olives (Kalamata from Olives West Cork via Neighbourfood), a few dabs of the Ballyhoura Mushrooms Garlic Scapes Pesto along with (instead of the sundried version) some tomatoes to which we had added oregano and a few drops of Balsamic vinegar. One of best yet and that sauce was key!

They say: At the West Cork Food Company we believe that what makes our food unique is the people and land the produce it. Our classic pizza sauce is made of tomatoes with a pinch of herbs and a hint of onion, that's it! Enjoy on your favourite pizza or add to pasta to create an authentic Italian Neapolitan dish.

Can't find any internet presence for West Cork Food Company, aside from one post (a blank map of West Cork on Instagram).

The address on the jar is:

Unit 15 Údarás Industrial Estate

Ballymakeera, Macroom, Co. Cork.

Taste of the Week. On The Double. Ballyhoura Mountain Mushrooms: Garlic Scape Pesto & Wild Irish Samphire

Taste of the Week.

Samphire

Ballyhoura Mountain Mushrooms' Garlic Scape Pesto

Ballyhoura Mountain Mushrooms' Irish Marsh Samphire

Always worth taking a punt on Ballyhoura Mountain Mushrooms, even when it's not a mushroom on offer. These two terrific recent examples are very highly recommended indeed.

First up is their seasonal Garlic Scape Pesto produced with "Ireland's finest garlic scapes" that they source from @westcorkgarlic. The scape is the long flower stem from bulb garlic. We bought a little jar through Neighbourfood and the flavour packed in there is amazing, really gets those taste buds up and running. We tried it in a ham and salad sandwich on the local Arbutus sourdough. Leaves and onions from the garden, the ham from Supervalu's signature range plus this superb pesto.

Garlic scapes. WikimediaImages via Pixabay 

Look out for the pesto on your local Neighbourfood or at markets where Ballyhoura trade such as the Milk Market and Mahon Point. They are very happy with it themselves: "a Garlic Pesto more akin to a tapenade made with Ireland's Finest Garlic Scapes".

The Irish Marsh Samphire is another seasonal gem - no air miles attached - and again I bought a box of it via Neighbourfood. Ballyhoura say: Delicious salty and succulent seasonal Wild Irish Samphire aka sea asparagus. Delicious with any fish dish, mushrooms, potatoes, or simply sautéed in butter."

Tried it with a nice piece of salmon and new potatoes, butter and not a whole pile more. Superb. There's certainly a salty tang from it but there is something clean and fresh about it, not as sharp as your normal salt. Another local product well worth a try!

Ballyhoura Mountain Mushrooms

Taste of the Week. Black Castle Irish Craft Soda

Taste of the Week

Black Castle Irish Craft Soda

During last week's trip to Clare, I picked up a bottle of this delicious dry and refreshing Irish soda in Hugo's in Lahinch (around the corner from the beach carpark). Just polished it off there now and the jury here makes it our current Taste of the Week.

Hand-made in Wicklow, it is a well balanced fruity melange of Blackberries and Stinging Nettles. A really excellent soft drink. Recommended best serve is over ice and with a slice of lemon.

Can't tell you how much my 330ml bottle costs. I bought a bunch of stuff and didn't pick up the receipt. They also do a Ginger Beer version. They are stocked pretty widely including in SuperValu, Ardkeen QFS, JJ O'Driscoll's Cork, Baggot Street Wines and 64 Wines. Full list here.

Black Castle Drinks

A refreshing mix of fragrant Blackberries and stinging Nettle using Demerara sugar to create a fruity and sophisticated sparkling soft drink that'll bring you back to early autumn walks down country lanes. 

• Hand-made in Co. Wicklow

• Non-Alcoholic

• Allergen Free

Best served over ice with a slice of lemon!

Taste of the Week Malay Kitchen Spring Rolls

Taste of the Week

Malay Kitchen Spring Rolls

While on holidays in the Loire a few years back, I regularly bought Spring Rolls (wrapped in rice paper) from a Vietnamese stall in the twice weekly market in Chinon. They were large, delicious and amazing value. Never seen the likes of them here.

Malay Kitchen are new suppliers to Neighbourfood in the city and my attention was immediately on full alert when I spotted "Summer Rolls (Vietnamese-inspired)".

This is their description: Malay Kitchen Summer Rolls (Vietnamese-inspired)- a salad packed into an edible container. If you are not familiar with these little delicacies-then, you’ve got a treat! They’re just about the freshest thing we can imagine: a jumble of crunchy raw vegetables, soft, aromatic herbs, cool, squidgy rice noodle, all stuffed snugly into a featherlight rice wrapper.  Serve with homemade mild, sweet, sour and tangy dipping sauce-a hints of garlic, lime juice, sprinkle of crushed chillies and splash of sesame oil/seeds. This rolls are a refreshing and healthy change from usual fried variety, great as a cool summertime appetizer. The slightly bland, crunchy rolls are balanced with this punchy dipping sauce!"

A very fair description indeed and they are our current Taste of the Week. Malay Kitchen was founded in Cork in 2014 by Elle and Norza, with their first little restaurant in Kinsale and branching out in Cork City few months after.

"Food is a huge part in Malaysian culture and both of us have channelled this and our professional expertise as chefs into Malay Kitchen brand. Both of us are professional and qualified chefs, been working in Ireland since 2002 before venturing into business."

They have quite a range of products and you may see more on Neighbourfood.

Taste of the Week. Ballymaloe Cider.

Taste of the Week. 

Ballymaloe Cider.
 

Ballymaloe Cider 2020, 5.2%, available at Ballymaloe

Did you know that cider is made in Ballymaloe? It's a beauty, delicious and refreshing with unique flavours,  and our Taste of the Week.  I got mine recently at the Saturday afternoon pop-up wine shop at the Grainstore in Ballymaloe; opens at 2.00pm. Lots of wine of course and also the Ballymaloe Garden Gin.

They make the cider with apples grown on the farm, including Dabinett, Crimson Bromley, Santana, Topas, Delles Bell and Dellinquo. Other old varieties are grown across the farm, in the walled garden, and beside the aptly named Orchard Cottage. This is an unusual blend of apples that gives the cider its rich and refreshing flavour.

Taste of the Week. A Local Salad, Boy

Taste of the Week.

A Local Salad, Boy

The sun may not be as constant as we would like, but these are certainly salad days. And it so easy to put a good one together, just like this very local combination, our Taste of the Week.

The main player here is perhaps the Ardsallagh Goats Cheese, a renowned East Cork product that is readily available. Also in there is a terrific Spiced Apple and Carrot Chutney from On The Pig's Back. And those tasty little red salad onions come from Kilbrack Farm in North Cork. The leaves and radishes from the back garden!

As you know, I'm a big fan of Neighbourfood and virtually everything (cheese, onions, chutney, tomatoes) above came through my delivery so that made it even easier for me! 

Enjoy and continue to support local.

Taste of the Week. On The Pig's Back Couscous Salad

Taste of the Week

On The Pig's Back Couscous Salad

Couscous has become very well-known here over the past few decades. You can use it as an accompaniment to meat dishes. Tagine is a regular example.Or you may enjoy it as a standalone salad.

Either way, you'll find it hard to top the fresh and spicy Couscous salad with carrots, peppers, raisins and almonds, and Moroccan spices that On The Pig's Back produce. It is our current Taste of the Week.

We ordered it (€5.50) via Neighbourfood and paired it with those very tasty Skeaghanore duck confit legs (widely available, including via Neighbourfood). A superb result!

On The Pig's Back

Neighbourfood

Taste of the Week. Golden Bean's Capim Branco

Taste of the Week.

Golden Bean's Capim Branco

Lots of new coffee roasters on the block these days but our current Taste of the Week comes from one of the longest standing, the Golden Bean who are based at Ballymaloe.

Bought a bag of the beans from Bradleys (North Main Street) last week and was immediately struck by the excellent quality of this relatively sweet and fruity Brazilian variety Yellow Catuai (not that I know much at all about the different varieties). 

But I can rely on the judgement of Golden Bean owner/roaster Marc Kingston whose "goal has always been to source, roast and supply the most ethically produced beans from around the world". Well worth a try!

Pic via Golden Bean.

For the Geek!

Varietal: 100% Yellow Catuai

Processing: Natural and dried on Patios

Owner: Andrade Brothers (Ismael & Eduardo Andrade)

Altitude: 1,100 metres above sea level

Town / City: Carmo do Paranaiba

Region: Cerrado Mineiro

Taste of the Week. The Big Cork Salad with Jack McCarthy, ORSO, Olives West Cork, Purple Squirrel, On the Pig's Back, Neighbourfood.

Taste of the Week. 

The Big Cork Salad.

Salad with Jack McCarthy, ORSO, Olives West Cork, Purple Squirrel, On the Pig's Back, Neighbourfood.

How many hands does it take to make a lively tasty salad at the start of spring. Quite a few as it turned out last weekend. But it turned out very well indeed. Quite a Taste of the Week!

The leaves, a lovely mix, came from Purple Squirrel Farm. There was Sweet Pickled Onion from ORSO, adding a delicious kick. From Olives West Cork came Freshly Marinated Koroneiki Olives (big plump and superb) and Semi Sundried Tomatoes (big juicy Sicilians that had to be cut down to size with a scissors). 

The main star of the dish was Jack McCarthy's Pastrami (left), all the way from Kanturk, and supplied to Neighbourfood via On the Pig's Back. Indeed all the ingredients came via Neighbourfood, illustrating once again how this organisation is helping small producers and at the same time giving customers the chance to taste the very best around.

Taste of the Week. Irish Pie's Smoked Bacon and Colcannon Pie

Taste of the Week 

Irish Pies Smoked Bacon and Colcannon Pie

 

Up to a few weeks back, I'd never heard of the company called Irish Pies. But then they, like many more excellent producers, popped up on the NeighbourFood offerings. I ordered the Smoked Bacon and Colcannon Pie.

They described it as "A delicious creamy pie filled with smoked bacon, cabbage, leeks and cheddar cheese". Quite an accurate account as it turned out and we enjoyed our new Taste of the Week no end. Every last bite, including those delicious bacon chunks, vanished. Now I need to look up the other choices which include Chicken & Mushroom Pie, Beef & Stout Pie and Vegetable Pie. Each, aside from Veggie (7.00), costs eight euro. Well worth it!

Irish pies are a Cork based food company. "We dedicate ourselves to producing artisan savoury pies for food markets in the Munster area. Our focus is on Irish cookery and we use recipes that date back generations to produce a home cooked pie just like mammy would make. All our pies can be frozen. This is a large meal for one person and very satisfying! Our ingredients are kept local, just like our pies."

As always, I'm very happy to support local!

Irish Pies

Cork

Tel: 0899532807

Taste of the Week. Ballylisk "The Triple Rose"

Taste of the Week

Ballylisk "The Triple Rose"

I came across this Ballylisk Triple Rose cheese, more or less by accident. It was part of a Christmas Feast pack that I bought Click & Collect from The Glass Curtain, an exciting top notch restaurant less than 5km away from me. There was also a big chunk of aged Ballinrostig Gouda. Quite a double.

This single herd, bloomy rind cheese is outstanding. Triple Rose is a triple cream brie (hence the name) which means that additional cream is added to the milk. Our Taste of the Week is full of flavour, highlighted by a tangy citrus-y note that make those taste buds sit up and take notice. There is also a Smoked version of the Triple Rose but I haven't tried that yet.

It won 2 stars at the Great Taste Awards in 2019 and Silver at the Blas na hEireann Irish Foods Awards in 2018. It's also got the thumbs up from two very good judges indeed, Brian owner/chef of the Glass Curtain and Johnny of Indie Fude (great food-store) in Comber and Belfast.

Ballylisk say: Ballylisk cheese is part of a food chain which begins and ends in Ballylisk. The grass is eaten by the cows. Their milk makes the cheese. There is much more we are going to do with that milk and its by–products.

Ballylisk of Armagh 

Taste of the Week. Stone Valley Coffee

 Taste of the Week

 Stone Valley Coffee

You get music notes with your coffee notes when you buy from Stone Valley Coffee Roasters. 

I've a preference for Central and South American coffees so when I saw the selection at their stall in Mahon Farmers Market, I bought a pack of their "Some Day You'll Return", the name of their coffee from Peru, the pack illustrated with a guitar, the well-known (?) 1937 14-fret National Style "O" Resonator. 

Well, I might be able to tell one end of a guitar from another - just! So that pic didn't impress me much but the coffee, with notes of Caramel, Orange and Castillo certainly did and it quickly became our Taste of the Week.

Stone Valley have a shop in Clonakilty so you can get your fix there. They'll talk to you about music and coffee - anything it seems except decaf! By the way, I didn't remember (or maybe never knew) that Some Day You'll Return is a Dire Straits tune.

Don't know either who did One Last Drag or if it was even a song but hey do have a whole choir mentioned on the pack. The coffee though is as they say "something special" with all the "classic Ethiopian flavours but without too much of the floral notes" (which suits me very well indeed). This would do equally well as Taste of the Week.

So just take your pick! And do check out their full range  - they (John and Tom) have even snuck in a decaf! They also do wholesale and a subscription service.

They say: We roast small batches of high quality single origin coffees in our micro-roastery in West Cork. We focus on sourcing the highest quality beans and through every step of the process we focus on flavour, traceability and sustainability.

Stone Valley Roasters

35 Ashe St, Clonakilty

Co. Cork P85 N286

info@stonevalleyroasters

Taste of the Week. Woodside Farm Pork

 Taste of the Week. 

Woodside Farm Pork

We've missed out on the Farmers Markets over the past few months before a quick visit to the one at Mahon Point (Cork) recently.

A few days later, at the weekend, we realised what we had been missing when the slow-cooked pork shoulder landed on the table. The pork, raised free-range by Woodside Farm in East Cork, is incomparable. Packed with amazing flavour, juicy and tender, it is Taste of the Week.

The Woodside pigs live outdoors all of their lives where they root and forage. They sleep in movable arks on straw bedding."We don't feed our pigs commercial ration, instead they are fed mainly rolled wheat and we also grow Kale and Swede Turnip.They are rotated onto fresh pasture regularly."

Woodside Farm

Oldcourt

Ballincurrig

Leamlara

Co. Cork

Taste of the Week. Spiced Apple & Carrot Chutney by On The Pig's Back

Taste of the Week

Spiced Apple & Carrot Chutney

by On The Pig's Back

The quality of the produce available from On The Pig's Back - Cheese, Meat, Deli, Pantry, Wine - is consistently good. Always worth a gamble, though in truth, it is never a risk. This is underlined with their Spiced Apple and Carrot Chutney, our current Taste of the Week.

We got it in one of our Neighbourfood orders and soon found it does what it says on the tin, and so much more.  Over a couple of lunches we paired it with local cheeses and it enhanced them each time. Shouldn't be surprised really as everything that we've tasted from their kitchen, has always been premier class. So there you are, another one for your shopping list.

On The Pig's Back

Unit 26, St Patrick's Mill Douglas, Cork, T12 E952

Tel: 021 4617832

Andd, of course, you'll also find them in the English Market.

Taste of the Week. Sage in a Pot

Taste of the Week. 

Sage in a Pot. Pork Pot.

Midleton chef Kevin Aherne has been one of those restaurant owners doing a bit of pivoting recently! With his popular Sage closed, he has been selling his skills in different ways via pots, pies and sides. These are now available on Neighbourfood and in many stores - keep an eye on their Facebook page for updates.

I found a selection in Bradley's recently and the superb Pork Pot is our Taste of the Week. Bascially, this is slow-cooked pork, stroganoff style with Lemon and Sage. The addition of the lemon and sage is genius, enhances the pork no end without in anyway overwhelming it. The pots cost €7.50 each and for that we got a delicious main course for two. Well, we did add rice!

Looking forward now to my second pick, the Vegan Pot (red dahl with lentils, chickpeas, potatoes, cumin and coriander). Wonder what we'll add to this medium hot dish.

Sage2Go 

The Courtyard
8 Main St
Midleton
Cork
Ireland

 021 463 9682

Taste of the Week. Aged Ballinrostig Gouda.

Taste of the Week. 

Aged Ballinrostig Gouda.

One of the highlights over Christmas and the New Year was a big chunk of Aged Ballinrostig Gouda style cheese that came in a hamper that we had treated ourselves to. We had a few cheeses ahead of it in the queue and it was only recently that we tucked into this.

The Gouda style cheese is made in East Cork with organic Jersey cow milk and aged for 12 to 18 + months. A beautiful stronger complex flavoured hard cheese with sweet nutty and caramel notes that manages to hold onto its creamy past. We were impressed from the first bite and made it our Taste of the Week.

We weren't overly surprised of course as we've often tasted their regular cheeses at markets and via stores such as Bradley's in North Main Street. But the aging here certainly takes it to another level, the height of Umami!

In 2014 Michele and Stephen (from Holland) renovated and moved into Michele’s family home in the village of Ballinrostig near Whitegate in beautiful East Cork. As part of the revamp, they transformed the old garage into a small purpose-built dairy which was intended for making cheese as a hobby. In 2015 they started to sell commercially and within two years they both had left their careers to meet the growing demand for their delicious cheese. 

Ballinrostig Cheese

Ballinrostig, Whitegate, Co. Cork Midleton, Ireland P25PE00

Web: https://ballinrostighomestead.ie/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/corkcheese

Tel: 0879160440

Taste of the Week. Cajun Salmon from K O'Connell Fish

 Taste of the Week.

Cajun Salmon from K O'Connell Fish

O'Connell's Cajun Salmon with our Cajun Salad

Isn't it great that so many Irish butchers and fishmongers are more and more giving extra choice just like the French traiteurs. Our latest such purchase was a couple of hefty salmon fillets from O'Connell's Fish Stall in the market, both looking well in their coat of Cajun sauce. And, just to reassure you in case you don't like things too spicy, the O'Connell sauce is mild (but tasty!).

We added a bit of oomph to it ourselves, thanks to the Official Blog Chef remembering a Cajun Salad recipe from an old Reader's Digest Cookbook. Peppers, red onions and celery were involved. We didn't have everything on the list. No Tabasco, for instance. But that was very satisfactorily replaced with a dash of the excellent Dr Trouble Sauce from Zimbabwe. And the result was an warming dish in the middle of winter and our Taste of the Week.

K O'Connell Fish Merchants

English Market, Cork.

Email Address: Freshfish@eircom.net

Contact number: 021 427 6380

Facebook: K O’Connell Fish Merchants

Instagram: K O’Connell Fish Merchants

Twitter: @Pattheenglishmarket

Taste of the Week. Ummera Smoked Duck.

Taste of the Week. Ummera Smoked Duck.

Back in November 2009, at O'Donovan's Wine Show in Cork city, I tasted a new product from Ummera, the smokehouse on the banks of the Adrigeen River in Timoleague. Ummera's Anthony Cresswell had just opened the pack and was wondering what the reaction was going to be. I was blown away by the texture and the succulent flavour and so too were many people that followed me that evening.

It certainly had the wow factor and they entered it in the 2010 Great Taste Awards and were thrilled to receive not only a 3 Star Gold Award but they also were honoured with their first Oscar, the Golden Fork for the best Irish Speciality Food of the year. (They won another Golden Fork this year, for their smoked salmon, story here.) 

The duck is marinated in a brine of sea salt and raw cane sugar, then hot smoked over oak sawdust fires, the flavour and succulence of the duck breast is amazing; serve on a slice of ripe pear and a trace of light vinaigrette sauce – magic! And enjoy it all!

For at least the second time, Anthony's Smoked Duck is our Taste of the Week. At the weekend, we used the recipe below (from an old Ummera leaflet). We had to adapt it as we didn't have every ingredient (no pomegranate, for instance) but it worked out very well indeed.

Taste of the Week. Ummera Smoked Organic Irish Picanha Beef

 Taste of the Week

Ummera Smoked Organic Irish Picanha Beef

Ummera, winner of the Golden Fork Award for their smoked Irish organic salmon in the 2020 Great Taste, have another winner in their Smoked Organic Irish Picanha Beef. I recently ordered a box of produce from the Timoleague producer and the Picanha, with its out of this world flavour, is now our Taste of the Week. 

Owner/operator Anthony Cresswell: "The Rump Cap is a highly regarded cut of beef in Brazil where it is called Picanha and Ummera have adopted the name, despite people saying it should be Irish, to which we reply and what about Entrecote Steak? It also adds uniqueness; I mean have you ever heard of Irish Picanha? Probably not!"

Anthony recommends serving it with a fresh salad and a light dressing and that's just what we did with the Aberdeen Angus beef. The salad came via Neighbourfood, a bag of superb mixed leaves from Horizon Farms, delicious, semi sundried tomatoes from Sicily in a mixed oil, equally delicious quartered artichoke globes in a mixed oil also from Sicily along with, from the Pyrenees, freshly dressed Arbequina olives (tiny but with a huge flavour). Quite a plateful! 

The Picanha is available in whole pieces with weights varying from 500gm to 1 kg to 1.5kgs and should be sliced thinly. Very Highly Recommended! 

It's not the first time, I've had this as Taste of the Week. During the Ballymaloe LitFest, I got the very first bite of it at Anthony's stall in the Big Shed. That was in 2016, the same year that it was voted the Best New Organic Product at the Irish National Organic Awards

Ummera

Call on +353 (0)23 88 46644

For all enquiries please email info@ummera.com

Stockists here

Taste of the Week. Roughty Foodie: Barnabrow Christmas Cake

Taste of the Week. 

Roughty Foodie: Barnabrow Christmas Cake

 

Last week, I posted a pointer towards an superb Christmas Pudding - details here. And we can complete the double now with a hearty recommendation as to sourcing your Christmas cake. Pity I hadn't tasted the cake earlier and I could have combined the two.

Still, glad to say the cake is our Taste of the Week. Packed full of fruit and other essentials (including the same beer and whiskey as the pud), it is delicious, fruity and nutty, not too heavy, yet take it easy (make it linger!).  And if there's just one or two in the house, then they have a convenient size for you. The cake, and the pudding (which comes in 3 sizes), will bring a smile to your face, a nostalgic smile in the case of those of us of a certain age.

And there is a nice nostalgia story too on the Barnabrow label. Tales from the kitchens (Irish and Sri Lankan) when the cakes of our childhood was being prepared and everyone getting a stir of the mix. Will we have almond icing or just sugar icing or glazed fruit finishes?

No need to worry about all that.. Just pop into Roughty Fruity and bag yourself a handy double (they know all about bookie's lingo in there) before the horse has bolted.