TESCO IN MAHON POINT

The major supermarket chains are often portrayed as the big bad wolves of the food industry.

Is it all bad? I know the Bridgestone Irish Food Guide editorial came down on them like a pack of Dutch defenders in the ninth edition. But the products of many of the food producers lavishly praised by Bridgestone are to be seen in the major supermarkets.

Tesco spend two billion (their own figure) on Irish food and drink each year, including everything from salads to Angus Beef. Quite a lot of organic produce on display there also.

I recently filled a trolley at Tesco’s Mahon shop, including a few of those gorgeous yoghurts from Glenilen Farm in West Cork, and that was after a buying quite a  bit at the weekly Farmers Market outside.

I understand, from some producers, that Good Food customers, especially organic fans, stay loyal in the downturn and are prepared to pay a small premium to keep getting their favourite foods but who can blame the busy financially challenged houseperson doing the weekly shopping (say for two adults and two plus kids) from taking advantage of the choices and prices at places like Tesco.

Green Saffron Spices Ltd in Midleton

GREEN SAFFRON

www.greensaffron.com

Green Saffron, the Route to Fresh Spices. That’s what the leaflet says. But there is a whole pile more coming from the Midleton based Indian food company.
Arun is the public face of Green Saffron and you can find him at a string of local markets (Cork, Limerick, Dublin...), selling his products and often with a free recipe thrown in. They supply the retail (via many outlets) and wholesale markets, including top Irish and British restaurants. See the website for details.
Hellie, a great friend of this site, is an Arun fan: “You should try making the Green Saffron Curry from the spice mixes - amazing! Arun is fantastic and with the instructions given to you what could go wrong? Try the Korma, Oudi Murgh or Tandoori. All to die for!”
Met Arun myself at one of stalls recently and took the easy way out, buying one of his takeaway Tiffin Tubs that contained enough John Rogan Lamb for two, also a pack of aged Basmati Rice plus a couple of Naan bread. We enjoyed that meal and the cost? Just a tenner.
Oh, by the way, if you are a bit nervous about doing your own curry, then Arun has a solution: an invite to a monthly Curry Night with himself and General Manager Gail where they do the cooking and you watch and then eat. Again, see the site for details.
It is just an amazing service, from a company that supplies big names such as Richard Corrigan and Raymond Blanc but obviously values the little names as well.

Check out my review of Green Saffron Spices Ltd - I am cork - on Qype

VARIETY AT THE LIBERTY GRILL

JULY SPECIALS

The Liberty Grill in Washington Street is up among my top restaurants in Cork. Cooking and service are excellent. Though the Grill, based on the US East Coast neighbourhood restaurant concept, is justly famous for its burgers, there is never a shortage of variety on offer, that variety often enhanced by the addition of monthly specials.

Fancy an early meal today? Then why not have a look at their July Brunch and Lunch specials.

Brunch (‘til 5pm) 
Scrambled Serrano 6.95 
Shredded thinly sliced Spanish serrano with scrambled 
free range eggs on sourdough toast and served with 
tomato relish (with glass of cava plus tea or coffee 12.50) 

Irish Strawberries (v) 5.95 
with natural yogurt and toasted hazelnuts 

Banana Tempura (v) 5.95 
Sweet banana lightly dipped in a buttermilk batter, 
shallow fried and served with a choice of pancake 
or French toast, maple syrup and cream 


Lunch (from 12 midday) 

Peri-Peri Chicken Burger 13.50 
West Cork chicken breast, marinated in peri-peri 
sauce, chargrilled and served with avocado and lime 

Beetroot and Goats Cheese Salad (v) 8.95 
A summer salad of local leaves, young beetroot, 
Ardsallagh goat’s cheese with toasted barley, broad 
beans and sweet pickled gooseberries 

SLOWFOOD CORK CITY - A MYSTERY TOUR

Slowfood Cork City has teamed up with some of the best restaurants in Cork to offer foodies great food in relaxed surroundings. The chosen restaurants are well known for their support of local producers and growers and their creativity to create amazing dishes.

 

The evening will start of at 6pm on Tuesday 13th July with a lovely glass of bubbles at Interior Living in MacCurtain Street. Simone Kelly will welcome us in her shop which is a treasure chest full of exciting furniture, giftware and a larder with lots of foodie goodies. Slow Food members will remember Simone as the previous convivium leader of Cork City - we are still missing her immensely. Her knowledge about local produce and food is second to none and I am sure she will share her knowledge with you on the night.

 

From there we will start our mystery tour - and since it is a mystery night, we won't give any more details.

 

Please note: As the restaurants involved are keeping their tables free for us, we will need confirmed numbers by the 8th July. Upfront payment is necessary (payment can be made at Interior Living by cash or cheque - no credit cards can be accepted). A minimum number is required to make it worthwhile for the restaurants - the event will not go ahead if numbers are not met.

 

Please wear comfortable shoes as walking between the course is required.

 

Price for members is €40 and for non-members €45. Included in the price is a 3 course meal with a glass of wine for starter and main course and tea/coffee for dessert.

Please inform us if you have dietary requirements and we will try to accommodate you.

 

As always, please email Caz and Deirdre on corkcity@slowfoodireland.com

 

Old Millbank Smokehouse in Buttevant

OLD MILLBANK SMOKEHOUSE


A couple of weeks back, I enjoyed the Good Food Ireland plate for lunch at Nash 19. One of the items included was a smashing smoked salmon made by the Old Millbank Smokehouse in Buttevant.
Geraldine Bass is the lady behind the Willow Pond enterprise and I spotted her stand at a recent Farmer’s Market. Smoked Salmon and Trout were displayed but I was after something else and that was her Salmon Pâté.
Four euro bought me a fine tub of it. Started it yesterday for lunch and we agreed that it was a class product, subtle yet strong enough. Great stuff and that will be finished off soon as a starter for our wet Friday night in.

You'll find Old Millbank at the Mahon Point Farmers Market (below)

Check out my review of Old Millbank Smokehouse - I am cork - on Qype

IDAHO CAFE

 THE IDAHO CAFE

Downtown for a few hours today, principally to say Bon Voyage to the Clipper 09-10 race as the ten racing boats left the city quays on the last leg of their 35,000 mile trip around the world.

Took a walk in the rain over to the Idaho Cafe for a slightly early lunch. I choose the Potato and Gubbeen Cheese with Bacon and was glad that I did. I could have eaten the Morris Piper potatoes on their own but, mixed with the Gubbeen, the combination was unbeatable.

The Cafe is small but comfortable enough. Service is friendly and efficient and the cooking is top class. My main course, with a small salad, cost €11.00.

Oonagh Poynton in Youghal

POYNTON – RHINECREW COOKERY

“Oonagh Poynton is a truly fine cook....she is as expert with the sweet as she is with the savoury.” So says the Bridgestone Guide (2010).
Came across a selection of her cakes and jams at the Mahon Point Farmers Market recently and helped myself to a jar of her thick-cut marmalade. It went down a treat (well not all of it –yet) with some white bread from the Natural Foods Bakery and I must say I was very happy with the purchase, wrapped very nicely indeed by Mr Poynton.
Being from Youghal, you will find her products at local markets such as Lismore and the West Waterford Food festival and her cookery classes at Rhinecrew are also quite a draw. The marmalade has broken the ice for me and I’ll be on the look-out for her products in the future.
Just one little puzzle: she is generally referred to as Oonagh on the net and in the Guide but hubby told me the U on the jam-jar was for Una.

Check out my review of Oonagh Poynton - I am cork - on Qype

Mileeven Fine Foods in Kilkenny

MILEEVEN FINE FOODS

Always willing to try something new and always on the lookout, I picked up a pot of Honey with Sour Cherries recently at the Kilkenny Shop in Shanagarry. Mileeven, a company based in Piltown, is noted for its innovation and mixes its honey with Blueberries, Hazelnuts and Irish Mist among other ingredients.
Maybe I should have tried the Irish Mist. I must admit that I won't be buying the Sour Cherries blend again. It didn't go down that well. I didn't regard the mix as at all successful with the cherries spoiling the honey and vice versa. Still, that won't stop me trying products from the highly successful company in the future.
But I could well be buying them through the net. This little 250 gram jar cost €4.50 in Shanagarry, over double the price from the Mileeven website shop! (http://www.mileeven.com/)

Check out my review of Mileeven Fine Foods - I am cork - on Qype

MAHON POINT FARMERS MARKET

MAHON POINT FARMERS MARKET

Dull morning in Mahon today but the Farmers Market was as lively as ever. Reached the venue just around opening time and started with a five euro bag of mackerel from O’Driscoll’s of Schull.

Passed Una Poynton’s jam and cake stand and realised I had finished the last of the marmalade at breakfast. Una wasn't there but hubby was and my jar of thick cut was wrapped neatly in a fancy bag.

Headed then for Green Saffron and decided to try it out by buying a meal in a tub: lamb, rice and bread for two. Instructions of course came with it, generously detailed by the man himself.

Then called to the Gubbeen Smokehouse  spot to buy the five star Chorizo. That will be served with our favourite Spanish rice recipe.

A trip around here could take all day, so we had to be somewhat selective but couldn't resist the Old Millbank smoked fish stall where we bought some of their delicious salmon pate.

Also made a stop at the Natural Foods Bakery  where a round of a terrific organic white bread set us back €2.65.

Don't normally shop at Tesco’s but since we were there.... we filled up the trolley, yoghurts from Glenilen and some Czech beer buried deep in the load.

Janet's Country Fayre in Wicklow

JANET’S COUNTRY FAYRE
Relishes and Chutneys generally improve whatever you have on the table: meats, cheeses, and salads. And Janet’s Country Fayre produce one of the best ranges of chutneys and relishes you are likely to find and have been doing so since 1994 when the Wicklow enterprise was established.
Came across a stand of the products, some of them cheekily named, a few days back and bought a few. Only one, the Special Vinaigrette, has been tried out so far and all attendees at a small dinner party remarked favourably on it.
There are many more products including Ploughman’s Chutney, Tomato and Chilli salsa, Cucumber Pickle, Smart Ass Sauce and Really Good Ketchup. Watch out for their very helpful leaflet with many suggestions (even recipes) as to how to get the best from the tempting products. All the info may be accessed at the website: http://www.janetscountryfayre.com
Check it out!

Check out my review of Janet's Country Fayre - I am cork - on Qype

The Club Brasserie

THE CLUB BRASSERIE


Made my first visit to the Club Brasserie this week. It won’t be the last. Great food, good value (in local terms) and excellent service always brings the customer back.
Started by studying the Early Bird (25 euro for 3 courses) and the A la Carte. Then put those aside as a packed specials board was brought to the table, enough tempting dishes for a week’s visits.
Picked the Tomato and Basil Soup to start with. I was on a winner straight away as this was an excellent bowlful. Oh, and the bread was top class also.
Then on to the main courses. Mine was the Seared Tuna with tomato, avocado, green beans and potato gratin. The fish was just so, tasty and moist and the vegetables fitted the bill to perfection. The other main course at the table was an Aubergine and Onion Tart with a sweet tomato chutney, salad and potato wedges. A little on the sweet side for me but she just loved it.
Dessert was Crème Brulee, with a difference, the difference being a mix of summer berries, a classy way to finish off a classy meal. Total, including €14.95 for 50cl of the house wine special, came to €68.70.

Despite all the good things here, it was a very quiet Thursday night, just a handful of people in. Should be better next week when the round-the –world Clippers will be docked at nearby Albert Quay.

Club Brasserie, Lapps Quay, Cork +353 (0)21 427-3987

Check out my review of The Club Brasserie - I am cork - on Qype

ALL RECIPES UPDATE

Just got an update from Diana of All Recipes with news of a cookbook giveaway right here

You can also get some brilliant summer and barbecue recipes on the site

You may even be tempted to contribute a recipe or two yourself and join in the fun

SUPER DRINKS

SUPER DRINKS

It was in the poems of 1963 Nobel prize winner Giorgos Seferis, a Greek, that I first remember coming across the exotic word pomegranate. And it was a long time after that that the fruit, especially its juice, became generally available in this country.

I was reminded of this as I was tasting some samples from the widely available Pomegreat range, not just your plain Pomegranate but some unexpected blends. I tasted two of these, the first with Blueberry and the second with Beetroot. The Blueberry was fine but I must admit that I was more than pleasantly surprised by the Beetroot blend, quite a nice rounded drink. The plain also was fine.

The range is widely available (including Dunnes and Superquinn) and costs around two euro a litre.

A recent study by a group of doctors at St. Bartholomew’s and the Royal London Hospital has been particularly important in supporting the claim that Beetroot is of super food status. Read more here.

Pomegreat, the makers of the pomegranate super juice drinks, claim that these drinks can help in the lowering of blood pressure and you may study that report here 

South County in Douglas (Cork)

SOUTH COUNTY

Met a few friends at the South County in Douglas one night this week. I really liked this expanded bar. Big bars are sometimes like a big shed but good use has been of the space here which has been arranged into a series of nooks (some bigger than others) but all within easy reach of a counter.

Indeed, the friendly staff here are “pro-active”. I was on my way to the counter when an assistant met me, took the order and delivered it to the table. It was a little on the late side for the food but they do operate a cafe here, more than likely to the same high standards.

Impressed too with the toilets. These are clean and spacious and the walls are decorated with a series of “saucy postcard” type cartoons. I was having a laugh but the fellow next to me, obviously a regular, said he’d seen them all before and more than once!

Check out my review of South County - I am cork - on Qype

KILKENNY CAFE (SHANAGARRY)

KILKENNY CAFE (SHANAGARRY)

Left Ballymaloe Cookery School Gardens on Tuesday, feeling hungry. A bit ironic, isn't it? But the famous school doesn't have its own cafe. Not to worry and we headed for the Kilkenny Cafe in the village, in the former Stephen Pearce emporium.

Walked through the shop. The cafe, indoor and outdoor, is at the far end. We were warmly greeted and took a seat outdoors overlooking the local fields and looking out towards Ballycotton. With a dinner arranged (fresh hake from the English market) for the evening, we didn't need anything major.

Started with a delicious Potato and Leek soup (€4.50) and a couple of slices of gorgeous freshly made brown bread. Skipped a variety of well priced main courses – tempting salads, burgers, Paninis – and ended with a pot of tea and scones (with all the trimmings, including jam and cream). Total came to just over seventeen euro.

Took a stroll through the shop and bought a few food items. Service, at both restaurant and shop, was first class, very friendly and efficient. So, if you are in East Cork, an under-rated area where there is so much to see and do, I’d recommend you mark this cafe as a stop on your tour.

BALLYMALOE COOKERY SCHOOL GARDENS

BALLYMALOE COOKERY SCHOOL GARDENS 

Made a very enjoyable visit today to the Ballymaloe Cookery School Gardens (and Farm Shop). Arches of traditional varieties of apple, with a few hens and cocks resting and scratching, lead you on the way.

Highlights for me were the Herb Garden and the Herbaceous Border. Other gardens are the vegetable garden, the fantastic Maze (planted in 1996) and the Pleasure Garden (with trees, bigger shrubs and a pond with fountain).

There are over 70 varieties of herbs in the garden, laid out in a formal parterre edged with box hedges. Plenty of fresh herbs then for Ballymaloe House and Cafe but it was an old-timer Sage that caught my eye. This knurled specimen (photo) must have been over twenty years old.

The herbaceous Border is almost worth the €6.50 entrance fee on its own. Planted in 1996, it has thrived here, though not without a great deal of care and attention. Here, deep borders of fabulous perennials and grasses make it one of the very best of its type.

At the end of the border is the Shell House, with shell decoration by artist Blott Kerr-Wilson. Unfortunately, the door was bolted and I had to take my picture through the glass. Still, you get some idea of the intricacy of her work. I forgot to ask on the way out about the closure (temporary or permanent).


NOTE 10.11.10: Blott Kerr-Wilson has been in touch and you may see much better pictures of the shell house on her site here.

Did call to the shop and picked up a few of Darina's products. Disappointingly, while the gardens belong to the famous cooking school, there is no cafe in this location, that being a mile or two away alongside Ballymaloe House.

The entrance to the gardens is via the road opposite the church in Shanagarry. All the details at www.cookingisfun.ie

BARRY'S TEA WANT YOUR MUG (SHOT) - LAST CHANCE

Just got this late message from Barry's Tea. If you want your face on their new packs, act now. Read on....

Just thought I’d let you know, since you’re a Barry’s Tea fan and everything, that dreams are about to come true!! As a big thank you to everyone who voted for Barry’s Tea in the SuperValu People’s Choice Awards Barry’s are offering all fans a chance to send in their pics to be immortalised in a collage on packs of Barry’s Tea 80’s. The boxes will be on sale in SuperValu’s nationwide in the coming months.

If you think your readers would be interested in sending any pics of themselves, friends, pets etc to be potentially included we’ve got one day left for this offer and all they need to do is send in (high res) pictures to barrystea@thinkhousepr.com. There’s some more info onwww.facebook.com/barrystea and keep up with Barry’s on twitter check it out on @BarrysTeaTweets.

Thanks so much and don’t forget to send YOUR pic in too!!

Laura

NASH 19

NASH 19 

Lunch can be a pretty routine occasion, almost like a pit stop. Not though if you go to Nash 19. Different class.

Friendly Rose took us through the menu in detail and gave a few recommendations. We liked the look of the Good Ford Ireland Plate at €13.95 and went for it. Served, tapas style, it was a mini feast of tastes and colours, including a Squash Soup taster, Smoked Salmon from Buttevant’s Old Mill, Nash’s own chicken liver pate, Oisín and Milleen cheeses with Nash’s own delicious biscuits, Crowe's Pork Belly and Bacon and Gubbeen salami, all with their own relishes.

When you go out to eat, you really want something different, different to what you can manage at home. This was it. Couldn't fault any little piece of it. My favourite bites? Perhaps the Chicken Liver which was better than recent Foie Gras tastings. The Bacon tasted just like the real thing should and the salami was also a highlight.

Moved onto dessert then. Had a share of Walnut Cakes in the Dordogne recently but that didn't stop me picking the Cherry and Walnut Cake. So well made, done to a “t” and so very very lovely. Also sampled the Berry Pie and was half sorry I didn't take that but then I’d have been half sorry I hadn’t taken the Cherry and Walnut.

Will have to go again. And again. Lovely place, lovely people and, yes Tom Doorley, this was an enjoyable meal.

MURPHY'S ICE CREAM (DINGLE)

MURPHY’S ICE CREAM

Stopped in my tracks today on way out of town. Ice Cream from Dingle said the sign on McCurtain Street. Must be Murphy’s, I said to myself.

The shop was Kalma Flowers and yes it was Murphy’s. Bought myself some (3.00 a tub) of the Vanilla. One little lick of the supplied spoon was enough to confirm that this was a class product.

The fight between herself and meself for the last bit (which usually happens over the last drops of wine) was fierce but, under the rules, honours were evenly shared as was the ice-cream (I thought so anyway).

http://www.murphysicecream.ie

Strand Street, Dingle, Co. Kerry

+ 353 (0)66.9152644

WINE TRANSFUSION

WINE TRANSFUSION

“Your wine. Red or white?” the French hospital orderly asked. The foreign patient, wired up, tubed up, doped up, was confused. “You may have two dekalitres,” the no nonsense orderly continued.

It was almost too much for the Serb patient in the Perigueux hospital. A day earlier, in the Dordogne town of Sarlat (photo), he had suffered a heart attack. Hurried phone calls were made and, five minutes later, not one but two ambulances were at his door.

He was whisked to the local hospital. They  checked him and decided to send him to Perigueux, eighty eight kilometres or so to the North West. The helicopter flew him there and he was operated on immediately, a life saved.

Not it was lunch time of the following day. Lunch was even something of a surprise but then the offer of wine almost led to another heart attack, a relieved Milos told me some four years later as his Irish wife recalled with gratitude the help given by her new French neighbours as this was just their second year or so in the area.

Not surprisingly, Milos, a former Guinness employee, was full of praise for the French health service. There was one error though: he got a bill for nine hundred euro for the copter. He paid it but was then told the bill should never have been sent to him and got a full refund. Mary Harney take note: an efficient service will do, we’ll pass on the wine.

The decilitre, one tenth of a litre, is used as a wine measurement in some European countries and, personally, I have come across it in Austria.