Reds to Remember

Reds to Remember

A Margaux chateau this summer.

Marques de Riscal Gran Reserva 2001 (150th anniversary edition), 14%, €49.99 Bradley’s, North Main Street, Cork.

This was produced to mark the 150th anniversary of Riscal and is rather special, a good choice for a special occasion of your own! It is the normal Rioja blend of Tempranillo (mainly), Graciano and Mazuelo, but from vines older than 30 years. The picking was by hand. Two and a half years in American oak was followed by three years bottle aging.

Dark cherry in colour, it has a complex nose: herbs, oaky fragrances, spicy. It is rounded, at this stage, well balanced with a viscous mouthfeel, no shortage of power or backbone, intense black fruits, supple and with a long silky finish. Superb. I’m sure you'll think of a special occasion. Very Highly Recommended.

By the way, I had a special occasion myself! Normally, I'll be sticking to my usual (flexible!) price range on this site, usually between €12.00 and €22.00.

Domaine de Maucaillou Margaux 2009, 12.5%, €12.00 in Margaux June 2014.

Moved on to this just as I was finishing the Riscal. What a pleasant surprise and a pleasant reminder that price is not always the best indicator of wine quality. This is a beautiful Bordeaux from a good year. Thought it was one of the more expensive of the Margaux that I bought there this summer and, on checking, was surprised to see it was the cheapest.

This is a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot, has spent 12 months in barriques and is produced in a 2.3 hectare vineyard. Confusingly, there is a Chateau Maucaillou not too far away in Moulis.

Colour is a deep ruby, healthy and bright, and it has a rather delicate fruity nose. On the palate, it has power and attractiveness in equal measures, a big wine indeed from a very small domaine, and a very nice finish as well. Check out your local wine merchant for Margaux. This one, if you come across it, home or away, is Very Highly Recommended.

Aresti Trisquel 2012 Syrah (Chile), 14%, €17.99 Supervalu.

This dark dark red has an intriguing nose: blackcurrants, spices, vanilla, caramel, smoke even. The Syrah (rather than Shiraz) suggests a nod towards the European style and it is indeed close to the more restrained Old World style. Quite complex on the palate, juicy, spicy, darkly fruity and a long pleasing finish. Quite a lot going on in this really stunning wine. Very Highly Recommended.

Moulin de Gassac Albaran 2011, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah Old Vines, 13.5%, €14.49 Curious Wines online.

On the lookout for value? Then you could do worse that check out the Curious Wines website as they give genuine discounts throughout the year. I saved three euro on this one a few weeks back. This is an excellent red for the price, great fruit and flavour, a highly recommended easy drinker from this innovative and well established Herault (Languedoc) vineyard.

Kilkenny Dinner, in Cork

Kilkenny Dinner, in Cork

Goatsbridge smoked trout

Zwartbles lamb chops were the highlight of a weekend dinner here in Cork. Other Kilkenny products to feature were Goatsbridge Smoked Trout and Knockdrinna Cream cheese with a pesto topping.

The lamp chops (gigot) were a present from Suzanna at her Zwartbles farm near Bennettsbridge when a group of bloggers visited recently. Not alone did she provide the meat but she also came up with the other main ingredients, Catillac pears and Newtown Wonder Apples. And she didn’t to stop there as she also gave us the recipe.

Carrots, butternut squash, red onions and more were added to the old Creuset and the stew was ready about five or six hours later. Suzanna is a slow cook advocate! It was well worth the wait. The pears and apples mixed so well with the gorgeous lamb while the other ingredients all added to the delightful flavours. A superb main course, a rare treat indeed, polished off appropriately, with a glass of Riscal Gran Reserva 2001 (the 150th anniversary edition).

Zwartbles lamb

Eat Trout is the marketing slogan - you’ll notice it on their packaging - for the marvellous Goatsbridge Trout Farm in Thomastown, Kilkenny. It is now appearing on their Canned Smoked Trout. We opened up the tin and added a fairly simple salad, leaves and some potato. Great flavours from the smoked finish, and pleasing texture too.

And the cream cheese from Knockdrinna, also Thomastown, is also a new product, The cheese is also excellent on crackers (try Carrigaline or Sheridan’s). That pesto topping is a terrific idea. We served this as a simple bruschetta, tomatoes and the cheese on a slice of toasted Arbutus sourdough (had to get at least one Cork product in!).

To tell you the truth, I don't particularly like the points scoring that goes on between the different counties (e.g. that Tipp food is better than Kerry food). We have some magnificent producers, some large, many small, spread across the country. Just go out and support them. Wherever you find them. 

Cream cheese, with pesto, from Knockdrinna

 The Zwartbles flock is not very large, so the availability of the meat is very limited. You may have to start a flock yourself! Goatsbridge and Knockdrinna products are widely available. Check the websites.

see also

Bloggers On Thomastown Tour

Kilkenny on Parade. A Festival to Savour.

Kilkenny's Night of a Thousand Feasts.

Zuni. Zuni. Zuni. So Good, I Named it Thrice!

Top Posts Past 12 Months (to end Oct 2014)

Top Posts Past 12 Months (to end Oct 2014)

This month's listing is again dominated by the newer restaurants. Still big interest in wine posts, including the page on the top wines for 2014.

Music at Mahon Point Farmers Market

1 Cork's Coqbull On An Early Charge

2 Happy Gaggle of Wine Geese

3 The Square Table - Great Addition to Blarney

4 Aroi. Asian Street Food in Cork City

5 Huguenot. New French Bistro

6 Happy New Beer at The Cotton Ball

7 Electric. Easy to book. Hard to leave.

8 Dining in Style at Pier 26

9 Pride of Ireland Awards 2013/14

10 Top Wines (so far!) 2014

Zuni. Zuni. Zuni. So Good, I Named it Thrice!

Zuni. Zuni. Zuni.

So Good, I Named it Thrice!

Roast cod in Kilkenny

Zuni restaurant is good, easy to find. So good, so easy, it can be hard to get a table. Especially on the Saturday of the Savour Kilkenny Food Festival. But I did book a few days in advance. And very glad that I did.

So out of the dark and into the buzz of the bar. And that buzz is even more concentrated in the large restaurant, the space expertly broken up into little rectangles by some moderately high dividers. There’s no stopping the noise in this packed area. But it’s a happy noise, people enjoying themselves.  Hardly even noticed the open kitchen, where Maria Rafferty heads the team, as we were walked to our table.

It is busy in there and packed outfront but the service is warm, friendly, efficient and on the ball. I was going to say pro-active but I think, in Kilkenny, on the ball is better! And a last word on the buzz. There is something about the acoustics here that, despite the noises, you can still comfortably converse in a normal voice.

Down to business now and a look at the menu. Salmon Rillettes and Slow Cooked Oxtail are on the promising starter list. On the well balanced mains list, there is Roast Monkfish, Pork Belly and Scallops and a risotto featuring Pumpkin.

Good variety too in the wine list, many by the glass. CL starts, and finishes, with the 2012 Huia Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough at €7.95 a glass. I open with a Bordeaux style 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserva Legado De Martino from Chile at €8.25 a glass and finish with a 2012 Cotes du Rhone Chaume Arnaud at €8.50. Very happy with the wines and especially with the finalé, a wee drop of Port, Warre’s LBV 2002 (€6.85).

Venison on top. Bottom: trout (left) and duck.

Both starters were excellent. CL absolutely enjoyed her Goatsbridge Smoked Trout Bon Bons, fennel purée, and trout roe vinaigrette. I went for the duck and it was terrific, well cooked, well presented, a terrific mix of textures and flavours. The description: Pan Fried confit duck, plum sauce, pickled carrot, and pickled cucumber, and coriander.

On then to the mains with much anticipation. I just couldn't resist the venison. Pink they said and pink I got, a great big hearty dish begging to be put away on an Autumn night; an extra hour in this day, so no hurry. The venison came with parsnip gratin, pumpkin purée, port wine jus (more alcohol!), spiced pear and pear gel. What’s not to like here?

CL, the fish specialist, was in her element with the Cod Fillet, cauliflower gratin (beautiful), cauliflower purée, and almond gremolata. What a fantastic combination, again well cooked, well presented. And well appreciated!

Desserts tempted. We hummed and hawed before settling for a liquid one, that delicious LBV. Suitably fortified, we headed off into the night, admiring the reflection of the Castle as we strolled back to our lovely friendly base at Rosquil House.

Zuni Restaurant/Bar and Hotel

26 Patrick Street, Kilkenny.

Phone	(056) 772 3999
Email	info@zuni.ie
Website	http://www.zuni.ie see also Kilkenny Dinner, in Cork Bloggers On Thomastown Tour Kilkenny on Parade. A Festival to Savour. Kilkenny's Night of a Thousand Feasts.

Amuse Bouche

Cûc liked to talk about herself, and she didn't hold back during the meal. I’d taken her to Chez Loury, on Carré Thiars, near the harbor. The food is excellent, whatever Gault and Millau say. And they have the best selection of Provençal wines. I chose a Château-Sainte-Rosaline. Definitely the greatest of the Provençal reds. The most sensual.

from Chourmo by Jean-Claude Izzo.

Island of Asian Street Food at Phô

Island of Asian Street Food at Phô

Hawkers Corner in City Pub!

The Phô Mule.

The island of Penang, part of a Malaysian state of the same name, is renowned for it street food. Not surprisingly, as it is a melting pot of many cultures with India, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and the Malaysian mainland itself all relatively close by. 

Here, hawkers with their rickshaws join together in the marketplace. These are specialists, one an ace in Prada, the other in curry, another in noodles, this one in Rendang. People come from miles around to sample their wares.

Thankfully, you don't have to go to Penang. Chef Prakash, known locally here as Kash, who grew up on the island surrounded by it rich culinary landscape, has brought the authentic know-how with him to the new Phô in Douglas Street. 

The menu is extensive and there is also a Phô Kids Menu. Vegetarian, Gluten Free, Kids and the strength of the spices (1, 2 or 3) are all clearly marked on the menu. No shortage of drinks either, non alcoholic, teas, coffees, wines, and local craft beers all available. And also a list of very original cocktails!

Okay. Where to start? The Roti Prata is proving very popular. This is an Indian influenced flat bread, fluffy on the inside, crispy on the outside, and Kash tells me it is “an all day thing in Malaysia, 24/7”. It is proving very popular in Douglas Street. You may have it plain with a fragrant Lentil Curry (I enjoyed that very much) or with a number of fillings, including Chicken or Egg or Curry. Phô customers use it as a sharing dish while they wait for their main course.

Rice dishes include Thai and Malaysian Curries. The latter are spicy gluten free, originating from Penang Island. And, of course, there is Rendang, a spicy (#2 on the spice scale!) meat curry, served with Jasmine Rice. I loved the beef version but would happily try the others.

Beef Redang, served with Jasmine rice (not in shot!).

The next section comes under the Hawker Corner label. You, or the kids, won't go wrong here, even if you may not get the pronunciations right.  Try the gorgeous flavours, textures and aromas of the Khaw Pad Bay Krapow, Thai stir-fried rice with prawns and sweet basil.

Flat noodles feature on the Char Koey Teow, Malaysian stir fried flat noodles with prawn, slow smoked duck and pork sausage, bean sprouts, dark soy sauce and duck eggs. Phew, hard to pronounce but easy to eat and one of my favourites. Talking of pronunciation, Phô is pronounced “Faa”.

More noodles, big fat roundy ones, on the simpler Hokkien Mee. These are Udon style noodles cooked with pork liver and soy sauce. Delicious. Other noodle dishes include Phô Bo (from Hanoi) and Penang Prawn Noodles.

Vegetarian dishes look inviting with Pasembur and Poh Pia available. Indeed, next time I go back I might well pick the Pasembur as I had a sample of the Sweet Potato and Peanut Sauce and it is superb.

And everyone can tuck into Phô’s one desert. Indeed, everyone should try this at least once. It is a gem called Ais Kacang, shaved ice with screwpine jelly, grass jelly, rose agar agar, palm seed, rose water syrup, palm sugar syrup or ice cream. The most delicious glassful you'll get anywhere for €4.50. Cooling too if you’ve indulged in the spicier dishes!

Dessert (left) and right, from top, Hokkien Mee,
Char Koey Teow, and Khaw Pad Bai Krapow

While I was sampling, I kept cool with another lovely drink, a Lassi. This is a popular refreshing Indian influenced yogurt-based drink. Mine was Mango flavoured and you can also get it in Peach!

They are very proud of their Cocktail list here and rightly so. You will see one or two old standards there, including the Singapore Sling, but most of the cocktails have been created specially for the new restaurant/bar and are inspired by the South East Asian regions.

I had to sample one before heading off. The Phô Mule was recommended. “It’s a bomb,” I was told. Pandan leave infused Absolut, Kumquats, Lemongrass and Ginger Syrup, Lime and Ginger Beer. Not like any cocktail I’ve tasted before, it is superb, some beautiful refreshing flavours smoothing down the alcohol. And don’t gulp it down. Sip through the straws and enjoy it all the more.

How about the Phô Mojito? This is made with Cucumber, Coriander, Rum, Lime, Sugar and Soda Water. Kash’s own favourite is the Penang Twang. Ingredients here are Grapefruit Vodka, Lemongrass, Green tea, Lemon juice and Sugar. Cheers!

And best of luck to Brian and Kash. Both men are well known for their successful Fresco Bistro, attached to the Glucksman in the grounds of UCC and very popular in the college and surrounds. No doubt some of their customers there will be among those turning up in Douglas Street to try the well priced well cooked meals. All food is “homemade” in Phô and sourced locally where possible.

Roti Prata

Bloggers On Tour. Caviar, Ceramics, and Cat Bodacious!

The Bloggers On Thomastown Tour

Caviar, Ceramics, and Cat Bodacious!

Ger Kirwan welcomes us to Goatsbridge Trout Farm

From Rainbow trout to Zwartble sheep, from ceramics to cheese, the Town of Food bloggers tour had a busy and every interesting day in the Thomastown area last Monday.

The first get together of the day was at Goatsbridge Trout Farm .  Mag and Ger Kirwan were our hosts. After coffee and cake, we headed down to the adjacent farm where some kids and adults were already fishing from one of the ponds.

The trout farm was started by Ger’s parents, Padraig and Rita, in 1961. Padraig's father was a miller in the area and the fish tradition goes back a long way, at least back to the monks of nearby Jerpoint Abbey, who established a fishery in the 12th century.

Trout hauled out for a quick look and the fabulous caviar.

These Cistercians would not recognise today's Goatsbridge. The Fish Farm employs twenty people. Virtually all the fish is sold in Ireland, about 10,000 a week! Each of the holding ponds, maybe 100 square meters, holds no less than 12,000 of the trout (all rainbow, by the way).

Goatsbridge trout is sold fresh, smoked and barbecued. And there is also a paté.Their latest venture - a very delicious one indeed, and one that you can taste in many of the country’s restaurants - is trout caviar. The idea came after a chance meeting in Boston with someone who was doing it in the US. It took Goatsbridge another few years to develop it for their conditions and they married the US practice with the French way and have perfected it since. Well worth seeking out! Why not try their online shop.

Back to the cars then and off to nearby ceramicist Karen Morgan .  Karen moved from Limerick to Thomastown in 2006. Originally, she operated in the town itself but has now set up a studio alongside her home in the countryside and here you can see her at work and see and buy her work. At present she produces functional kitchen items (dishwasher and microwave safe) with swirls and ripples - reckon she has been to the trout farm. She loves Thomastown: “So much going on here: craft, music, food.”

Karen (left) and Helen

From ceramics to glass, Jerpoint Glass the next stop. This was founded by Keith and Kathleen Leadbetter in existing farm buildings some 35 years ago and the boost they needed to get off the ground came when the Kilkenny Design Centre backed them. I have always loved the way they use the single colour. It looks delicate enough but this glass is tough stuff, largely because it is finished by hand. Mainly they make tableware that is meant to be used. Functional and aesthetic!

Then it was over the road to Stoneyford to meet Helen Finnegan who has been making Knockdrinna Cheese here for the past ten years.

“We’ve had some difficult times but are moving well now.” She started making goats cheese in the back kitchen. In more recent times she went into sheep cheese and even more recently started making cheese from cows milk for the Little Milk Company, a small group of local organic farmers. I love the Brewers Gold from this later venture and bought some of that! Helen also gives Cheesemaking Courses, so watch out for those.

Lunch!

There is also a little cafe at Knockdrinna but our lunch date was back in Thomastown at the Cafe Sol Bistro. Knockdrinna cheese is on the menu here too and lots of other good local produce including Goatsbridge trout. I went for the hearty Lavistown Sausages with creamy potato, root vegetables and a flavoursome thyme gravy. Well worth a lunch or dinner call if you're passing on the road to Waterford. If not, make a detour! And, by the way, they also have a cafe in Kilkenny itself.

After a call to see the Town of Food development in Thomastown, we headed to the Zwartbles farm to see Suzanna (a blanket designing shepherd!) and her unusual sheep and their cat shepherd Bodacious! She, Suzanna that is, is a Slow Food advocate and the philosophy runs through to what she does here: What you put in is what you get out.

And good things go into her Zwartble sheep. “They have a great variety of grasses and herbs and are finished off on clover and windfall apples.” Lucky sheep and lucky the customers that get the meat. It was a pity that darkness was setting in as we arrived. I didn’t get good pics but if you want to see the sheep at their best then check the site above!

Jerpoint glass

We got the brightest of welcomes from the lady and her happy bouncy sheep. By the way, it is not just the meat that is in demand (you'll soon be able to get it locally at Pembroke House restaurant in Kilkenny) but also the wool, available to buy as rugs and blankets in places such as Jerpoint Glass.

We brought our bags to the orchards and filled them with pears and apples, including the Catillac pear and the Newtown Wonder apples. We even got a taste of her outdoor grapes and also got to see her alpacas who help protect the sheep by scaring off dogs and foxes.

A lovely chat then and a welcome cup of tea. And even a going away present of some lamb chops. A warm feeling then at the end of a packed day as we headed into the darkness and the road to Cork. Thanks to Kilkenny in general, to all the food producers and providers and to all the craft people that we met and to Mag Kirwan and to Dee Sewell in particular for organising.

See also:

Kilkenny on Parade. A Festival to Savour.

Kilkenny's Night of a Thousand Feasts.

Better pics on their site

Kilkenny’s Night of a 1000 Feasts.

Kilkenny’s Night of a 1000 Feasts
Town of Food a Step Closer

Hazel, top left, with just some of her guests at the Feast.

On Sunday evening we left our lovely base at Rosquil House to head to our Feast, part of the Night of a 1000 Feasts in Kilkenny. Our Feast, one of about two thousand registered as it turned out, was quite close and at about 7.00pm we were warmly greeted by Hazel and three generations of her family, all celebrating the 76th birthday of her father.

Hazel is a fabulous cook and really loves to bake and the tables were groaning under the weight of a very colourful and tasty feast. The conversation flowed, not least because there were some relations home from Canada. We had a lovely evening with the family and a big thank you to Hazel and husband Richard.

The 1000 Feasts project, while obviously having a huge social element, was also designed as a fund-raiser  towards the Town of Food Project. This is a huge Leader funded project that is located in Thomastown but the local people had to raise some €180,000 themselves. It was down to about €25,000 before the weekend and hopefully a good bit less at this stage. Read all about the project here.

Happy Birthday!

Our group were brought to see the project on Monday afternoon and met Francis Nesbitt, the co-ordinator. He told us it is based in the old school (built 1947) and that the builders had been in since mid-July and will finish in about six weeks.

There will be a lot of community involvement, at all levels, including gardening and cooking. There will be a community kitchen club to benefit many, including fledgling food producers who won't have to kit out their own kitchens to make a start. There will also be a training kitchen. This will be state of the art, as no less than €105,000 has been spent on equipment. “Everything you could think of.”

There will of course be all kinds of cooking courses going on here but don't run away with the idea that this will be for amateurs only. Thomastown won this project in a competition with other towns so there will be some serious education going on here, including chef training.

“We want motivated people here….We want to create a pipeline of kitchen-ready chefs..their learning will be one half here, the other half in restaurants.” This is a fantastic project and the few paragraphs above only give you a hint of what's in store. Please check it out on the website.

Francis (left) meets the Town of Food bloggers.

The day of a “1000 Feasts” began for me with a bloggers meet-up at the main gate of the castle. After the introductions, we made our way to the National Craft Gallery, the venue for one of Jim Carroll’s Banter on Food series, this episode entitled War Stories from the Kitchen.

Pichet’s Denise was among the panelists and she said you have to be a little bit crazy and one hundred per cent passionate to open your doors to public scrutiny. John Healy agreed that the industry is “addictive”. One big danger is that people go into it for the love of food and with no idea about the business side. Overall though the panel agreed that standard has “gone away up” over  the last ten to fifteen years.

Carroll then steered the discussion, mentioning Anthony Bourdain’s rather ancient book Kitchen Confidential, to the war in the kitchen! But no big news there really. Yes, flare-ups are inevitable and management has to be ready for it, “people skills required”.

By now it was time for lunch so the group (about 14 strong) headed off to the Podge Meade’s Bula Bus, a former unit of the fleet in Manchester city but now parked up at the back of Billy Byrne’s pub. The kitchen is downstairs and the upper deck is laid out as a restaurant, serving wild and foraged street food. Venison, mushroom and rabbit (which I enjoyed) featured on the menu last Sunday.

We had some time to ourselves after lunch and I headed back around the many market stalls on the Parade and enjoyed a glass of Costello’s Red Ale in company with Colm McCann and Pascal Rossignol who had just finished their second Wine v Beer show, a show that also featured Caroline Hennessy.

We would meet Gabriella of Costello’s again in our last group engagement here. This was in the Leader tent where we chatted with some emerging producers including Eadaoin's Kitchen, Bob and Joan’s Jams, Butterfly Valley (Cookie Mixes), Richie O’Brien (Honey) and Inistioge Food (Marinades). Our bag included some of those marinades and we’re looking forward to trying them soon, so watch this space!

See also:

Kilkenny on Parade. A Festival to Savour.

The Bloggers On Thomastown Tour. Caviar, Ceramics, and Cat Bodacious!

Rabbit at the Bula Bus

Superb Seafood Evening. French Flare at Fleming’s

Superb Seafood Evening

French Flare at Fleming’s

It was fish all the way at Fleming’s last weekend with chef/patron Michael Fleming displaying his renowned skills and, in the process, treating us to everything from the humble periwinkle to the noble salmon. Needless to say, all were cooked to perfection and the presentation was immaculate. Besides, I know I’ve said this before about this long established venue, the sauces are excellent here, illustrated once again with the smoked salmon dish.

A lively prosecco was our welcome drink and soon we were at our table, reading over the menu for the Seafood Evening, the anticipation growing as we awaited the first course.

And we weren't let down as the Seafood Platter on Ice arrived. The top of the two tiers was packed with seaweed and ice. Periwinkles were scattered around and there too were oysters, crab claws, and prawn cocktails. Great to look at it, even better to eat, especially with the beautiful dips provided. And that wasn't the end of the two part starter as next up was a bowl of perfectly fresh Moules a la crème. All dispatched with a glass of Trimbach’s Riesling trocken. Oh my, what a delicious opening.

And then came the Saumon Fumé: Oak Smoked Salmon glazed in a pink peppercorn sauce with white wine and tarragon. Roll out the superlatives here. Maybe I’ll just settle for great. And that sauce! The whole combination was brilliant, a kind of dish I haven't come across anywhere else. Delightful.

 And now for the main event: Brochette de fruits de Mer. No less than four fish in this one: Seafood brochette with risotto - a brochette of monkfish, sea bass, salmon, a beignet of hake, all served with risotto and grilled butternut squash. The three fish on the stick were superb, I really loved the seabass, but the hake was out of this world, fish perfection. What a dish and we had a lovely Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc to go with it.

No real fish with the two part dessert though the deeply gorgeous Dark Chocolate and Berry Tiramisu was decorated with a biscuity “Goldie Fish”. The other part, White chocolate and Cardamom mousse, was also heavenly, though on a lighter note. A perfect combination to finish a lovely evening on. Not alone is the food superb here; so too is the service, friendly and efficient, and you leave promising yourself to come back soon.

Fleming’s Silver Grange House is a historic Georgian house and restaurant, built by one of the prominent merchant princes of Cork, a local wine importer. Read all about it here.