Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Italian Wines From Recent Tastings. A Short List Of Favourites!



Italian Wines From Recent Tastings. 
A Short List Of Favourites!

With a little help from the recently published The Modern History of Italian Wine, we have been tasting our way through quite a few wines from the peninsula and its islands. Such a range of terroirs, such a range of wines from the cool foothills of the Alps to the heat of Puglia out to the hot islands with their cooling breezes. You won't find the very expensive classics here but I think the selection below contains some excellent wines at reasonable prices. And they all are readily available in Ireland. Just click on the links for review, supplier and price details and don't forget to come back here. Enjoy.


Red
Cantina Tollo Montepulciano d’Abruzzo (DOP) Bio 2015
Innocenti Rosso di Montepulciano (DOC) 2012
La Vigne di Sammarco Salice Salentino (DOP) 2014
La Vigne di Sammarco Primitivo di Manduria (DOP) 2015
Ciabot Berton Barolo (DOCG) “La Morra” 2011
Luigi Righetti Amarone della Valpolicella (DOCG) Classico 2012
Terrabianca Scassino Chianti Classico (DOCG)
Carminucci Naumakos Rosso Piceno Superiore (DOC) 2013
Fontanafredda Raimonda, Barbera D’Alba (DOC) 2009

Orange
La Stoppa, Ageno, Emilia, Emilia Romagna, Italy, 2011


White
Pighin Pinot Grigio Grave del Friuli (DOC) 2015
Cantina Sociale Gallura Vermentino di Gallura Superiore (DOCG) Gemellae, 2013
Carminucci Naumakos Falerio (DOC) 2015, 12.5%
Colle Stephano Verdicchio di Matelica (DOC) 2015
Terredora Di Paolo “Loggia Della Serra” Greco di Tufo (DOCG) 2015
Colutta Pinot Grigio Friuli Colli Orientali (DOC), 2015
Les CrĂȘtes Petite Arvine Valle D’Aosta (DOP) 2012

Dessert
Masi Angelorum Recioto della Valpolicella Classico (DOC) 2012

Context: The Modern History of Italian Wine

 See the posts from the Italian series:

Pighin's "Grave wines are bargains". Good too!

Puglia: Cool Wines From The Hot Heel Of Italy.


Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Taste of the Week. Arbutus Bread

Taste of the Week
Arbutus Bread 

Sourdough Bread has fed humanity for 4000 years. That’s an opening statement on the Arbutus Bread website. The company itself doesn’t go back that far!

Declan Ryan founded Arbutus Bread in 1999, after selling his previous business [Arbutus Lodge Hotel]. “I knew that retirement would not suit me, and that I had to be active . So I converted a small two car garage in front of my house into a tiny bakery. My first customers were Isobel Sheridan of On the Pigs Back in the English Market and my brother Michael at Isaacs Restaurant in MaCurtain Street.” 

Now Arbutus has customers all over the country, many outlets for their bread, baked in the Cork suburb of Mayfield. Whenever I’m in Mahon (or Midleton) market, I get a loaf or two. 

The most recent purchase was a wholemeal sourdough,. a denser style of bread “with less holes!” It comes in mild and strong versions. The mild was my pick this time and it is excellent, very flavoursome, great for a sandwich and our Taste of the Week. 

You can see all the different types of loaf on the Arbutus site https://www.arbutusbread.com/ 


Monday, June 12, 2017

Cream Donuts. Sweet, Colourful Creations.

Cream Donuts

Sweet, Colourful Creations

Cream is one of the new wave of donut outlets in Cork City,  its counters loaded with colourful creations, backed by excellent coffee and top drawer ice-cream.

Those colourful rows are something of a sweet shock to anyone, like yours truly, who has been used to the jam and cream filled bullet from previous decades. 

Yes indeed, time and donuts have changed since I first came across the confectionary, possibly of Dutch origins, but now with overpowering American influence,  in the late fifties. For a few years, beginning in 1959, you could find me most school-going Wednesdays digging into a donut in An Stad, a small cafĂ© in Leitrim Street.

I, along with dozens of other teenagers (not sure that word was even in use then), would have had attended a game in the Athletic Grounds and, on the way back to college, would stop at An Stad (O’Griofa’s) for a donut and a big glass of milk! Quite a treat in those days.

 As we ate, we’d have a look at the black and white GAA photos on the walls. Well, not all B & W. Some had been hand-tinted by Denis Griffin, especially if Christy Ring was featured! Wonder where that collection ended up.

My next distinct memory of donuts (or doughnuts as we'd have spelt it) came from a German master baker (cert displayed) at the top of Shandon Street. Then, on the way home from work, I’d stop and buy a bagful as a treat for my family. Not too sure what decade that was, probably the 80s into the 90s.

The donuts lived up to their name - apparently it means oil cake. By the time I got home in the car, the brown bag was virtually translucent. Still, there was always a major welcome for the sugary treat! But the German left and the outlet closed down and no real connection with donuts until last week's visit to Cream.

Fin Lyons, the ex banker who manages Cream in Daunt's Square (and Oliver Plunket St), told me they were putting the emphasis on quality. And it is local quality, with the coffee supplied by Cork Coffee Roasters, the dough coming from a baker in Ballycurreen and the Ice-cream by Happy Days in Little Island.

And Fin means to make it quality in, quality out and the staff have been trained along those lines. “They are great, industrious and have taken the motto on board.” And they listen to the customers. “We got the word that some wanted a plain donut and it is now available!” Might go for one of those myself, for old times sake!

But when I got the chance, I didn't! I picked the delicious Caramel, a recent Taste of the Week.   CL choose one topped with fruit (cherry and blueberry) and infused with pineapple jam.

Quite a selection there at the moment, considering they opened less than three weeks back (May 25th). “Caramel is our best seller,” said Fin. “We have eight different options and lots of plans to enhance those options.”

Same story with the ice-cream. Nine choices at the moments, including favourites such as Honeycomb and Cherry, but that number will soon be doubled. 

Fin is loving the change of career. “We have a great product, great service, we will keep innovating. And I like talking to people.”


The Daunt Square outlet has a shelf and stools inside and an outside seating area as well. Oliver Plunket Street will be similar downstairs but will have an upstairs seating area where groups can sit and enjoy.

No shortage of competition in this sector but Cream are backing on local quality, as they plot a rise to the top. Their special dough has already come in for high praise and visiting Americans, tough judges, have left impressed.

Doughnuts have a disputed history. One theory suggests they were invented in North America by Dutch settlers, and in the 19th century, doughnuts were sometimes referred to as one kind of oliekoek (a Dutch word literally meaning "oil cake"), a "sweetened cake fried in fat."

Sunday, June 11, 2017

Stellar Food and Crew at the Castle Cafe


Stellar Food and Crew at the Castle Cafe
Some go to Blackrock Castle to learn about the Universe, extreme life forms on Planet Earth and to explore life in outer space! Some go to explore the local food on their plate in the Castle CafeAnd it is very good food indeed as we discovered on last week’s visit where we enjoyed a delicious meal in a delightful venue.

The  iconic Cork landmark dates back to the 16th century but the Caste Cafe is much younger than that. Indeed, the Market Lane group (which includes the cafe, Market Lane itself, Elbow Lane and ORSO) is celebrating ten years in business. And congratulations are in order!

It may be in a castle but the cafĂ© is an easy-going informal place catering to locals and visitors alike. Service is friendly but very much on the ball. You have quite a selection of menus to choose from including  A La Carte, Early Evening Offer, Set Lunch, Set Dinner, Children's Menu.

We were on the A La Carte, with quite a lot of choices. For the mains, I skipped the normal courses and the selection of salads and, for a change, went for a pizza.

From five, I picked the Goats Cheese, charred aubergine, soft egg, pecorino, spinach and truffle oil. Each and every element, even the baby spinach that had been added at the last minute, looked well and tasted well. And it was excellent overall.

CL’s choice was the Lamb tagine, sweet potato, pearl couscous, tzatziki and homemade flat bread. It was another excellent combination and she loved it but the portion was very large indeed.
 One good thing about the cafe is that they have their own Elbow Lane beers and I enjoyed a pint of the Wisdom Lane Pale Ale. No shortage of wine either and plenty of soft drinks too, including home-made lemonades.


We enjoyed two excellent starterss. CL especially loved the broth that came with her mussels, full description: Local Mussels, Rosscarberry Black Pudding, shallot, cider and cream broth.

Mine was the Bresaola, olive and anise tapenade, Gorgonzola and pickled kohlrabi. Delightful mix of textures and flavours, especially the kohlrabi.
Just room for a shared dessert: Mango and passionfruit sorbet with fresh fruits. It was a lovely finalé, not least because of the excellent mix of fruit. So it was two happy diners who took a lingering look at the castle as we strolled down to the nearby public car-park.

Opening times:
Monday: 9:30am—4:00pm
Tuesday: 9:30am—9:00pm
Wednesday: 9:30am—9:00pm
Thursday: 9:30am—9:00pm
Friday: 9:30am—9:30pm
Saturday: 9:30am—9:30pm
Sunday: 9:30am—8:00pm

More info on the Castle Cafe website here.  




Saturday, June 10, 2017

Amuse Bouche

The apartment was abjectly appointed on the corner of the second of three poured-concrete stories. The front window gave onto a distressing view of purple Christmas cabbages. Rain raised oily puddles in the grocery parking lot, peacock blue and burnt orange, and until well after midnight a corrosive smell of exhaust stole through the vents. The aisles of the grocery store were filled with college students. They dawdled in formation, and stared in perplexity at fresh produce like they were encountering obscene paintings.


from Kiddio at the Wedding by Mary O’Donoghue, one of the stories in New Irish Writing, a feature in Granta Spring 2016, Highly Recommended.

Thursday, June 8, 2017

Sage. New Superlatives Please!


Sage. New Superlatives Please!
Ravioli

Mackerl
Think I’d need a stack of superlatives to describe a recent dinner at Sage on Midleton, the home of the 12 mile menu. I could easily go over the top as Kevin Aherne’s kitchen is easily ahead of many around the country. But I’ll try and not bore you, just to say here at the start that the place, in a courtyard just off Midleton’s main street, has never ever disappointed.

Sage and its junior sister, the Greenroom, cater for a variety of tastes and budgets and the recent addition - the semi-open courtyard itself -  is a lively food and drink venue and was indeed booked out on the night we visited. Sage too was full by the eight o’clock mark so the advise is to book ahead.

Then you can relax. Everything will be fine: the fresh local food, the very friendly efficient service, the drink (much of the wine is organic) and the beer is craft and local as you'd expect. You can spot the crew cooking in the kitchen as you sit back in a lovely simple room, one of whose walls honours the many suppliers from within that 12 mile radius.
We, subsidised by the last of the gift vouchers from Christmas, were on the A la Carte but I spotted much of the same menu on the Early Evening offering (three courses for thirty euro!). Breads were delivered to the table as we studied the menu. We also thought about the drink and, with steak in mind, I settled on the regular stout from O’Hara’s. Regular but excellent, a bottle for 6.00. Soon we were nibbling on the amuse bouche of Apple rings  and Ardsallagh Goats cheese.
Hake


Great choice of starters, and mine was magnificent: Mackerel, oyster mushroom and samphire (10.00). It was a great combination, the warm soft flesh of the mackerel, full of flavour, perfectly complemented by the supple mushroom, the peppery crunch of the radish and the salty bite of the samphire.

Hard to guess sometimes what you are going to get on your plate when you read the brief description, as CL did: Beef cheek ravioli, horseradish, parsnip (9.00). Well, the beef was contained in one big plate-filling ravioli and the parsnip was a crisp. But it all worked so well together, another delicious interesting starter. I'm sure the other four on the list would have been of the same standard, each perhaps with a little surprise.
Beef

So, surprised and happy, we moved on to the mains. No big ambush for me: Beef Fillet (Charlie Terry), horseradish, shallots and spinach (30.00). I've long maintained that if a chef looks after the little things, that he will also come up trumps with the big items. In this case, for example, the shallots were outstanding, sweet and good and the spinach was fresh and tasty. The fillet? Add any meaty superlative you wish. As good as you’ll get and better than most.

And was the other side of the table jealous? No, not a bit of it. She loves her hake and that affair was enhanced by Sage’s: Hake, pasta, mussels, chorizo, samphire (24.00). A lot on the plate but another winning combination, well cooked, well presented and well served.
Sweet

It is strawberry time in Ireland so we both finished with a Strawberry and Marshmallow Posset (8.00). The two glass bowls were well stripped, as indeed were all the previous plates, when the servers came to take them away. We like good food and there’s no shortage of that in Sage. Very Highly Recommended!


Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Italian Wines from the Alps. From the west to the east

Italian Wines from the Alps
From the west to the east
Dolomites

Les CrĂȘtes Petite Arvine Valle D’Aosta (DOP) 2012, 13%, €31.25 Le Caveau

Petite Arvine, better known over the mountains in Switzerland (in the Valais), is “an indigenous variety” in the Valle D’Aosta, with “soaring aromatics and rich sweet fruit” according to Robert Parker, Wine Advocate. 

Proprietor Constantino CharrĂšre is the driving force in the region, “seeking out native grape varieties” for the wonderful wines of Les CrĂȘtes, according to Le Caveau.

His work in this mountain area is the subject of an appreciation piece in The Modern History of Italian Wines and they list him as an influential figure right from the 1990s when Les CrĂȘtes was founded.

As you may guess from the languages in the wine description, Valle D’Aosta grows a mix of of Italian, French and Swiss varieties. Surprisingly, the wine that brought Les CrĂȘtes to international notice was their CuvĂ©e Bois, a Chardonnay!

While wine has been produced here from at least Roman times, not much ever got out of Italy and Val D’Aosta has been designated “the forgotten corner” in Vino Italiano.

From the vineyard, one can see the high peaks of Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, and Gran Paradiso. Well known ski resorts, including Courmayeur and Cervinia, dot the landscape. Here, in the valley, Petite Arvine makes “a light, flinty wine with hints of grapefruit and mandarin orange”.

Colour is a rather rich straw. The aromas are an intense melange of white fruit, honey and floral elements. It is very pleasing on the palate, rich white fruit flavours, citrus too, and a long drying, almost flinty finish. A gem from the ancient valley and Very Highly Recommended.

Weingut Niklas SĂŒdtiroler Lagrein (DOP) 2012, 13%, €19.75 Le Caveau

Grapes and Wine describes the Lagrein grape as an interesting mouth-filling variety and it is grown here in the north-east of Italy and over the border in Austria in the Tyrol. If you’re on a tourist coach crossing from Austria to Italy, the guide will take some pleasure in pointing out how neat and tidy the Austrian part of the Tyrol is by comparison with the Italian bit.

That bit, also known as the Alto Adige, became Italian in 1918 as part of the settlement after World War 1 and, as you can see by the wine bottle, it is still a mix of cultures and languages. 

It is entirely located within the Alps and the craggy peaks of the Dolomites dominate in the east. Nowadays, thanks to the efforts north and south of the border, with no little help from the EU, this area is very prosperous.

This particular wine from Niklas Erhof is 100% Lagrein and has spent 10 months ageing in big oak barrels. It is perfect with game, beef and similar. We had it with new season lamb from Eoin O’Mahony butchers in the English Market and it was perfect.


It has a deep dark colour and you’ll more than likely note cherry and plum in the aromas. Dark fruit too on the velvety palate, a hint of spice also, not very tannic at all and indeed it is a surprisingly easy-drinking wine. Highly Recommended.


See also (from current Italian series):

Pighin's "Grave wines are bargains". Good too!

Puglia: Cool Wines From The Hot Heel Of Italy.

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Taste of the Week. Cream Donuts

Taste of the Week
Cream Donuts

Cream is a new donut, coffee and ice-cream place in town. Its first base, open just two weeks back, is at the corner of Daunt's Square and Paul Street and a second outlet, in Oliver Plunket Street, is due to open any day now.

Donuts are popular in Cork, always have been. But are now much different, more colourful, than the basic jam and cream filled bullet of a few decades ago. I'm thinking in particular of one, by Cream, the Caramel Donut, our sweet Taste of the Week.

It is not the most spectacular donut on display here but it is amazingly popular, already established as a best-seller. Take a taste of the outside and its good but get those teeth in a little deeper, into that luscious lake of caramel in the middle. Death by caramel!

1 Daunt’s Square

Cork.

Monday, June 5, 2017

Calm, comfortable and courteous place. Carrig House Stay

Calm, Comfortable and Courteous Place

Carrig House Stay

It is breakfast time. Outside, there are blue skies and the lake water is blue as well. Caragh Lake is a big and beautiful body of water and I’m staying in Carrig House on the shore. Carrig, by the way, serves one of the best breakfasts in Ireland, so all in all it is rather a perfect morning. And would still be a very good one even if, as sometimes happens, the sun doesn't shine!


With breakfast behind us, we are well placed to take in the local sights of this part of south west Kerry, known as the Iveragh Peninsula. It is the largest peninsula in southwestern Ireland. The Macgillycuddy's Reeks, with Carrauntuohill the highest point, lies in the centre of the peninsula. And not too far away is Killorglin, Cahersiveen, Valentia Island, the Skelligs, the Skellig Ring, Ballinskelligs, Waterville and many other places worth a visit.
Good morning. What would you like for breakfast?
We were here for three nights. Carrig, with its 17 guest rooms, doesn't come cheap but a gift of a Blue Book Voucher eases the hit on the wallet as does everything else here: the comfort, the welcome, the gardens, the courtesy, the chat, the private pier onto the lake, and the food.


Fish of course is a regular on the menu and we concentrated on it for one of our dinners. Roasted West Coast Cod Fillet topped with fresh Dingle Bay crab and prawns, fresh tagliatelle, morel mushroom velouté was my choice and it was delicious all the way. Our other mains was the Steamed Atlantic Stone-bass with asparagus three ways (seared, marinated, and crumb-coated), vinaigrette on a Cooleeny crÚme swish, balsamic pearls.


After a lovely amuse bouche by the fire in one of the drawing rooms, we had each started with Warm Spice Infused Quail, Beluga lentil Mung Bean jus and pickled onions. Not the easiest meat to pick off the small bones but it came with a big flavour, enhanced no end by the lentils and the onions. 

My dessert was another Carrig House gem, Rich Vanilla CrÚme Brûlée, cherry and hazelnut financier, and fruit tuile while CL indulged in the Passionfruit Marshmallow with roasted pineapple chiboust, pineapple parcels, and liquorice caramel.
Not always blue here.
The rooms are superb here, spacious and ultra comfortable. Ours had a view of the gardens but you can also get some with lake views. Wi-Fi is pretty good but the network service for mobiles is not. 

And don’t be put off if you see a brown tint in the water - the reservoir is in bogland - and the water is perfectly safe for washing yourself. And they do provide bottled water in the rooms. The bathroom, at least in our case, was spacious and well equipped with toiletries and towels (best bring your own face cloths, a general rule) and you do have a full sized bath as well as the shower.

The decor is beautiful all through the house. Newspapers are in good supply too if you want to sit by the fire and take it easy until that shower passes. Then again, if the sun is out, you’ll find it hard to resist taking a stroll around the colourful gardens, maybe an amble down to the lake.

Amuse Bouche in the cosy drawing room
Then, when you (don’t mind those fishermen who headed off early) are good and ready, you can head out for the day. The coast? The mountains? The choice is yours. And remember you'll have a stunning dinner to come back to!


Carrig House was built originally about 1850 as a hunting lodge. Frank and Mary Slattery, the current owners, purchased Carrig in 1996. They are the first Irish owners since it was originally built and have renovated  and meticulously restored the Victorian residence to its former glory. The atmosphere, they say, is friendly, warm and one of total relaxation. It certainly is!
Cod

See also: Visiting Valentia Island

Friday, June 2, 2017

Amuse Bouche

A Firkin
Men have seen salmon in shallows of the Garravogue where formerly there were deeps…. But there is a tremendous trade in butter from all the western farms. There is still butter going down the Garravogue and excellent things coming up it. Now the men, the few that are most willing, are getting into the trains for Dublin and shipping out to England and beyond. You can sense the press of men behind them, …, held in just as yet by the ramparts of the wishes of their wives. But all in all the war is there and the men of Sligo cannot resist for long…


from The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty by Sebastien Barry (1998). Recommended.

Thursday, June 1, 2017

These Ladies Like to be Out and About. Bluebell Falls Goats Cheese

These Ladies Like to be Out and About

Bluebell Falls Goats Cheese

“Our goats are outside all the time. They have the use of the shed but seem to prefer the outdoors, even when it’s wet,” said Victor O’Sullivan to me when I visited his Bluebell Falls goats, all four hundred of them, last week. “It makes a definite difference to the cheese.”

Victor and his cheesemaker wife Breda have a mix of three breeds on the farm, just outside Newtownshandrum in North Cork “Why the mix?”, I asked. “They each have different characteristics and, with the three, we get a more balanced type of milk.” 
Milking lessons!
Two of the breeds here are originally Swiss. The Saanen goats are a white or cream-coloured goat breed, named for the Saanen valley in Switzerland. The Toggenburg goat, is a breed of milk goat, named after the region in Switzerland where the breed originated, the Toggenburg valley in the Canton of St. Gallen. The British Alpine is a high-producer of quality goats' milk, and the breed can be found in many goat dairies.

They’ve had goats here since the middle of the last decade and the herd was up to the 400 mark by 2007, the milk being sold on to dairies. They took the big step in 2013 when they bought out Bluebell Falls (then in County Clare). Breda and Victor did cheesemaking courses under Eddie O'Neill at Moorepark (near Fermoy) and, very importantly, Paul Keane of the original Bluebell gave them a solid grounding in the business over a three month period. 
By 2014, they were retailing their own cheese. And, continuing “the same system as Bluebell”, have expanded each year since and are proud of their BRC accreditation, the global standard for food safety.

Their long oval packages have becoming well known to cheese lovers at markets, festivals and in the aisles of supermarket such as Dunnes and Tesco. Varieties such as the Original, the Honey and Garlic, the Cranberry, the Pepper, Mixed herbs and Garlic, and the Caramelised Onion and Caraway seeds, will be familiar to many of you.

I met Victor at the recent Mallow Garden festival and he showed me the original and the cranberry in a newer different “tub” packaging. As tasty as ever but looking well. 

And right along them were the new products, not made from goats milk but from cows. Not any cows either. He uses gorgeous creamy milk from a herd of pedigree Jersey cows on a farm in nearby Dromcollogher. And the two new products, the Jersey Cream Cheese Original and the Jersey Cream Pesto  are absolutely superb, well worth seeking out.
After that chat, it was time to get out and do a bit of farm work. Victor took us through the long grass where a big group from the herd were grazing and soon, with the promise of food, we were surrounded.

“How about giving a hand with the milking?” was the surprise question. Both of us put the hand up. Soon, he had a hold of one of the goats and CL was taking instructions, trying to concentrate and avoid the odd stray leg flying out. A second goat was more steady and the milk flowed, well flow may not be an exact description but she was getting the hang of it as I did later.
One of the young ones
Luckily, Victor doesn't have to rely on city visitors to do the milking of the large herd. He has a mechanical set-up that milks them twice daily. Then of course the cheese making starts. 

And when it is made, you must sell it. And that too takes time. Last weekend, Victor was at both the Mallow Festival and at The Sheridan's Irish Food Festival in Co. Meath. This week, it is five days at Bloom in Dublin, not counting the coming and the going. Tough going really but he gets great satisfaction from making a top class product and getting it out to the public. He is rightly proud of Bluebell Falls cheese and we consumers are lucky to have him on our Irish doorstep. Bluebell Falls is another reason why I'm happy to buy local!
Victor at the Mallow Show
The multi-award winning soft cheese is supplied to top end  hotels, restaurants and food service. It is distributed by, among others, Pallas Foods, La Rousse Foods, and Plassey Foods. Also available in all major retailers and good health stores.