The Black Truffle. A Westport gem that doesn’t cost the earth

The Black Truffle. 

A Westport gem that doesn’t cost the earth.

The Black Truffle is a new culinary gem in Westport, a very reasonably priced gem even it’s called after the expensive French black truffle (Tuber melanosporum), from the Dordogne. Here, on the €25.00 euro menu, you can enjoy three high standard courses, most of which feature on the A La Carte. It is indeed a French style bistro, as they claim, and comes with bistro prices.

I’ll let the owners, Dominique and Anna Miralles, explain: Cooking has always been our passion and here, in this humble French style bistro, we would like to share some of it with you. Working with Irish suppliers, we aim to get the best out of local produce to create simple and delicious dishes. We focus on modern, ambitious cooking using sophisticated techniques. To live up to its name ' the bistro', here at The Black Truffle we serve moderately priced meals, bringing, but not exclusively, some of the French classics.

Three alcohols!

We were there recently on a Friday night and had much to choose from the A La Carte. We were tempted by the Seared Scallops (with sweetcorn and lemongrass velouté, marsh samphire), the star starter.

CL though likes her mussels in a tomato sauce and went for the Chef’s Mussels in Tomato Sauce, saffron, flambéed with pastis and cognac (7.50). Now she likes her mussels in pastis and brandy and, as the chef Dominique later explained, white wine was the third alcohol in a lovely flavourful bowl of the bivalves. The mussels looked well and so did my Ibérico Ham, pickled cucumber, relish, quails eggs, and aioli (8.95).

The mussels (in an even bigger bowl) and Angus Steak both featured among the main course choices along with a tempting Pulled Brisket option. CL though plumped for a French classic: Duck Leg Confit, orange confit, glazed carrots, celeriac and beetroot shavings (19.95). Another superbly executed dish, perfect in every way.

She was happy and I was even happier with my simply described Seafood Gratin. Simple yes, and simply superb, one of the best seafood dishes I've come across in a long long time. I’ll give it its full title: Seafood Gratin, julienne of vegetables, mussels, scallops, smoked cod, hake, and sauce velouté (19.95).

The dessert list was short with a few simple titles also, including Lemon Tart (6.50). Again, no disappointment here, just top class. I like my Crème Brûlée and I like their Pistachio and White Chocolate Crème Brûlée even more. A lovely end to a delicious meal.

No shortage of teas or coffees in this simply furnished but very comfortable place which opened two months ago. The wine list is short but well chosen. The service is excellent, friendly and chatty. And, of course, the food is par excellence.

See also: 48 Hours in Westport

The Black Truffle 

3 Market Lane, 

Bridge Street, 

Westport, 

Co. Mayo

Tel: (098) 25912

Doneraile. Dine and Stroll. Lovely Cafés. 166 Hectares.

Doneraile. Dine and Stroll.
Unusual Cafés. 166 Hectares.

Looking for something to do as the weather improves? Why not take a trip to Doneraile, just off the main Cork-Limerick Road, about 40 minutes from Cork city. 

There are two lovely cafés in the village. If you arrive early, you may work up an appetite in the huge Doneraile Park; stroll along by the Awbeg River that runs through and say hello to the deer that graze on the slopes. 

Dessert at The Tea Rooms

If you eat first, well then you may walk that off in the 166 hectare park, landscaped in the Capability Brown style, which has at least two pedestrian entrances from the main street, one via Fishpond Lane. 

One of the cafés is in the old kitchens of Doneraile Court; the house itself though is not open to the public. It is advisable to book ahead as both cafes are quite busy.

Ploughmans at Townhouse

The Tea Rooms in the park are in an atmospheric high-ceilinged room, complete with a set of servants’ bells. Not that many tables inside but they do have a large outside area in a sheltered spot. 

The regular menu offers soup to start with, and then all kinds of sandwiches, lasagne, quiche, ham with salad and brown bread. And don’t forget to check the specials board. Prices are keen and service is quite good.

Deer. Or Unicorn?

One of the works in progress in the park is the boxed gardens, quite close to the main street. It is well worth having a look at this walled garden which has a line of gardeners’ cottages at one end. The park also has an entrance for cars, a car park and children’s playground.

You may have the best of intentions of visiting the park but, if you dine first at the Townhouse Café  on main street you may still be there much later, lounging on a comfortable armchair or sofa. 

Doneraile Court

You certainly won't leave if the weather has turned cold or wet as the open fire will be blazing alongside in this high ceilinged Georgian Room.

The Townhouse

Having looked and tested all the eye-catching furniture in use downstairs, you may well be tempted to check further upstairs as the owners carry on a House Interiors business in the same building. And if a group of you come together, then more than likely you’ll treat yourselves to afternoon tea in the Botanical Room.

The comfort and decor are amazing and the food, while simple by comparison, is excellent also. Traditional baked honey roast ham, with Townhouse slaw on doorstep brown or white bread, makes for a very affordable lunch treat (for less than a fiver). 

If you want something more substantial, then perhaps the Ploughman’s Plate or the Savoury Tart of the Day will fit the bill. And there is much more, including a Warm Chicken and Bacon salad. In a hurry? Grab that soup and sandwich offer.

People call in all hours of the day to sample the sweet things here. Sweet or savoury, it is all well done, well served and well priced. Another attraction in Doneraile.

Ageno - No. 1 Natural Wine

Ageno - No. 1 Natural Wine

Decanter has just declared La Stoppa’s orange wine, Ageno, the world's best natural wine.

The magazine’s expert panel blind-tasted 122 natural wines “from all corners of the globe”. And the winner was La Stoppa, Ageno, Emilia, Emilia Romagna, Italy, 2011, the very same wine that I enjoyed with dinner in Cork’s Cafe Paradiso last week.

Some of the comments from the panel:

Full bodied, spicy and honeyed.

The full orange in colour…it has fine meal-time aptitude and dazzling compelling flavours.

A riper style that is full of energy and laden with oranges and rhubarb..memorable finish.

It is indeed memorable, from start to finish: the colour, the flavours, the finalé. The experts didn't mention it specifically but I found hints of both cider and sherry, not least in the aromas. It is though very well balanced and complex and certainly proved a winner with the vegetarian dishes in Paradiso.

It is produced using an old traditional winemaking method, where the grapes are macerated on their skins (indigenous yeast, no added sulphur) for up to a month, or more, to create an orange wine. It helps that Ortrugo tends to orange in any case. The result is rich in colour, tannic and complex.

It is a superb wine with the grape varieties being Malvasia di Candia Aromatica (60%) and Ortrugo and Trebbiano and is produced by Elena Pantaleoni. She is in Ireland this week, showing at the Le Caveau trade tastings in Dublin (Tuesday) and in Cork (Thursday). 

During last year’s visit, she told me that the first Ageno was first produced in 2002. “We do not have a long experience of this wine,” said Elena and she recommended serving it at 15 degrees.

Bradley’s in North Main Street, Cork, stock quite a few of the Le Caveau wines.

See also (from current Italian series):

Fontanafredda. Important Player in Italian Wine
Two Amazing Whites from Italy.

Wines of Italy's Marche

In the Heart of Chianti

From the Islands

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

Sweet Favourite of the Romans. Still Going Strong.

Barolo and Amarone. Two Italians Worth Knowing

Puglia: Cool Wines From The Hot Heel Of Italy.

Pinot Grigio, one of the most popular grapes.

Wines from the Alps

Velenosi from the Marche

Amuse Bouche

Winemakers elsewhere tried to cash in on the champagne boom… In Burgundy, there was a sparkling Nuits St George, a sparkling Montrachet, and a sparkling Romanée Conti. In Bordeaux, there was a sparkling Sauternes. In the Southern Rhone, one winemaker produced a sparkling Chateauneuf du Pape. Aside from their fizziness, however, they bore no resemblance to genuine champagne. “They are miserable parodies,” one critic said.

Champagne had become unique.

from Champagne by Don and Petie Kladstrup (2005)

Cafe Paradiso. Seasons On The Quay

Cafe Paradiso

Seasons On The Quay

Aubergine parcels

Flatbread and orange wine (Ageno)

Seasons come. Seasons go. Café Paradiso notes the comings and the goings in the fields, in the orchards, in the gardens. The orders go out, the fresh produce comes in. Seasons are key. And the customers keep coming to the amazing restaurant on Cork’s Lancaster Quay.

Good food calls for good wine and you get that here too on a finely selected list that includes quite a few organic and natural wines. And all are available in four sizes: 150ml glass, carafes of 250ml (quartino) and 500ml (mezzo), and the full bottle of course.

Beetroot rasam

We started our early evening visit with a few nibbles: olives, nuts and a delicious seeded flatbread. As we nibbled we picked our wines. My choice was La Stoppa Ageno 2011, a lovely orange wine, made by Elena Pantaleoni in Emilia Romagna (who'll be in Dublin and Cork next week with Le Caveau) while CL’s was the Terras Gauda O Rosal Albarino 2016, one of the best of that now very popular variety.

You may need a little help here with the wine and menu if you’re not a regular. We did and it was given freely and informed our choices. 

Roast carrots, cheese

My starter was the Roast carrots, Macroom buffalo mozzarella, burnt aubergine, honey, pickled fennel, ras-el-hanout crumb, a gorgeous plate, full of flavours and textures and not a little colour.

And it was the colour of the other dish that first caught the eye but CL’s beetroot rasam, cauliflower kofta, cucumber coconut raita, a warm soup, had much more going for it as well.

Lemon Risotto and Artichokes

On to the mains then where I enjoyed the Aubergine parcels of spinach and sheep’s cheese with beluga lentils, miso gravy, pine-nut crumb, samphire, and radish. I do like aubergine and it was brilliant as were the lentils, indeed everything on the plate.

CL meanwhile was delighted with her Confit artichokes, broad beans & scallions with lemon risotto, parsley broth, hazelnut crumb, and Cratloe Hills sheep’s cheese. Again every little piece was polished off and that lemon flavoured risotto was something else.

Pear, Pecan pudding

Vin Santo

 A short dessert list but no lack of temptation though I went a little off piste with Vin Santo with Cantucci Biscotti. And I enjoyed that sweet holy wine (sweet yes, but well balanced) as I begged for a few spoonfuls of the delicious Roast Pear, Pecan Pudding and Beamish Ice-cream that CL had ordered. That Pecan Pudding could be a dessert on its own.

All in all, a lovely meal. And indeed a lovely relaxed evening at Café Paradiso where the welcome and the service left nothing to be desired.

Barolo and Amarone. Two Italians Worth Meeting

Venice

Barolo and Amarone. Two Italians Worth Meeting

A good few years back, a mixed nationality group of tourists, including yours truly, were slowly making our way across Italy. There were a few Australians in the party - they were mainly beer-drinkers (stubbies rather than stickies) but included one winemaker - and their conversation regularly featured the word Barolo. It seemed like a holy grail to them. Later I would find out why! Perhaps they also mentioned Amarone but I can't recall. These two wines from the north of Italy are well worth getting to know!

Ciabot Berton Barolo (DOCG) “La Morra” 2011, 14.5%, €32.95 Le Caveau

Nebbiolo is regarded as native to the Piedmont region and produces some of Italy's “most uniquely perfumed and powerful reds”. Since early days, one of those wines, Barolo, was referred to as the “king of wines, the wine of kings”. This La Morra is a right royal example.

It comes from a prestigious and historical cru. The winemaking is “fairly” traditional. The 100 per cent Nebbiolo is aged 18 months in 25 hl Slavonian oak casks (useful for stabilising and harmonising) and then 6 months in steel vats before bottling.

According to Vino Italiano: “…. the top wines in the DOCG are said to hail from the communes of Monteforte d’Alba, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto, Barolo and La Morra.” The hilly land concerned lies generally to the south-west of Alba and much of it is a protected World Heritage site since 2014.

This gorgeous light red wine has aromas of blackberry in Autumn, gentle hints of cherry too, plus floral notes. On the palate it is smooth round and rich, some spice too. Concentrated and elegant, perfumed and powerful. The excellent acidity heralds a long, fresh finish, a finish as satisfying as all that goes before. Very Highly Recommended.

Luigi Righetti Amarone della Valpolicella (DOCG) Classico 2012, 15%, €25.95 Karwig Wines

Amarone, some of you will know, is a style, not a grape and the style was developed in the area of Valpolicella where local wine-makers searched for a way to increase the body, complexity and alcohol content of their wines, made generally from Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara fruits. Amarone della Valpolicella is an intensely flavoured dry red wine made from dried grapes. 

Righetti may not always feature in the lists of top wine-makers here but his is a good one; you may take a certain confidence from the G in the DOCG. Colour is a deep ruby red. The complex nose features oodles of dried red fruit. It is rich and dry with concentrated flavour - the alcohol is also high; some spice too and a noticeable tartness, all characteristics carried through to the finalé. Very enjoyable wine and Very Highly Recommended.

See also (from current Italian series):

Fontanafredda. Important Player in Italian Wine
Two Amazing Whites from Italy.

Wines of Italy's Marche

In the Heart of Chianti

From the Islands

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

Sweet Favourite of the Romans. Still Going Strong.

Montepulciano and Montepulciano confused?
Pinot Grigio, one of the most popular grapes.

Wines from the Alps

Velenosi from the Marche

Albet i Noya. Classy Wines from Catalonia

Albet i Noya

Classy Wines from Catalonia

The Albet i Noya family vineyard is situated at Can Vendrell near the village of Sant Pau d'Ordal. They cultivate 44 hectares of vines on the slopes of the Ordal mountain range in the Penedes region of Catalonia, and have held Organic Certification since the 1980's. The brothers Josep Maria and Antoni are steadfast in their pursuit of excellence and innovation, and their range of still and sparkling wines are synonymous with high quality. 

It was Scandinavian influences, staring in 1978, that led to the vineyard going organic. Josep Maria Albet i Noya decided to try one of the vineyards, despite doubts from friends and family. But it worked out well and encouraged him to extend the practice. Healthier vines and healthier wines are the result.

Albet i Noya, Lignum, Penedes 2013, 14%, €16.00 Mary Pawle Wines

This is a red blend of Cabernet Sauvignon / Garnatxa negra (Grenache) / Merlot / Syrah / Ull de llebre (Tempranillo). The grapes are “from the highlands of the region” and the wine has spent 10 months in barriques.

I had been looking for some help after opening the bottle but my timing wasn’t good: “It’s red, smells like wine and it’s nearly time for East Enders!” In fairness, after the show, I did get a more considered opinion and we both were very happy with the Lignum.

It is a ruby red, bright. Aromas are an inviting mix of dark red fruits, especially plum. You have the same bright mix of fruit flavours on the palate, spice, smooth tannins. It is warm and supple and dry with a long lasting finish. Very engaging. Could well be a long term relationship! Well made, no loose ends here, a more or less perfect wine and Very Highly Recommended. Good value too.

The winemakers say it can be enjoyed straight away, although it will evolve favourably in the coming years if stored between 10° and 15° C. “We recommend serving it at 17°C.”

Albet i Noya, El Fanio, Penedès 2010, 13%,€15.90 Mary Pawle Wines

I was a little bit worried when I realised the age of this one. But re-assured when reading that Xarel-lo ages well and this wine is one hundred per cent Xarel-lo.

Pale straw is the colour and there are white fruits, honey and herbal notes in the aromas. Seven years it may be but still lively, stone-fruit flavours, touch of melon too. The mouthful is close to succulent - it has spent some seven months on lees. Hints of sweetness but all well balanced by a vibrant acidity and then there’s a decent mid-length finish to follow. Highly Recommended. Would be interesting to compare with a more recent vintage.

Albet i Noya say: Planted on small terraces of 2 or 3 rows and treated with Biodynamic preparations to heighten the expression of the terroir, the wine is vinified traditionally. It is left on the lees in the porous cement eggs that let it breath and constantly dynamises the wine due to their shape, bringing out the mineral character of the Costers de l'Ordal.

To read more about the varieties of the Penedes region, please click here

The Old Butter Roads Food Trail Launch. Great Weekend of food and fun in Blarney.

The Old Butter Roads Food Trail Launch

Great Weekend of food and fun in Blarney

We are nothing without the producers - Chef Martina Cronin
Here are five of the best speaking in Blairs on Monday.
Clockwise from top left: Tim McCarthy, Justin Greene, Don O'Leary,
Rubert Atkinson and Pat Mulcahy.

The Old Butter Roads Food Trail is up and running following a sunny (mainly!) weekend launch in the Blarney area. The event was officially opened on Saturday in the Church of Ireland by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed.

Wild Boar at Square Table

There were butter making demos at the Butter Museum, talks at the Hydro Farm Allotments, a pony and trap delivery of churns (the symbol of the food trail) to participating businesses, an ecology walk and talk (by Tom O’Byrne) at Clogheen Milken, the Gab story-telling competition, a smoked produce demo in the Old Blarney Post Office Café, a showcase multi-course dinner in the Square Table, an open weekend at The Farm in Grenagh and a Monday demo, with food and cocktails, at Blairs Inn.

And it wasn’t just Blarney members that were involved. There were producers plus restaurant and café operators from all over the area involved, Duhallow, Muskerry and Avondhu, a serious (if fun-filled) statement of intent for the many events ahead over the rest of the year. Expect a gathering (with food for sure) at the Kerryman’s Table in Aubane, a Tapas style event in Mitchelstown, a Long Table feast by the Killavullen Farmers Market, and more.

Wagyu beef (left) and Angus rib-eye at Square Table

Current members:

Ballinwillin House www.ballinwillinhouse.com , 

Blair’s Inn www.blairsinn.com , 

Peppers at The White Deer www.peppersmallow.com , 

Blarney Castle Hotel www.blarneycastlehotel.com , 

Nibbles Millstreet www.nibbles.ie , 

The Square Table www.thesquaretable.ie , 

Castle Hotel Macroom www.castlehotel.ie , 

The Old Blarney Post Office Café www.blarneycafe.com , 

Thatch & Thyme www.thatchandthyme.com , 

Praline Mitchelstown www.praline.ie , 

O’Callaghan’s Restaurant www.ocallaghans.ie , 

Longueville House www.longuevillehouse.ie , 

O’Brien’s Free Range Eggs, 

Hydro Farm Allotments www.hydrofarmallotments.com , 

Osbourne Butchers www.blarneybutchers.com , 

9 White Deer Brewery www.9whitedeer.ie , 

Longueville House Beverages www.longuevillahouse.ie/artisan.html , 

Folláin www.follain.ie, 

Annabella Farm, 

Twomey’s Butchers www.mtwomeybutchers.ie , 

Killavullen Farmers Market www.killavullenfarmersmarket.weebly.com , McCarthy’s Butchers Kanturk www.jackmccarthy.ie , 

Hegarty’s Cheese, 

Toonsbridge Dairy www.therealoliveco.com , 

Ballyvolane House www.ballyvolanespirits.ie www.ballyvolanehouse.ie , 

St Anne’s Shandon www.shandonbells.ie, 

Activity Days www.activitydays.ie, 

The Farm Grenagh www.visitthefarm.ie , 

Cork Butter Museum www.corkbutter.museum

List subject to change as new members join.

The Blairs, Duncan (left) and Richard trying one of his cocktails

Sunday night’s multi-course dinner in the Square Table perfectly illustrated the depth and range of produce available in the general North Cork area.

The opening selection of canapés: 

Lamb Tartare;

Toonsbridge ricotta, apple, hazelnut, beetroot;

Old MillBank smoked salmon rice paper roll, avocado, pickled ginger;

Macroom Buffalo mozzarella, basil pesto, tomato tapenade;

Carrigcleena Farm cured duck, beetroot chutney, confit ginger.

Then, from McCarthy’s Butchers in Kanturk, we had a Black Pudding Roll with house piccalilli and also Crispy Bacon with apple purée.

Next it was the turn of Michael Twomey's Butchers in Macroom: Wagyu beef burger with Hegarty’s Cheddar and house tomato chutney and also enjoyed their Agnus rib-eye with duck fat chip and O’Brien’s free range egg béarnaise.

Hake at the Square Table

Fish then had its turn and the Pan-fried hake (from K O’Connell’s), with Annabelle Farm spinach and mussel velouté was a splendid combination, another tasty testament to the produce and to the skill of Martina in the kitchen, as indeed was the whole meal.

Now we were on  to the Ballinwillin Wild Boar, braised and cured and served with caramelised potato gnocchi, aged Coolea cheese, Ballyhoura Mushrooms and wild garlic. Great stuff.

Dessert was McCarthy’s Natural Dairy’s Buttermilk, foamed, with rhubarb, confit ginger and speculous crumble. Hegarty’s Cheddar  and Toonsbridge smoked Scamorza featured on the cheese plate and the highlight here, as part of the week long tribute in Cork to Veronica Steel, was Milleens Cheese with fig jam. All washed down with a drop of apple brandy from Longueville House who earlier supplied a glass of their excellent cider.

Dessert at the Square Table

And the top class food and drink continued on Monday in the garden at Blair’s Inn where the brothers Richard and Duncan were the hosts, Richard coming up with some inventive cocktails (using everything from stout to apple brandy to gin) while Duncan did the cooking demos.

Longueville's Apple Brandy
went down well at Square Table

Highlight here were the passionate speeches from the producers. Don O’Leary of 9 White Deer Brewery, Justin Greene of Bertha’s Revenge Gin and Ballyvolane House, Timmy McCarthy of McCarthy’s Kanturk, Pat Mulcahy of Ballinwillin House, and Rupert Atkinson of Longueville House all spoke well of their own products, and of the other products of the area.

But there was no trumpet blowing at the expense of other areas. This was underlined, simply and with some wisdom, by Tim McCarthy. If you enjoy the brown bread in Mayo than that's the best in Ireland; if you enjoy the brown bread in Cork, then that's the best in Ireland. 

So enjoy the best of local, wherever you are. And if you are anywhere near the Old Butter Roads Food Trail these coming months, you will be eating, and drinking, very well indeed.

Cheese for two at Square Table

Get the latest on their Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/OldButterRoads/

on Twitter at @oldbutterroads

and on web at http://oldbutterroads.ie/

The Old Butter Road platter at Blairs

Taste of the Week. Oisin Goats Cheese

Taste of the Week

Oisin Hard Goats Cheese

Picked up a wedge of Oisin Hard Goats Cheese at the Gubbeen stall in the Mahon Point Farmers Market the week before last and a few hours later made it my current Taste of the Week. Hard goat’s cheeses are usually made in a good summer when there is a surplus of milk.

Don’t know a great deal about this but it is one of the organic goat’s milk cheeses made at a farm run by a Dutch couple in Kilmallock, County Limerick. This hard cheese is very close to pure white, is creamy, mild and full of flavour. It is a sublime eating cheese.