Gourmet Times Imminent In The Herbert Restaurant As New Head Chef Cormac Vesey Takes Over at Cahernane House Hotel.

Gourmet Times Imminent In The Herbert Restaurant As New Head Chef  Cormac Vesey Takes Over at Cahernane House Hotel.

These Winter Chanterelle mushrooms were excellent with the Dry Aged Beef.

Killarney and visiting diners are in for an exciting and tasty future. That was the message from Cahernane House Hotel last Friday when new head chef Cormac Vesey’s 8-course tasting menu gave a tantalising hint of what’s to come in the months ahead. 

New chef Cormac with Maurice O'Connell of Wayward Irish Spirits (right)

Venison

It went down a treat and drew praise all around the Herbert Restaurant for the new chef with many of those present looking forward to seeing how he integrates such delicious produce into the menus here. Cormac's focus is very much on food provenance and seasonal ingredients.

A member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World and Ireland’s Blue Book, Cahernane House Hotel is already well known for its stunning food and classic Irish hospitality. Cormac's meal indicated that it will be even better in the future. 

Monkfish

It won’t be for the want of skill or the lack of effort. The detail in preparing these eight courses, the amount of attention to the small things and the amount of work in sourcing the produce (back-breaking when it came to foraging a large selection of mushrooms hiding among fallen Autumn leaves) was quite phenomenal.

Cahernane will inevitably have venison this time of the year and it was especially good when paired with a lovely red from the Rhone. And the well-paced meal just got better with a superb Poached Monkfish with an old vine Chablis and then the spot-on Dry Aged Beef with a Haut Medoc. 

Then onto the lingering sweet offerings, one featuring a Killahora Pom’ O Sorbet, another the very local Liberator Peated Whiskey, before finishing off with some delicious Petit Fours, all the while sipping the luscious Seifried “Sweet Agnes” Late Harvest Riesling.

Apple Terrine

No doubt that splendid meal made a big impression. Indeed, we had nothing but good impressions during our visit, starting with the long tree-lined drive from the Muckross Road down to the late 19th century building in its superb location near the lakes. 

Not your usual sauce decanter!
Decanter designed and made
by Irish tableware and cutlery
brand, Newbridge Silverware 

Just before dusk and just after sunrise, the native red deer pass slowly beneath your windows. In the nearby fields, horses and sheep and black Kerry cattle graze. Peace and quiet and just a few minutes drive from the town centre; indeed, you'd walk it in about 15 minutes.

Like all the rooms here, our Albericci* Room has been recently renovated. It is spacious, comfortable, beautifully decorated, with great views, well-heated too, especially the bathroom (hard to beat hot tiles and hot towels in the morning!). And of course it has WiFi and TV as well. All in all, the Cahernane is a great base for Killarney itself and for Kerry in general.

And if you are heading out for the day, you’ll need a good breakfast. And you’ll get just that in the Herbert Restaurant. Just like the night before, the morning staff were all friendly, chatty and efficient.

One of the Petit Fours

Here, everything is brought to your table. You may have something from the Continental Menu:  Juices, Fresh Fruit Salad with a Rose & Lime Syrup, Prunes & Earl Grey Infusion, Apricots with Cinnamon & Orange, A Selection of Charcuterie, Yogurt, Farmhouse Cheeses,

Cereals, and Breads & Pastries.

Or something cooked from the Hot Menu: Irish Oatmeal Porridge, Traditional Full Irish Breakfast, Smoked Potato & Fried Egg, Manor House Omelette, Salmon & Egg Bagel, Buttermilk Pancakes, Smoked Kippers, or the Eggs “Cahernane" special.

Lots of choice there! My picks were Apricots with Cinnamon & Orange and the Smoked Salmon & Scrambled Egg Bagel (something of a staple here). Both were superb and I was immediately fuelled for the day ahead.

That day began with a very enjoyable visit to the Lakeview Estate, home of Wayward Irish Spirits. Check it out here. 

* In or about 1940, Vincent Albericci, the former proprietor of the Continental Cafe, 23 Patrick Street, Cork, bought Cahernane House. The death of his wife Mary (Foley) in May 1945 may have caused him to withdraw from the business.

The 8-course menu at Cahernane 11th November 2022.

“A foretaste of heaven”. Lakeview Estate Single Estate Irish Whiskey

 “A foretaste of heaven”

Lakeview Estate Single Estate Irish Whiskey 46%

View of the lake, and the gate to heaven, from the house. Pic from September 2021

“Tis a foretaste of heaven, I cannot say more

Of O’Connell’s famed home on the lower lake shore”.

So wrote Donal McSweeney c1890 in relation to the Killarney house known as Lakeview and its extraordinarily beautiful setting.

Now there’s another foretaste of paradise here on the estate, and it is spreading across the land and beyond. With Maurice O’Connell (a direct descendant of the famous Daniel O’Connell) and his wife Francesca at the helm, Lakeview is the base of Wayward Irish Spirits. This Lakeview whiskey is their first single estate. The barley was grown here on the Hilly Field and the whiskey matured here, much is still maturing here.

The warehouse where whiskey matures. The Hilly Field is visible to the left.

Briefly, that barley was harvested in late August 2018 and was malted by Athgarrett Malt (Nass) in January 2019 before being distilled by GND (Dundalk) the following March. Since then it has matured at Lakeview mostly in ex Premier Cru Bordeaux NEOC casks. Gently cut over a longer period of six months (their usual period is six weeks) to ensure integration and smoothness. No colour added, no chill filter.

Maurice O'Connell

Maurice O’Connell emphasises that this, their first pot still whiskey from their estate, “showcases the unique maturation conditions here in our 300 year old stone bonded warehouse…

Maturation Terroir exists - we say this whiskey tastes far beyond its young age..” This “Coming of Age Release" is limited to just 300 numbered bottles. 

The early tastings have mostly confirmed that this new whiskey tastes older than its actual years and I’m inclined to agree but I also think that it has much more to come - additional levels of depth and flavour, more complexity, even more smoothness - and that it will be well worth waiting for. A work in very promising progress.

On a windy Saturday morning a small group of us had a very casual tasting, some of us just sniffing. Fennel came up in the aromas, as did aniseed, and other more experienced tasters have spoken elsewhere of the same features.  Oh yes there is a little hint of smokiness in there too; ten per cent was finished in ex peated cask for 3 months as Maurice “felt the nose needed something”.

Happy group (l to r): Yours truly, Aileen, Maurice and Clare. Thanks to Brian for the pic.

 

Lakeview’s own notes indicate cherry aromas. There is quite a backbone of figs and other darkish fruits on the palate; for me, it was honey, having first appeared in the aromatics, that came on well in the mouth where the Lakeview is smooth and followed by a long finish.

The house at Lakeview.

The bottle design was inspired by a bottle of D’Orsay perfume that had sat in Lakeview House for decades, defying all attempts to open it (the glass cork having fused with the neck) before being recently opened by a combination of ice and fire, thought up and executed by Maurice and Francesca. The perfume still smells really good, if in a mid-century style, a bit cloying according to Maurice.

Today’s D’Orsay website says: Our body fragrances are designed for couples, echoing the first historic fragrance designed in 1830 by Alfred d’Orsay.

Wikipedia: Alfred D'Orsay and Disraeli were good friends in the 1830s–to the point that Disraeli (twice UK Prime Minister) asked d'Orsay to be his second, when it appeared that Disraeli would fight a duel with Morgan O'Connell, the son of Irish agitator Daniel O'Connell. D'Orsay declined… .

O’Connell’s previous whiskey (and more to come) are based on sourced spirit and you will find them under the Liberator brand. That bought in spirit is matured here on the estate in an old building, one of a group that form a square.

Lakeview in autumn

As you enter the courtyard, you will note Chinese characters over the door. Maurice tells us it means “House of Contentment”. It is something of a joke played by one of his ancestors on his less travelled relations as House of Contentment is a euphemism in parts of Asia for a brothel. 

There are many many stories of the O’Connell family and Maurice is always happy to recount some of them, as he did last Saturday morning, but I think he’d need a week at least to get through them all!

* For more (not the whole story!) on the O’Connells and Lakeview, see an earlier post from September 2020, here.

Also on this trip: New chef celebrates Cahernane House appointment with stunning 8-course menu, details here. 

Daniel O'Connell

Two Very Fine Viogniers. One from the Rhone, the other from South Africa’s Paarl.

Two Very Fine Viogniers. 

One from the Rhone, 

the other from South Africa’s Paarl.

Ferraton Viognier Collines Rhodaniennes (IGP) 2019, 13.5%

€19.50 Ardkeen Grocery Store, Waterford// Little Green Grocer,

Kilkenny// Manning's, Ballylickey// The Olive Branch, Clonakilty.

This mellow full bodied Viognier, from the Northern Rhone, comes in a lovely bright yellow colour with green hints. Apricot (with pear and orange) plus floral notes combine to promise much as they lead the aromas. And the promise is well delivered on the cheering palate, soft and thick, fresh and vibrant, all the way to a very pleasant fruity finish. 

It comes unostentatiously (it is after all the relation and neighbour of the ultra-famous, and much more expensive Condrieu), laden with a sack full of delicious scents and flavours. Very Highly Recommended.

Collines Rhodaniennes more or less covers the entire Northern Rhone, stretching from Montélimar (well-known for its nougat) in the south to Lyon (capital city of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region) in the north, and its IGP replaces Vin de France. 

The fruit for this Ferraton is grown on the right bank of the Rhône, along the foothills of northern Ardèche. The terroir is composed of granite and decomposed granite. Traditional agriculture methods are in use and the harvest is carried out manually when the grapes reach optimum ripeness. 

It is recommended to serve this wine at 12-13°C as aperitif, with foie gras, with salads, with grilled meat and all fish dishes. Wine Folly suggests dishes flavoured with almonds, citrus, stewed fruits, and aromatic herbs such as Thai Basil and tarragon. And, with its apricot influences, you could also try it, as Grapes & Wines indicate, with pork or chicken with an apricot stuffing. Also, the Armenian dish of trout and apricot should be another match.

I often wonder does the name of this grape put newcomers off buying a bottle, especially if you have to pronounce it. Here’s how: vee-own-yay. Much of the Viognier we come across here in Ireland is from France but it is grown around the world and finding favour in Australia and California in particular. And we've got another good one below from South Africa.

Charles Back

Fairview Viognier, Paarl South Africa 2020, 13.5% 

RRP €24.99 The 1601 / Wineonline.ie

The South African Viognier by Fairview has a bright light gold colour with exotic fruit aromas along with subtle oak notes. It is vibrant and refreshing in the mouth, rich and complex with apricot shining through, peach and lime in there as well. A lively acidity contributes to the balance along with the subtle oak. It feels close to creamy (thanks in part to its time on lees). And there’s a long lasting finish. Very Highly Recommended.

The grapes were hand picked in the early morning and whole bunch pressed. Only the free run juice was used. Sixty per cent of the Viognier was fermented in French oak barrels (20% new) with the remaining 40% fermented in stainless-steel tanks. After fermentation, the wine was left to mature on lees for eight months, with regular stirring, prior to being blended for additional texture and body.

The fruit is sourced from the vineyards at Fairview farm in Agter-Paarl. These trellised Fairview vines are grown on the slopes of Paarl mountain, on decomposed granite soils. Summer canopy management practices including leaf removal and shoot positioning ensure optimal sunlight penetration into the canopies.

I heard owner Charles Back and wine-maker Charl du Plessis, in a Zoom presentation the year before last, say the high cropping level is a problem. “We need to manage the canopy. Treat it as a red grape early on, the aim always is to get the correct balance between the alcohol and the tannins.” I reckon they got it spot-on in 2020.

That year, unlike previous vintages, was very good, not just for the region, but for South Africa in general. Winters were cool with sufficient rainfall. Spring was mild and summer saw warmer temperatures allowing fruit to ripen at a steady rate. The Viognier was harvested between the 2nd - 7th February.

The Fairview website, naturally enough, is proud of the achievements of owner Charles who  was awarded the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by the International Wine Challenge in 2014. He is a true pioneer of the region, credited with bringing Mediterranean varieties to the Cape. 

“One of the (many) gifts that Charles Back has brought to Cape wine was, and still is, Fairview Viognier. Planting the mother block of this French grape in 1994, Charles and team have nurtured this variety to bring you a gorgeously aromatic and refined wine. A must try!”

 

Christmas Rocks at Rock Farm Slane

Christmas Rocks at Rock Farm Slane

Carina Conyngham of Rock Farm

 

The Christmas farmers markets at Rock Farm Slane are a convenient one-stop-shop for your Christmas dinner essentials this year. Organic turkey, ham and roasts, organic vegetables (including the crucial brussel sprouts) and lots of delicious festive fare from the Slane Food Circle all under one roof. Bring the family along and make a day of it on Wednesday 21^st, Thursday 22^nd or Friday 23^rd December from 11am to 4pm.

 

What could be more festive than Rock Farm Christmas Market in the old Hay Barn, twinkling with lights and bedecked with Christmas trees. Every enticing stall is dressed up for Christmas, featuring special hampers and Christmas gift packs making browsing for last minute presents a pleasure. We’ll have artisan food, arts and crafts stalls competing for your attention with an abundance of yuletide gift ideas and treats. These include Slane Food Circle members Rock Farm Slane, The Cider Mill, Boyne Valley Farmhouse Cheese and Newgrange Gold Rapeseed Oil.

 

Take time out and treat yourself to coffee or lunch with some homemade festive favourites. Time out just for you in our spacious seating area while yuletide music plays in the background. There’s even a nice loop walk through the farm around the glamping area, where children can burn off some energy and work up an appetite

 

Rock Farm Christmas products include organic turkey and ham, pork, beef and the popular Organic Christmas Breakfast Pack, perfect for Christmas morning. The turkeys are Hockenhull bronze turkeys, slower growing than standard white turkeys and carefully chosen for their flavour and taste. Like all the stock on Rock Farm, they are raised organically. Turkeys must be pre ordered.

 

Add a little treat like a wheel of Boyne Valley Blue or a selection of Mark Jenkinson’s delicious ciders to enjoy over the festive period. You won’t be caught out this year when unexpected guests arrive. Rock Farm vouchers are a great gift option, either for Christmas products or a general voucher which can be redeemed against anything from glamping to farm tours.

 

All Rock Farm and Slane Food Circle Christmas products are available to order by email (shop@rockfarmslane.ie) for collection during Christmas week (21^st-23^rd December) from the Christmas Markets. Christmas orders can also be collected by arrangement from Dublin collection points.

Choose Rock Farm this Christmas and taste the difference.

press release

 

A Quart of Ale± #131. On the craft journey with Lough Gill, Bradleys, Kinnegar, Whiplash.

A Quart of Ale± #131

Session anyone?

On the craft journey with Lough Gill, Bradleys, Kinnegar, Whiplash.

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Lough Gill If I was in LA Californian IPA, 6.8%, 440 ml can Bradleys

Probably safe to say that hoppy West Coast IPA, with its amazing aromatics, not to mention flavours, is the regions’s flagship beer. But before that, American hops were being rejected by brewers in Europe and the US.

And then, according to National Geographic Atlas of Beer, along came Bert Grant of the Yakima Brewing and Malting Company and he developed the Northwest’s first version of the IPA. Soon that developed into the West Coast IPA that so many love today.

Lough Gill do quite a bit of business in the US and this pale and hazy IPA is not their first with a hoppy nod to the states. You’ve got two US hops deployed here, Citra and Mosaic. And you’re expecting a lot of citrus and tropical. 

What you do get is a more or less perfect balance between bitter and fruit notes. Malted barley with oats and rye are included in the ingredients and brewer Francesco Sottomano has managed to get them all in harmony. Hop forward yes, yet the flavours, attractively rounded, are long lasting and this is one for my shortlist! Hope Lough Gill put it on their core list!

From what I can glean, this IPA is like those of the southern part of the West Coast of the USA, “the San Diego version” according to Jeff Alworth’s Beer Bible, with “stiff hopping”. From a northwest IPA, expect more malt, less bitterness, and more aromatics and fruity hops.

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Kinnegar Leaf Kicker 2022 Marzen, 5.9% ABV, 440 ml can Bradleys

Most of us who have hosted and or attended weddings will no doubt have enjoyed a beer or two. Very few weddings have started a beer trend. But that’s what happened when a royal wedding between Ludwig (the future king) and Therese took place in Bavaria in October 1810. That party was so good and the couple so popular that another party was held the following year and so Octoberfest was established.

By 1819, the festival had become a 2-week event (beer was just one strand), now organised by the city of Munich, and kicked off, as it does now, in mid-September. Marzen was the main style of beer for the festival and its name came from the fact that it was brewed in March to be at its best in Autumn.

Märzen later became - still is - popular in Austria though their version is lighter in colour and maltiness than the Bavarian beer.  In both regions, it was, before refrigeration, brewed in the Spring for consumption in the Autumn and, according to the National Geographic Atlas of Beer in 2017, held 60 to 70 per cent of Austria’s beer market.

And here we have the right royal brewers of Kinnegar with their Märzen which they did bring out in September (its colour close to the leaves of its name). So I’m a little behind, not for the first time, hard to keep up with all the new beers out there.

“…here’s our new autumn special,” they said. ”Each year we’ll make a different classic beer style, beginning in 2022 with this German Märzen. A lager, Märzen, was originally served at Oktoberfest in Munich. Enjoy this 5.9% ABV rendition as life returns to a slightly slower pace for the autumn months.”

This is for sure more the Bavarian style. Its ABV is in the Märzen range of 5-6.5% as against 4.5% to 5.5% for Vienna Lager. Amber is the colour (fountains of bubbles rise up) and it has an almost creamy mouthfeel.  This supple beer leads with its rich malts, along with a sweetish bagel* flavour and a touch of caramel. It finishes clean and a little hoppy.

It is deeply refreshing and also well suited to food including BBQ, pizzas and tacos plus a chicken from the rotisserie. Octoberfest may be finito for 2022 but this Donegal beer can be enjoyed for another month or two. 

* I’m thinking of the bagel I regularly get from Cork’s Bread & Roses..

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Whiplash The Wake Export Stout, 7.0%, Whiplash online

Here's an excellent Export Stout from Whiplash. Black, like newly laid tarmac, with a soft tan head that’s slow enough to shift. Aromas of lightly roasted coffee and chocolate may be mild but they are persistent. And what follows on the impressive palate is not a million miles away, flavours of lightly toasted bread, plus a lick of cherry across those lips, coffee is never that far away as this quite hefty stout waltzes smoothly on its way to a merry, dry and rather marvellous finalé. May I have the next dance also, please!

That’s my immediate reaction to The Wake, (hardly a dancing occasion, getting my metaphors mixed up). The Whiplash crew, rarely slow to offer advice, are a tad shy here: “… while we don’t want to tell you how to drink your beer, we’d highly recommend this one on a cold evening in front of an open fire.” That could be arranged as could a case of this black beauty.

Thanks you Whiplash. Enjoy The Wake and Happy Christmas.

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Whiplash Rollover Session IPA 3.8% ABV, 330 can 

Looking for a decent session beer. No shortage but my go-to is this Whiplash Rollover. Murky orange is the colour - no way you’re going to see through this haze! This was our session beer of 2020 and this most recent tasting confirmed it’s as likeable as ever.

Pale yellow colour with a  short-lived white head over a hazy body. Citrus fronts the aromatics. And the quartet of hops dominate the palate. Amazing that this has so much hops and still weighs in at less than 4.00% ABV. Quite a concentration of hops then, before a lip-smacking finalé.

They say: Same hop rate as our DIPA’s, less than half the alcohol. A very heavily hopped Session IPA: this comes at you with buckets of Simcoe, Ekuanot, Citra and Mosaic hops with a light touch of malts and an easy crushable body. Unfiltered, hazy, hoppy and juicy – Rollover is a New England inspired IPA without the heavy alcohol in tow.

Adrift at Dunmore House honoured at prestigious Food & Wine Restaurant of the Year Awards

Adrift at Dunmore House honoured at prestigious Food & Wine Restaurant of the Year Awards

There were double celebrations for the family owned and run Dunmore House in Clonakilty this weekend as Adrift, the fine dining restaurant at the 30 bedroom hotel, was announced as Highly Commended Hotel Restaurant of the Year on the same day that owner Carol Barrett celebrated her birthday.

Now in their fourth generation at the beautiful seaside property, Carol’s mother Mary O’Donovan accepted the award with members of the team on Sunday 6th November at The Round Room at The Mansion House in Dublin, with 450 guests celebrating the best of Irish food and drink in a sold-out event hosted by Food&Wine editor Gillian Nelis. Adrift was keeping very good company as the Michelin starred Oak Room at Adare was named overall Hotel Restaurant of the Year on the day.

 

Speaking about the award, Carol Barrett said, “We are completely thrilled with this award from Food&Wine, to know that we were nominated by guests and then judged by some of the best food writers, influencers, chefs and industry experts and to be acknowledged in this way is such a joy for us as a family and for our whole team who make this happen. I was equally as thrilled for my mother Mary, and thoughtful of my dad Derry whose parents started Dunmore, to be able to accept this award – we wouldn’t be here without her and we strive every day to maintain her standards.

 

Carol’s son and General Manager at Dunmore House, Peter Barrett added, “It’s a great honour to receive this recognition for Adrift, the whole team at Dunmore care deeply about what’s served on each plate, the experience of every guest that comes through the door and maintaining that sense of genuine Irish hospitality that started with my great-grandparents and hopefully will continue at Dunmore for generations to come.”

 

Adrift is a beautiful space seating 40 guests with sweeping views across Clonakilty Bay. The menus change regularly and feature some of the best produce in the area with a focus on seafood from nearby Union Hall cooked simply and beautifully – guests can expect poached lobster, John Dory, cod bouillabaisse and black sole on the bone, not to mention house black pudding, handmade ricotta and Gubbeen ravioli. Included in the Michelin Guide UK & Ireland 2022, Adrift is open seven days a week from 6.30pm – 8.30pm.

Menus can be found here, for booking please call 023 883 3352.

 

For more visit dunmorehousehotel.ie