We had high expectations for the Irish artisan suppliers we had researched for our new tours, based on what we have been hearing over the last year in the gastro press and word of mouth and after the inspection visits we are delighted to say this summer has been a roaring success in terms of finding enthusiastic suppliers and entrepreneurial food producers. Our new tours will be online as soon as we create the new itineraries with our new cheese producers, chefs, smokehouses, luxury hotels, limo drivers and entertaining guides! Why are we so excited? Some info on what’s happening in the foodie scene in Ireland:
GOOD FOOD IRELAND
We were put in touch with this fantastic non profit organization, Good Food Ireland, through the managing director of the superb Merrion Hotel in Dublin (also included in our new tours) and met the director Margaret Jeffares in her beautiful home near Wexford to talk about the association. Over fresh scones and coffee Margaret passionately told us talked about some of the producers in her association and their dedication to preserve and promote Irish small scale and high quality food production. GFI says ” The Good Food Ireland ethos is to prioritize the core indigenous ingredients of Irish cuisine and promote local and artisan food producers. ” Members include famous Michelin starred chefs like Derry Clarke (L’ Ecrivain, Dublin); the organic Apple Farm in Cahir; superb Irish farmhouse cheese producers like Gubbeen, Knockanore and Ardrahan; Smokehouses like the Burren Smokehouse in a gorgeous part of County Clare and the Connemara Smokehouse in the wild west; artisan butchers like McGeough´s in pretty Oughterard and Jack McCarthy in Kanturk (Cork).
We visited one of GFI´s most dedicated members, the Arlington Lodge, run by the very charming owner Maurice Keller and had our first fantastic lunch of the gourmet inspection- homemade game paté, St Tola Goat’s Cheese Bruschetta with red onion marmalade, local Atlantic crab claws (in photo above), corn fed Irish chicken…. delicious. Maurice passionately explained his belief about about using all local ultra high quality produce to try and fight the wave of cheap food imports to Ireland (tough and inferior chicken and tasteless frozen fish- mainly from around Asia). The Arlington is a pretty little historic Georgian house with period style furniture, and fabulous food indeed, highly recommended. We are putting together a ten day gourmet itinerary in Ireland for our foodie clients featuring Good Food Ireland members (many luxury hotels, high end restaurants and charming Irish country hotels are also members!), so keep an eye out on our website for this.
SLOW FOOD IN IRELAND
You might be surprised to discover that Ireland has one of the most active and exciting Slow Food chapters in Europe, much more so even than France or Spain. Celebrity foodie Clodagh McKenna (whose Irish Farmers Market Cook Book is highly recommended!) writes this in the Slow Food Ireland guide´s foreword, “For anyone with even a passing interest in food, Ireland has become an extremely interesting place to live or visit. Of all the many developments, two are particularly thrilling. The first is the emergence of the producer as hero. Suddenly farmers, fisherman, growers and artisans are being recognized and rewarded for the skill and care they devote to their chosen work. The second is the rapid expansion of farmer´s markets and specialist food shops. Crucially, the sense of connection between producer and consumer, which was under threat, is growing stronger”.
Slow Food Ireland´s members include many small producers like the Biddy Early Brewery (Ireland´s first microbrewery), excellent bakers like Arbutus Bread, air dried hams such as Krawczyk´s West Cork Salamis (West Cork, by the way is gourmet paradise with the highest concentration of gourmet producers, also stunning scenery) and then of course the gourmet goddesses Giana Ferguson of Gubbeen and Darina Allen of Ballymaloe (who head the local Slow Food chapters of West Cork and East Cork respectively). This month, Slow Food organized the first Terra Madre gourmet extravaganza event in Ireland, in the Norman town of Waterford. It brought together foodies, journalists, consumers, and showcased the creme de la creme of Irish food producers. Various conferences were held on sustainability of food production, ethics questions, genetic modification, etc. From all accounts, the event was a roaring success and definitely was a chance to discuss the trends, controversies and predictions for the future of Ireland´s food scene.
ARTISAN CHEESE PRODUCERS
We visited some fantastic dedicated cheese producers, hardworking and exceptionally charming people who are very open to the idea of gourmet tourism. Highlights included Gubbeen and Durrus and there are still many, many more producers to visit!
Gubbeen- The Ferguson family are culinary pioneers in Ireland and over the last decade have gained international fame for their cheeses and more recently for their smokehouse products, but the history of the farm goes back much longer, for five generations! Husband Tom is proud of of their “cheesemaker´s herd” of British Friesan, Simmenthal, Jersey and Shorthorn, as well as the indigenous Kerry Cow. Wife Giana began making cheese at this gorgeous West Cork farm back in the late ´70´s, and has cultivated the Gubbeen brand over the decades. The estate makes the flagship Gubbeen cheese (semi soft with creamy and nutty flavors), and a smoked Gubbeen which son Fingal smokes in the onsite smokehouse. Fingal also makes a range of exquisite smoked salamis, hams, bacon and sausages (no ordinary sausages!), many flavored with herbs that daughter Clovisse grows in her onsite herb garden(photo below). A large portion of the Gubbeen products are sold at local farmers markets around West Cork and Cork city, such as the fantastic market in their own village of Schull (a pretty fishing hamlet on the coast).
Durrus- Located in the same-named pretty hamlet in a breathtakingly beautiful corner of West Cork, we visited Jeffa Gill´s small, pretty estate. This award winning cheese (now sold at the famed Murrays Cheese Shop in New York) is made from a local herd which grazes on the Sheep´s Head Peninsula, and is made using all traditional methods. Durrus is so famous on the international foodie scene that they have had French students come to doing a “stage” and annually host a group from Slow Food in Italy who come to picnic in their peaceful garden (in photo below) on their delicious cheese. Jeffa, along with Giana of Gubbeen, is keenly involved with Slow Food activities and is a member of the Irish Farmhouse Cheese Association. Just a few minutes down the road is the fabulous Good Things Cafe, one of this areas gastro gems. The drive here from Gubbeen (in Schull) has to be one of the loveliest drives in Ireland!
ARTISAN SMOKEHOUSES
Ireland is home to a small select group of master smokers and it seems that the gourmet press is catching on fast. Smoked Salmon has long been a prized commodity in Ireland and these days, top producers are branching out into smoked cheese, smoked chicken, even smoked eels! We had the pleasure to visit some of the best Irish smokehouses and some top picks in county Cork include:
Belvelly – Located near Cobh (the Titanic’s last stop), this tiny smokehouse is run by the effervescent Frank Hederman and his lovely wife Caroline (who co-wrote the “Good Food in Cork” guide along with Ireland´s cherished culinary granny Myrtle Allen. We visited on a gusty morning right before the salmon had been delivered and saw the cheeses being smoked. Frank is a real character, well known in all the local markets and the Irish and British gourmet press. He told us all about the history of the business and showed us around. Belvelly is Ireland´s oldest traditional smokehouse and the salmon, mackerel, and (mythical) mussels that he smokes are cured with organic English salt and hang-smoked using beech wood. Caroline is starting up a gourmet shop on their property to showcase their own products, naturally, but also ancillary products like home smokers, sea salt, and gourmet goods from Ireland. We had some great ideas with Caroline for our tours, keep your eyes peeled.
Ummera- Owned and run by the softspoken and very charming Anthony Creswell, Ummera makes one of the most tantalizing delicacies I have ever tasted- smoked chicken. Sounds simple, right? You could almost mistake it for “roast chicken”, but no- smoked chicken is out of this world. Words cannot describe the chicken bliss….. Luckily Anthony sells and ships abroad, so try it for yourself! Not many smokers are actually licensed for both meat and fish, and as Ireland is ultra (some say even overly) cautious about food hygiene, Anthony had a tough time getting all the papers in order to be able to smoke his famous chickens on this beautiful estate in Timoleague (known for its dramatic 13th century Abbey in the photo below, and for another local foodie producer, “Mella´s Fudge”). The smokehouse is tiny, as they all are, and after a short tour of the production facility we went for a walk (me in high heels!) along the river on his sprawling estate. Anthony worked in the wine business for years, and only in his later life decided to go into his father´s line of work- master smoker. The quality of their products is top class. The dry cured bacon, organic farmed salmon from county Clare and of course that smoked crown of chicken- simple and mouth watering! Ummera also looks after a very interesting blog with plenty of news on their own business as well as other foodie news in Ireland.
