Articles

Joe and Eileen Condon’s farm close to the Knockmealdown mountains in Co Tipperary, is a model farm for a state initiative “Farming with Altitude”, which has been developed to encourage use of the 450,000 acres of commonage in Ireland. On their hill farm they produce exceptionally flavoursome beef, traceable from mountain to marketplace, using farming methods that are a model of sustainability.
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Smoked salmon is a popular speciality food all around Ireland, and it is surprising how much its character can vary, in colour, texture and flavour. There tends to be a noticeable difference in texture between the muscular wild salmon (or farmed fish that have been raised in strong tidal waters offshore, eg Clare Island salmon) and salmon from inshore fisheries where the fish have less exercise, resulting in softer flesh. And, generally speaking, very orange flesh is likely to the result of additives to the feed of farmed salmon, making paler fish more desirable. But the smoking process also has to be taken into account and that varies a great deal from one smoker to another – each has their ‘secret recipe’, which makes the product unique.
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Kettyle Irish Foods is an innovative food company producing a variety of speciality food products developed out of the 500 acre family farm in Co Fermanagh, which had mainly reared beef for export to Europe and beyond. In 2004 Maurice Kettyle realised that there was a niche market for the very best of Irish food products such as dry-aged beef, Lough Erne Lamb, naturally reared Irish rose veal and really good chickens.
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Helen Finnegan’s wonderful sheeps’ cheese has attracted much praise – most recently earning one of just five of the Irish Food Writers’ Guild annual Awards. Having long yearned to do something on her husband Robert’s family farm located bang in the middle of the village of Stoneyford, Co. Kilkenny, Helen began making cheese in the back kitchen six years ago, as an experiment, using goats milk from a neighbour; as each one tasted better than the last, she became hooked.
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Quality chocolate production is perhaps an unexpected speciality for Ireland but, although the main ingredients are of course imported, it has become an important – and increasingly successful – area of artisan production throughout the country. What’s more, it’s one of the few that seem to be recession-proof; we all need our little treats, apparently, and – unlike many of the things we had become used to in recent years - the feel-good factor induced by a good chocolate is not beyond reach, so sales are surging as never before. Google ‘Irish chocolates’ and you will be amazed at the number of speciality brands that come up...
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“Delicious honest wholefood” is what Nigel Cobbe promised in July 2009 when he launched his online free-range meat service SimplySourced – and that’s exactly what he delivered, by offering free-range Saddleback pork and rare breed Long Horn beef to customers in Dublin and Wicklow. “The response was overwhelming,” he says, “We seemed to tap into a demand and a frustration from our customers at not being able to source high quality, ethically produced meat. As a result we have expanded both our product range and our delivery capability to deliver nationwide. Providing a hassle-free and professional link between small passionate food producers and our customers, we now also offer free range chicken and turkey, lamb and wild shot venison.”
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When presenting their annual Food Awards at Dublin’s Bang Café in November, chefs group Euro-toques Ireland the called on the government to establish a ‘safety net’ support system to ensure the survival of indigenous food businesses. “What we are talking about are simple, but effective measures to defend artisan production and encourage rural enterprise”, said Chef Feargal O’Donnell, Commissioner-General of Euro-toques Ireland. “At the moment the regulatory requirements and compliance costs are making many businesses uncompetitive, deterring new food enterprises and wiping out many existing ones. In many cases producers are being asked to invest in facilities that they will never recoup the cost of. Many of these people wish to remain small and just to supply locally. We believe a different approach is needed”.
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“The pig was probably the first domestic animal to be brought to Ireland and many country people can remember the time when most rural households killed at least one pig a year. It was a complicated business, with the men and women each having their particular jobs. The men did the killing, cleaning, butchery and salting, while the women dealt with the trotters, internal organs and any other parts which were to be cooked fresh. The hams were usually put into a blend of salt, saltpetre and brown sugar for several days and then smoked, preferably over oak chippings. Afterwards, they were hung up on iron hooks from a beam called 'the meat stick' which ran across the kitchen, where turf smoke from the open hearth gave it a special Irish flavour...
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Mention lamb to most people and it is likely to summon up images of spring - green fields and daffodils, with fluffy lambs gambolling around – but, tasty as tender young lowland lamb may be in spring and summer, there’s a completely different and more characterful variety that comes into season later in the year: mountain lamb.
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It’s not hard to see why Clandeboye Estate Yoghurt stands out from the crowd: not only is it made with milk from Clandeboye’s prized herd of Holstein and Jersey cows, but the eye-catching packaging is based on an oil painting of those very cows and the estate by their owner, Lady Dufferin, who is a talented artist.
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