John Rogers leads an unlikely double life, practising as a Dublin barrister during the week - and also producing a premium range of seed oils on his 90-acre farm in County Meath.
Set on a hillside overlooking the River Boyne, with the ancient passage tomb at Knowth clearly visible and the top of the Newgrange tomb peeking up over the trees John’s farm is breathtakingly beautiful. Most of the crop that goes into the oil comes from fields that lie in the shadow of Newgrange, and all of it is sourced from the Boyne Valley.
The range of products includes rapeseed oil as well as two flavoured versions (garden herbs and chilli garlic). While John is one of just a handful of Irish farmers who are producing rapeseed oil, he is also Ireland’s only producer of camelina oil, an ancient plant related to rapeseed that’s bursting with omegas – just one teaspoon of the oil contains your entire recommended daily allowance of omega 3.
The oil itself is untouched and unadulterated – it’s cold-pressed oil and nothing more. Rapeseed oil is lower in saturated fats and has 10 times more omega 3 than olive oil. With a higher heat point than olive oil, rapeseed oil is great for cooking but really comes into its own as a salad dressing because it’s not heated.
Newgrange Gold started up in 2010 has been on store shelves since March 2012. Check their website for details of stockists.
