I had the pleasure, yesterday, of enjoying my second all-potato menu in as many weeks (and yes, I know what you’re thinking – some gals just have all the luck).

The occasion was a cookery demonstration given by Pádraic Óg Gallagher at Gallagher’s Boxty House as part of this weekend’s Temple Bar Trad Fest, and the subject, naturally enough, was boxty, the traditional potato speciality that gives the restaurant its name. And Pádraic, who has run The Boxty House for some 23 years, knows more than most about boxty. His making of boiled, baked and pan versions of same (which have featured on these pages before) was accompanied by a potted history of the spud in Ireland and elsewhere. For the lunch which followed the demo, you could, if you so desired, indulge in boxty for starter, main course and dessert (and for those who persist in thinking that you shouldn’t put potato and dessert in the same sentence, let alone on the same plate, all I can say is don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it).

Boxty on the menu - it's almost as versatile as the spud itself

For good measure, the event – which was mostly attended by visitors of the non-Irish variety – included a helping of soda bread making and the pouring of a few Irish coffees, and Pádraic hopes that these demos may become a regular feature at the restaurant during the summer months. If, as a result, some tourists leave the country with the urge to make boxty, then that is no bad thing. If some natives were to discover its charms (as I first did here), then so much the better. It doesn’t, I think, need to be made because it’s traditional or Irish, but because it is simply a very good thing to eat.

Pádraic Óg Gallagher talks boxty
under the watchful gaze of the Sacred Heart

That famous quip attributed to the ill-fated Marie Antoinette, “qu’ils mangent de la brioche,” is most often translated to great dramatic effect as “let them eat cake.”

Brioche - is it bread or is it cake?

It seems that the Revenue Commissioners, in what they are calling a ‘clarification’ of the current VAT rules, have decided that brioche might as well be cake, because it will now attract VAT, as cakes do, at 13.5%, whereas previously it would have been classified along with bread, which escapes the VAT net. And it’s not just brioche: other items, such as croissants, bagels and even garlic bread are no longer sufficiently bread-like to qualify for zero VAT status. Really.

This came to my attention as I was leaving the hallowed halls of Trinity College, which had been the venue for the Bord Bia Irish Food & Drink Industry Awards last week. I happened upon Suzanne Campbell, who was discussing the issue and how it would hit small bakery businesses, with William Despard of the Bretzel Bakery (he who had made such an impression at the recent Savour Kilkenny Foodcamp). William was understandably exercised about the VAT hike.

In the midst of the discussion, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney, who had been speaking earlier at the event, came walking past. “Now that’s who you need to talk to,” said Suzanne. William wasted no time in letting his opinions be known, but the Minister, it seems, was already on the case. After a brief exchange, Minister Coveney passed on his way and you felt that the will, at least, was there to make this particular problem go away. Only time, of course, would tell.

It was a stark reminder of the challenges that food producers, especially those operating on a small scale, contend with all the time. The evening as a whole, however, had been one of positivity. Achievements in innovation, export performance, sustainability, domestic success, entrepreneurship and branding by companies, some large and some small, were all acknowledged on the night. It was a pleasure to see a list of winners which included Flahavan’s, who received the award for domestic success, Natasha’s Living Foods whose kale crunchies merited the innovation award, while Largo Foods, home of that über-Irish brand Tayto crisps, were acknowledged for their excellence in branding. All play a part in the good news story that is the Irish food and drink industry.

As the text on the back of the evening’s menu had indicated, Ireland will export almost €9 billion worth of food and drink to over 170 countries in 2011, which is an increase of 25% in what have been two of the most difficult years in our country’s finances. Austerity bedamned, this was something positive to tweet about:

It only occurred to me later that I might equally have revised that aforementioned French phrase of old and proclaimed – in a far more practical and positive sense than the original – “Let us eat Irish food.”

The poor man who said as much to Stephen at this weekend’s Taste of Christmas event didn’t realise quite the passion that Stephen has for his boxty slices, a traditional product which he would consider far superior to your typical potato waffle. It is, I would expect, unlikely that the gentleman who made the unfortunate waffle comparison came from Leitrim.

People who hail from that particular neck of the woods, including The Boxty Bakers themselves, don’t need to be told about boxty. Even as the gentleman to my right was being enlightened in the matter of boxty versus waffles, a lady to my left declared her Leitrim connections and chatted with Stephen about her own family’s traditions, which included the use of a nail to punch holes into pieces of metal which were then used to grate the raw potato needed for large boxty batches.

Not waffles but boxty

Fine products though they are, however, Stephen still faces an uphill struggle in getting his boxty slices onto the right shelves in supermarkets. “The buyers don’t get it,” he said to me. Ideally, Stephen would like to see boxty alongside the breakfast meats, as it’s an ideal accompaniment to a full Irish breakfast but, even when the boxty slices do make it onto shop shelves, they often sit elsewhere. The supermarket buyers in question, I suspect, are not from Leitrim either.

Of course, if you do manage to find boxty in your local supermarket, or if you should make some boxty for yourself, there are, just as with the potato, a myriad ways in which it can be enjoyed. I topped some of Stephen’s boxty slices with fabulous cold-smoked trout, the latest product from Goatsbridge Trout Farm and, if buyers have any sense, they’ll see fit to find space for this on their supermarket shelves too.

Goatsbridge cold smoked trout: just add boxty

Another product seen at Taste of Christmas and which has already secured some supermarket shelving in Superquinn is the new range of crisps from Keogh’s. Perhaps taking a cue from potato-farmer-turned-crisp-manufacturer Ray Coyle of Largo Foods, which produces Tayto, King and Hunky Dory crisps among others, Keogh’s (who were behind this year’s National Potato Day) are starting to look beyond the basic business of growing spuds. No doubt they have their eye on capturing part of the market that sees 4.2 million packets of Tayto sold here every week.

Their flavours include Dubliner Cheese and Onion (which have a definite onion bite and a touch of garlic flavour), Atlantic Sea Salt and Irish Cider Vinegar (with a good, but not overpowering, cider vinegar tang, though they could perhaps do with a smidge less salt for my taste) and, most intriguingly, Roast Beef and Irish Stout. It’s especially good to see them incorporate other Irish products, such as David Llewellyn’s cider vinegar and The Dungarvan Brewing Company’s Blackrock Stout. I’ll be watching their progress with interest.

New crisps on the block

Flying the flag for Wales

We were all packed up and in the van, ferry bound.

There was just one last mission to complete before leaving Wales – to secure some creamy blue Perl Lâs cheese. We swooped with singular focus on several of the better supermarkets en route – Morrison’s in Caenarfon, Waitrose in Menai Bridge, even a supermarket in that town with the impossibly lengthy name – but Welsh artisan cheeses of any description were thin on the ground. In the end, I had to board my ferry cheeseless and (not for the first time) found myself pondering the harsh realities of modern food retailing, which mean that truly local food can often be one of the hardest things to find in your local shop.

The hills of North Wales: it could be Ireland, y'know...

The failure of that last minute cheese mission speaks of a situation that is by no means unique to Wales – visit any of the big supermarkets here in Ireland and chances are that you’ll find precious few of our fabulous farmhouse cheeses. That doesn’t mean to say that efforts aren’t being made on both sides of the Irish Sea to develop and promote good, locally produced foods. On the Welsh side, their True Taste national food awards, now in their tenth year, are very much part of that process, with the best of Welsh meats, cheeses, seafood, craft beers, ciders, baked goods and more being acknowledged at last month’s event in Llandudno, which I was lucky enough to attend. To my surprise, it was even possible to toast the winners on the night with local Welsh wines, as some white and sparkling wines made by Ancre Hill Estates were served.

Bodysgallen Hall and Gardens:
a Welsh gem, with a restaurant that boasts some great examples of Welsh food done well

The applause at the True Taste event was especially warm and the cheers rousing for local-food-hero-done-good, the Anglesey Sea Salt Company, who were double gold winners on the night. Their Halen Môn salt – harvested off the coast of the Isle of Anglesey – is prized by some of the top chefs in the world and you’ll find it proudly incorporated into other Welsh products, including the excellent Jones’ Crisps with Anglesey Sea Salt (and yes, if there’s a potato involved, you can always trust me to find it). The company also produces a range of flavoured salts, including an intriguing vanilla salt and one with organic spices which they recommend as accompaniment to roast potatoes. Needless to remark, I scored me some of that one.

Halen Môn salts

The other local hero in evidence was Rachel’s Organic, maker of organic yoghurts and dairy products which are now widely distributed in the UK. Founder Rachel Rowlands was named True Taste Ambassador of the Year at the first Welsh national food awards ten years ago and returned this year as a sponsor.

There was, of course, much more besides, as I discovered both at the event and over several days of eating my way through picturesque North Wales. Landscape, climate and food-wise, it was, in a lot of ways, not that terribly different to Ireland. As I wandered around hill farms on the fringes of Snowdonia in the misty late autumn rain, I might just as easily have been directly across the sea in Wicklow, but for the lilt of Welsh accents and the fact that there are rather more sheep. For the record, Wales boasts the highest density of those woolly mammals in Europe, and the locals are justifiably proud of their Welsh lamb.

Dishing up Conwy mussels at last month's Conwy Feast Food Festival

And in a country that is famously fond of cheese (especially in cooked form), it wasn’t surprising to find that they have cheesemakers who excel at more than just caerphilly (even if, as I discovered, the cheeses themselves are occasionally tricky to find). The immediately surrounding waters, meanwhile, are the source of some top notch seafood – Conwy mussels are a case in point – while I will leave it to Keith Floyd below to elaborate, in his own inimitable way, on the Welsh seaweed classic that is laver bread.

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Welsh Cakes

Nigella Lawson includes a recipe for Welsh cakes in her book How to be a Domestic Goddess. However, I was familiar with these simple, sweet griddle breads long before I ever got my hands on that book – having first eaten versions of them as a child. They were one of only two Welsh dishes that I was aware of from an early age (the other, of course, being Welsh rarebit).

The recipe here is fairly similar to the one you’ll find in Nigella’s book. There’s not much more to it than flour, butter, sugar, eggs, dried fruit, a bit of warm spice and a hot griddle. The key to good Welsh cakes (apart from the use of butter, naturally) is a light touch when it comes to handling the dough (and I’d have to say that I enjoyed some wonderful light and buttery examples while I was in Wales). It’s a satisfyingly simple classic.

You’ll need:

• 250g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 0.5 tsp allspice (or try cinnamon or a smaller amount of either nutmeg or cloves)
• pinch of salt
• 125g cold butter
• 100g dried fruit (raisins, sultanas, currants or a mixture)
• 75g sugar
• 1 large egg, beaten
• demerara (or other) sugar for sprinkling (optional)

You’ll also need:

• A smooth griddle or cast iron pan

The Steps:

• In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, spice and salt.
• Cut the butter into small cubes and rub into the flour mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs.
• Stir in the dried fruit and sugar, then add the beaten egg and mix to a soft (but not sticky) dough.
• Wrap the dough in plastic and chill in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.
• When ready to cook, place your griddle or pan over a medium heat.
• Roll out the dough to a thickness of around 1cm or a little less. Cut out rounds using a cookie cutter or glass – make the cakes big or small as you fancy and cook on the heated, unoiled pan for around 3-4 minutes each side or until golden.
• Sprinkle with a little demerara (or other) sugar if you like and serve warm (with butter, even better) or at room temperature with a nice cuppa.

The Variations:

• You can vary the fruit and spice as the mood takes you and there’s nothing (bar tradition) to say that you couldn’t add the likes of a little lemon zest or vanilla to these.

The Results:

• Makes around 25 x 6cm round Welsh cakes

The event in question, Foodcamp, returned as part of this weekend’s Savour Kilkenny festival, after a very successful inaugural outing last year. The agenda was largely determined by the attendees, each of whom was free to give a presentation, and the guidelines were simple: inform your audience rather than sell to them, and bring something to share for lunch.

Potatophile that I am, I was gutted that the talk on boxty by Stephen Hennessy of The Boxty Bakers was cancelled at the last minute. Still, it did mean that I had the pleasure of hearing William Despard of Dublin’s long established Bretzel Bakery talk about the importance of real bread and – more to the point – of seeing precisely what he thought of the mass-produced white sliced pan eaten by so many, when he gave a few slices of same a good old thwack with a hurley. That, I think, reflected the kind of passion about all things food that this event seems to engender.

One of the lovely loaves from the Bretzel Bakery and, in the background, some white sliced pan,
the villain of the real bread piece

There was, of course, much else besides. I heard former Green Party TD Mary White, who now runs Blackstairs Eco Trails in South Carlow, talk about foraging and – well before the sun was over anyone’s yardarm – sampled some of her wonderful sloe gin. The tippling trend continued with a spot of beer and cheese tasting to coincide with Bord Bia’s Farmhouse Cheese and Craft Beer weekend. Recently crowned supreme champion at the British Cheese Awards, Helen Finnegan of Knockdrinna, and Claire Dalton of the Dungarvan Brewing Company invited us to sample their wares, with the Knockdrinna Gold washed rind goat’s cheese proving a very good match for the Copper Coast Red Ale. There was yet more beer at lunch, as Caroline of Bibliocook, whose husband Scott is one of the folks behind 8 Degrees Brewing, brought along some of their wonderfully named and fully flavoured Sunburnt Irish Red to help wash down what was a bounteous array of communal eats.

Helen Finnegan and Claire Dalton set up for a bit of cheese and beer collaboration

In one of the other sessions I got to, journalist and author Suzanne Campbell discussed the darker side of the food industry and the real price of cheap food – a reminder that, while we have a land and climate that are conducive to the production of excellent food, conditions in the retail environment often work against that, particularly when it comes to the enormous power wielded by supermarkets. Interestingly enough, the subject of whether the Irish Food Bloggers Association should actively seek to encourage writing on food issues was one of the questions posed when, one year after it came into being, founders Caroline and Kristin convened bloggers to talk about where next for the association. The consensus, however, was that the IFBA should remain as a conduit for information rather than setting any agendas, while talk of an Irish food blogger conference for 2012 seemed a popular idea with those present.

Foodcamp lunch: returning for second and third helpings was the order of the day

Finally, the event closed with a spirited debate on the topic “Traditional Irish Cuisine – an embarrassment of riches or just an embarrassment?”, chaired by John McKenna of the Bridgestone Guides.

Though there were speakers who were nominally either for or against the motion, one of the first points that American food writer Colman Andrews made was that, in all likelihood, everyone present was probably of the same opinion: we are richly endowed when it comes to the quality of ingredients that we can produce in this country, but that hasn’t prevented an often miserable failure to realise what it is that we’ve got and how to make best use of it. In a simple but telling case in point, Seamus Sheridan of Sheridan’s Cheesemongers pointed to the embarrassment of seeing apple trees outside, with their crop left to fall and rot, while inside, chefs were probably serving bought-in apple desserts.

There may also be a lot of truth in the fact, as pointed out by food historian Regina Sexton, that Ireland has long been in the business of producing food for other European tables, and that we did not consider what we retained for ourselves to be particularly remarkable (with the exception, I might add, of the dewy-eyed appreciation by many’s the Irish person of a steaming hot, floury spud).

In the end, Catherine Cleary, restaurant critic with the Irish Times, probably put it best when she said that there is a richness in Irish food, but a poverty in our thinking about it. Foodcamp, and events like it, do much to weave that poor straw into a golden, celebratory thread. Long may it continue.

When I travel, I like to get out and explore. The prospect of being confined to a ship, however well-appointed, and with only an afternoon here and there spent in port, along with hundreds, or even thousands of fellow passengers, has never filled me with joy.

That doesn’t mean that I’m not curious about cruise ships, though. When I was invited to take a tour of the Azamara Journey in Dublin Port recently, and to sample their food service, I did (in the name of research, you understand) go along.

To be fair, the cruise liner in question was a lot swisher than this sign in Dublin Port
might have suggested

The visit on board ship kicked off with a presentation from the President and CEO of Azamara Club Cruises, Larry Pimentel, a man with many years of experience in the cruise business. He spoke about their boutique cruise philosophy:

- They use smaller ships than is typical in the cruise world (where small is a relative term – the Azamara Journey berths around 700 passengers; most others in commercial operation accommodate several times that number).

- Using smaller ships means that, among other things, they can offer a greater range of destination ports.

- They also offer more overnight and longer stays in port, as well as tie-ins with local events, from the Chelsea Flower Show to the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.

All of which made it sound like the type of cruise I might actually consider, if I were choosing to cruise at all, that is.

The Azamara Journey: up close, it's hard to believe that, in cruise ship terms, this is kinda small

Larry also came across as being exceedingly proud of the crew who staff his ships – “there may be better ships, but no better crew,” says he. I was only there for a short visit but, to judge by the attentiveness of the crew, I couldn’t disagree. As Larry spoke, they took particular care with the filling of champagne glasses and proffered a steady supply of exceedingly lovely canapés – among them, smoked salmon with capers, tempura prawns, scrambled egg with caviar, prawn toasts, fig with prosciutto and ratatouille in filo pastry cups.

Truth be told, though several courses of lunch were to follow, I think I liked those opening bites more. Nevertheless, I did consider the possibility of stowing away so that I might have another crack at the lunchtime starter, which featured the always lovely combination of crab, grapefruit and avocado. And if I were to stump up the cash to become a bona fide passenger, I could see that, between the main dining room, the two speciality restaurants (serving mediterranean and steakhouse style dishes), the casual dining Windows Café or even room (or, rather, cabin) service, I could, in all likelihood, expect to eat rather well.

Seems I was starting to like at least some aspects of this cruising business after all.

Lunch on board is served:
top: lobster bisque (left) and lump crab with grapefruit and avocado (right)
bottom: ahi tuna served on a risotto cake (left) and coconut crème brûlée (right)

After lunch, we took a tour around the ship. Much as I expected, the ship had all of the facilities you might expect to find in what is, after all, an upmarket floating hotel. In particular, I was glad to see that there was a gym on board – with the equivalent of four course dining available every night, I think I’d need it.

Out and about on deck

View from the inside:
top: one of the many bar and dining areas (left) and the library (right)
bottom: the casino, if gambling is your thing (left) and an outside cabin to rest your head at night (right)

At the end of it all, and not having actually sailed an inch, I got ready to disembark. While waiting to say my goodbyes, I chatted about the tour with another visitor to the ship. “You really need to see this in the Mediterranean,” she said, “when the outdoor decks come into their own.” I pondered that as I looked beyond the ship towards the overcast, industrial landscape of Dublin Port. She was right, of course, and while I still wasn’t sure that the cruising life was for me, in my head I had already set sail for more southerly, sunnier climes.

“It’s the best thing I’ve ever done,” said David Puttnam.

We were talking about his having taken up residence in West Cork some 22 years ago. Then he glanced down the table towards his wife and smiled, “well, it’s the second best thing, the best was marrying Patsy…”

Either way, it was quite a statement from a man whose career has included film production credits for, among others, the Oscar-winning Chariots of Fire, and it said a lot about how locals and blow-ins alike regard this particularly captivating corner of the world.

View from Glebe Gardens, Baltimore, West Cork

I met David and Patsy in Skibbereen as part of a weekend visit to West Cork for a preview of West Cork Food, a new food tourism initiative of which the Puttnams are patrons. The aim is to provide visitors with an opportunity to meet and visit with artisan producers, and to watch them at work. It’s a proposition that’s bound to appeal to anyone with an interest in artisanal food and the production thereof, particularly given the stellar array of producers who live in, and operate from, this area.

A land of peninsulas and pasture, West Cork is where the revival of Irish farmhouse cheesemaking began in the late 70′s, and the region now boasts what is probably the highest concentration of artisan food producers in Ireland. It’s here that you’ll find, among many others, Durrus and Milleens cheese, Skeaghanore Duck, cheese and charcuterie from Gubbeen, butter, yoghurt and more from Glenilen Farm and smoked wild fish from Sally Barnes’ Woodcock Smokery.

Sally Barnes

It is the aforementioned Sally Barnes who is one of the driving forces behind the West Cork Food initiative, along with Stephen Sage of the West Cork Guide. Prior to my visit, I knew Sally only by reputation as one of the finest smokers of fish anywhere. Over the weekend, we visited her smokery, filleted own our fish, and watched the brining and smoking process. We also listened as Sally talked.

At Sally Barnes' Woodcock Smokery near Castletownshend

Like many West Corkonians, she’s a blow-in, originally from Scotland, but ended up here more than 30 years ago when she married a fisherman. Her fish smoking skills are self-taught – wanting to preserve the fish that her husband had caught and lacking a freezer, she started experimenting, first with a tea-chest and pan, and later with a kiln acquired in settlement of a debt. She later studied food production systems and oceanography through the Open University.

As is the case with many of the producers in the area, she’s both knowledgeable and passionate about her subject and you can’t help but become enthused yourself. Enabling visitors to have access to people like Sally is what West Cork Food is all about. Be warned, though – if you do visit West Cork, you might not want to leave. Staying, in fact, might be the best thing you’ve ever done.

One whiting, ready for filleting

Sally talks filleting and fish

Brining the fish: Sally's formula is simple, she adds salt to water until the fish float;
these whiting fillets were brined for about 15 minutes, others will be brined for shorter or longer periods;
salmon, on the other hand, she dry salts;

Into the kiln for 6 hours of cold-smoking, using beech smoke

Et voilà, a beautifully smoked fillet of whiting

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Potatoes And Lentils With Smoked White Fish

“Nothing goes with fish better than potatoes,” so commented Prue Leith while scrutinising a submission for the fish course of The Great British Menu. I don’t recall the dish in question, but the comment sprang to mind as I thought about what to do with my two beautiful fillets of beech-smoked whiting from Sally Barnes.

Truth be told, Sally’s beech-smoked whiting is such a fine piece of fish that, really, very little, if anything needs to be added in order to enjoy it. Her own suggestions were to either poach it in milk with potatoes and onions or simply acidulate it for about an hour before eating, perhaps along with some spring onions. I took the latter idea, allowed strips of the fish to marinate in lemon juice, while I made a kind of thick, earthy potato and lentil stew to be eaten alongside. It’s hearty, satisfying fare.

You’ll need:

• approx. 200g good quality smoked white fish (I used Sally Barnes’ smoked whiting)
• juice of one lemon
• 2-3 spring onions, finely sliced
• vegetable oil for frying
• 1 medium-sized onion, approx. 150g, sliced into fine half rings
• 300g tomatoes, skinned and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 0.5 tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed
• 0.5 tsp paprika
• 400g potato, peeled and cut into approx. 1cm cubes
• 200g puy lentils, rinsed
• 1 bay leaf
• 1.5 tsp salt
• approx. 750ml water or vegetable stock
• 200g kale, thick stalks removed and leaves finely chopped (or use swiss chard or spinach)
• freshly ground black pepper
• freshly chopped flat leaf parsley (optional)

You’ll also need:

• A large, heavy-based saucepan

The Steps:

• Slice the smoked fish into very fine, narrow strips, spread onto a plate or board, scatter with the spring onions, squeeze generously with lemon juice and set aside.
• Place a large saucepan over a medium heat. When hot, add vegetable oil to coat the pan. Add the sliced onions and stir and fry for about 5 minutes or until starting to soften.
• Add the tomatoes and garlic, fry for another 5-8 minutes or until the tomatoes have softened.
• Add the crushed fennel seeds and the paprika, stir briefly, then add the cubed potatoes, puy lentils, bay leaf, salt and water or stock. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.
• Add the chopped kale and simmer for about 30 minutes more or until the lentils and vegetables are tender. Add black pepper to taste and additional salt if it needs it.
• Remove from the heat and stir in about half of the smoked fish and spring onions. To serve, ladle into bowls and scatter with the remaining smoked fish and some chopped parsley if using.

The Variations:

• You could perhaps replace the smoked fish with some smoked bacon or leave both out and enjoy as a satisfying vegetarian main course on its own.

The Results:

• Serves 4-6 for lunch or dinner

Sadly, according to the results returned for “Irish food” by google image search (as at the time of writing, at any rate), the picture (or rather, pictures) ain’t pretty.

Realising this, the ever-savvy folks at Bord Bia gathered together a troop of Irish food bloggers and sat them in front of the combined talents and experience of food-blogger-turned-author-turned-tv-chef Donal Skehan, food stylist to the stars, Sharon Hearne Smith, food photographer Jocasta Clarke, the original of the Irish blogger species, Damien Mulley, as well as cookbook editor and blogger at Edible Ireland, Dinner du Jour, and the Irish Food Bloggers Association, Kristin Jensen. It was a morning of chat about food photography and styling, image search and recipe writing, all aimed at helping us to present better images of Irish food to the online world.

Sharon Hearne Smith lets us in on some tricks of the food styling trade, from carefully considered
cake placement to the perfect dollop of cream, to using a heat gun on cheese for that just-melted effect

It was also a day which saw the sharing of an impressive array of home-baked goods, many thoughtfully wrapped and with recipes attached. There was no mistaking that the people responsible were bloggers of the food variety (and very good food at that).

A small selection of the baked goods that were brought along

Needless to remark, I left the event laden with sweet treats and armed with ideas – and while I couldn’t be sure of how many I would put into action, I knew that my pursuit of good looking Irish food would continue, as would the quest for my own holy grail: the perfect Irish potato picture, be it colcannon, boxty, the crisp sandwich or something other.

Colcannon: classically potatoey and classically Irish

Boxty: another Irish potato special

All hail the mighty crisp sandwich

The food sector is the main driver of growth in the economy.

It seemed that everyone started scribbling or typing when Simon Coveney, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, let us in on what his colleague, Michael Noonan, the Minister for Finance, had said at that morning’s cabinet meeting. For once, it appeared that the importance of our native Irish food industries was being recognised at the highest levels.

The Minister’s address closed out the first Bord Bia Taste Council Food Summer School. The event had been billed as the first national symposium on the current and future contribution of artisan and speciality food producers to the Irish economy and was held in the lovely surroundings of Brooklodge, Co. Wicklow last Tuesday.

The attendees were a veritable who’s-who of movers and shakers in the Irish food scene: from Ballymaloe’s legendary Darina and Myrtle Allen to Bridgestone Guide author John McKenna, from Georgina Campbell of the Ireland Guide to Margaret Jaffares of Good Food Ireland, from Kevin and Seamus Sheridan of Sheridan’s Cheesemongers to Pat Smith, general secretary of the Irish Farmer’s Association (IFA). There were butchers, bakers and fine food makers, and there was, as is only right and proper, plenty of that fine food to eat.

John McKenna poses with a bountiful array of local foods at the Food Summer School

The event comprised three panel-based discussion sessions covering issues relating to the traditional Irish farm, the role of education and marketing brand Ireland. Though each had their merits, it was probably the opening session on the Irish farm that provoked most comment, not least because we all knew deep down that, without our farms and farmers, we would have no food industry to speak of.

The trouble (or not, depending on your perspective) with Irish farms is that they tend to be small – the average farm size across the IFA‘s 89,000 members, for example, is only about 60 acres. While it is this very patchwork of family farms that may delight the visitor to the Irish countryside, economically, many of these farms are deemed unviable. Despite low farm incomes however, less than 5% of farms have diversified into other areas that could add value, such as cheesemaking or tourist-related activities, often because they lack the time and/or additional skills to do so.

You can either light a candle or curse the dark.

Denis Carroll of the Ring of Kerry Quality Lamb Group.

Dr. Aine Macken-Walsh of agriculture and food development authority Teagasc presented a model of ‘Middle Agriculture‘, which is based around developing a federated co-operative structure for these mid-sized farms, and which could help to provide a skills base and marketing network to facilitate small food businesses. An interesting development, certainly, but meanwhile, some farmers, like the Ring of Kerry Quality Lamb Group, are already doing it for themselves. A group of over 25 sheep farmers, they have partnered with local butchers in order to provide lamb directly to customers and provide a better return for themselves. It’s a model that can work.

Now, don’t you dare boil the hell out of it…

Darina Allen on introducing cookery students to the growers of their beetroot.

The education session was probably a little less conclusive. It was clear that there exists a certain lack of cohesion when it comes to educating the farmers, food producers and chefs of the future. No-one disagreed with the fact that we could do better – especially with the teaching of practical skills and crafts – but what exists in terms of education about food is less a coherent national strategy than a set of largely independent, if worthy, initiatives (such as SEED, for example, which aims to turn school gardens into living classrooms). Darina Allen, who chaired the session, was practical and commonsense as ever, and stressed the need to connect those who grow with those who cook – no real surprise from someone who runs a cookery school sited on a 100 acre organic farm, and of which it is an integral part.

Our food story needs to be told.

Simon Coveney, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Finally, the discussion moved on to the development of an umbrella brand for Irish food. Nobody in the room was in any doubt about the fact that we have food that’s worth shouting about, but Una Fitzgibbon from Bord Bia outlined some of the perceived negatives that we need to tackle when it comes to food exports. One such is an association in people’s minds of Irish food with British food, food which, whether merited or not, has a rather unenviable, stodgy reputation. Another is the perception that our adverse weather conditions must make it hard to farm, whereas our temperate, maritime climate – yes, the one that gives us all that rain – is the very reason for our green, green grass and the quality of dairy products and beef that results.

Forget about the term artisan, we’re just doing with food what should be done with it.

David Tiernan, producer of Glebe Brethan cheese

Negative perceptions aside, however, the outlook for Irish food is hugely positive. Whether you refer to them as artisans, food producers or people who are simply trying to make a living off the land, the truth is that ours is a story of remarkable people and their remarkable food. We just need to get on with the telling of it.

The table is laid at Brooklodge for the Summer School
attendees - nothing left to do but eat...

Smoked wild salmon, local Wicklow cures of lamb, pork and venison,
goat's cheese tart topped with elderflower jelly, fresh oysters and smoked oyster pâté:
just some of the delights to start with

Locally reared meats, crab claws stir-fried to order,
chutneys galore and rhubarb panna cottas for the sweet-toothed

National Potato Day: Spuds finally get their day in the sun

By the time it got to Thursday, there was a definite buzz developing around the whole National Potato Day thing.

A simple idea, the brainchild of North Dublin family growers Keogh’s Potatoes, it was prompted by the continuing slide, in recent years, in the sales of fresh potatoes in this country. According to Tom Keogh, those sales have fallen by up to half since 2002 – a shocking statistic, I know.

Still, though we may not be buying them as much as we used to, the concept of National Potato Day connected with the corner of our psyche that acknowledges spuds as part and parcel of the Irish condition. The idea gathered quite a bit of momentum in the run up to the day itself, with coverage both in the national press and on national radio. Over on Newstalk, radio host George Hook revealed himself to be an ardent spud fan and can be seen below leading the charge for what he later called “one of the great foods” (and no, I couldn’t exactly disagree with him on that one).

Meanwhile, over on Twitter, the great and the good were pondering how to mark the occasion.

And, of course, folks were wondering about my own Chief Spud Ambassadorship…

In the end, there was neither sash nor baton, but I did score an ‘I love spuds’ t-shirt, just like the ones sported by the potato sack racers below, along with as many chips as I could eat (which, it must be said, is quite a lot).

As seen in the Irish Independent on Friday

Chips for me and, um, more chips for me

Free chips, free spuds and an assortment of potato-themed games:
wasn't entirely sure I approved of the potato throwing event, but the kids seemed to enjoy it no end

And what, you might wonder, did I really make of it all?

To re-purpose a much derided election slogan, there’s “a lot done, more to do”. The National Potato Day that we saw this week showed that the Irish affection for the spud persists, but…

…will we buy and eat more spuds as a result?

Perhaps some of us will – and perhaps it will take products like Keogh’s Easy Cook steam-in-the-bag potatoes to convince the convenience food generation to give real spuds another try. Regardless, we need to keep getting the message out about the wonders of the versatile potato every other day of the year too. And when National Potato Day rolls around again next year, as it inevitably will, please let’s put more than just chips on the menu.