Lucinda O'Sullivan's Ireland

Monday 28 March 2011

We used all hear of the old Wartime spirit in the U.K. and how everyone pulled together, we may not be in that type of war but in our economic war we are seeing this happen here too, people are not as pushy or dismissive of your business as they were in the boom. The spirit of the old Irish tradition of meitheal – supporting one another – you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours – is alive again – and it is ever more important that small communities band together in business deals and that people buy and support Irish products.

Hotels throughout the country of course have had to fight hard for business, for that spare buck, but this challenge it could be said has brought out the best in many of them as they come up with events and ideas to attract the customer to their doors. Some do it by way of incentives such as an extra night free or really knock down prices to get you in on the basis that once you are there you will spend money in the bar, the diningroom, or the spa. This is really good for the punter and we should all be availing of these great deals which keep hotels open and staff in their jobs, but think also of how rejuvenated you feel when you have had that break and change of scene.

The G Hotel in Galway is a really cool hip spot which hit the headlines when developed five years ago, as the interiors had been designed ingeniously by one of Galway’s most famous exports – the King of Millinery – Philip Treacy. It is spectacularly cool in a theatrical way with the ground floor being a series of salons in shades of oyster, silver, and Schiaparelli pink, laid out like stage sets fronting on to a linking corridor. But the G is not all about glam for they also have a very good restaurant Matz, named after the Executive Chef of the G and its sister hotel Ashford Castle, Stefan Matz, a charming modest man who many forget achieved a Michelin Star in his previous life at Earriseask House in Connemara. The Head Chef at the G is Regis Herviaux from Brittany whilst the pastry chef is Shane Smith.

They recently had a couple of foodie events showcasing the produce of the Artisan Producers from whom they source their ingredients at a pre dinner Champagne reception, followed by a gourmet dinner in Matz restaurant, and indeed a cookery demonstration next morning by Chef Herviaux. Damien O’Riordan, General Manager of the G, is very enthusiastic about these events, which have proved an enormous success, and the great hands on relationship they have with their artisan suppliers. Chef Herviaux told me their suppliers now are more like friends than just business associates. “I never fax in an order or do it in advance, I ring them up each day, and chat with them personally about what is good on the day, and we decide then what to buy. I know that if I need something suddenly at the last minute they will go out of their way to get it and bring it to me.” From the other side of the ‘counter’ James McGeough or McGeough’s Butchers in Oughterard likewise says “they are just so nice to deal with at the G even at the back door when we deliver, whereas some places or just so rude or offhand when deliveries arrive.”

The champagne and canape reception was really cool set in the elegant oyster and silver Grand Salon, where they had a backdrop of Breakfast at Tiffany’s playing on the enormous floor to ceiling ‘windows’, and where participating producers were providing tastings. We then moved into Matz for the dinner which was just all round superb. We kicked off with a trio of smoked tuna - a gateaux of smoked tuna with cream cheese and pear, a shot mousse of crème fraiche topped with parmesan cannelloni stuffed with smoked tuna, and leek and smoked tuna crumble. Wines were by the Vineyard Wine Company on Quay Street, Galway, who paired the tuna with a Vistamar Pinot Noir Reserva 2008. This was followed on by a delicious chargrilled scallop sitting in creamy barley with fine mussels and fresh basil, and accompanied with El Coto Blanco 2009. Then we had delicious cream of shallot and mustard soup with cigarillos of McGeough’s superb air dired beef. Next up was fabulous local lamb in three elements, pink rack, loin, and leg, on a tian of black olives and butter beans with thyme and green beans, paired with Chateau Charron Les Gruppes 2008. We then finished off with a stunning dessert of Bluebell Goat’s cheese in four elements – sublime – with Granny Smith apple and lemon balm. This was paired with a heavenly dessert wine Vistamar Moscatel Late Harvest 2009.

Graham Roberts of the Connemara Smokehouse in Ballyconeely told me that the business was started originally in 1979 by his Dad. “I learned the business by following him around and now I have taken over the reins. I am very hands on with the fish whilst my wife Saoirse was roped in as well behind the scenes with the website and so on – as well as having four young children under 10!” Graham is a very engaging chap who told me his mum was born in Malawi but her family were originally from Cork and she was brought up in the U.K. His Dad was always a fisherman in the U.K. but they used come to their aunt’s house in Connemara on holidays so when Graham was 3 years old they settled here in the fishing business. People wanted smoked salmon and that really took off supplying hotels and restaurants and it is the core of their business. The Connemara Smokehouse do traditional smoked salmon, as well as gravadlax with Irish twist, marinated in salt, sugar, dill, and Irish whiskey. They also do a roast and honey roast smoked salmon which has a cooked texture, and a very interesting line caught smoked tuna as well as peppered smoked mackeral, and good old fashioned kippers. Graham says “nowadays people have less money to spend, but when they spend they want to know they are spending it on something good.” The Connemara Smokehouse sells direct to consumers. Tel: (095) 23739 www.smokehouse.ie

No more than a dozen years ago Goat’s cheese was regarded as something really exotic, nay in some parts, considered a bit strange, and we would occasionally see packaged rondelles for sale in a better quality supermarket or deli. Now, it is widely available in many varieties and is on virtually every restaurant in the country. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t just love it. Our cheese producers here are absolutely wonderful and that includes the highly successful Bluebell Falls Goats Cheese. Paul Keane of Bluebell Falls told me the family farm near Ennis in Co. Clare was in their family for several generations but about 15 years ago his mother “had a handful of little goats and started making cheese.” It just took off but, Paul says, it does surprise him how many people do not realise that goats cheese is such a healthy product, having low cholosterol and being more easily digestable. They have a herd of over 200 goats and all of their cheese is made from milk produced on their farm. 85% of what goats consume is fresh grass cut fresh each day and fed to the goats indoors both morning and evening, the remaining 15% is made up of barley, oats and wheat, and after they are fed they are free to roam outside. They now produce a number of varieties, the main cheese is ‘Cygnus’ which they now also do with garlic, honey and thyme, or with black pepper and garlic. They are also doing a semi hard cheese called Orion with a sweet nutty flavour and a new one coming out in May called Pegasus. Bluebell Falls distribute their cheese themselves as “it is a fragile product and I insist on ensuring it reaches the customer in best condition.” Their principal customers are restaurants but it is available in Donnybrook Fair & Fallon & Byrne in Dublin or direct from themselves. Tel: (065) 683-8024 www.bluebellfalls.ie

Stephane Griesbach of Gannet fishmongers came to Galway from Paris in 1997 and met his Galway wife, Caroline, in 1998. They have a shop in the Eyre Square Centre and are also at many of the local markets. They supply many of the restaurants and hotels in the region and had a lovely display of crevettes, oysters, scallops marinated in lime, clams, and so on for people to taste. Stephane has always been in the fish business being a fish monger in Paris before coming to Ireland to do fish farming. He is very keen on buying local – “I just go down to the Quay each day and see what is good.” He then advises customers on what is good value that day, and maybe how to cook it. He stocks a huge range of fish including different things such as ‘Sweaty Betty” - also known as Forkbeard – a deep sea fish caught off the West of Ireland. Stephane says it is a lovely fish which used to be thrown back in the sea by fishermen. Don’t dismiss it – I remember when monkfish was cheap as chips and look at it now.

Gannet Seafoods, Eyre Square Centre, Galway. Tel: 086 348-8591.

James McGeough has achieved quite a name for himself, not only as a butcher of distinction, but as a producer of German style charcuterie at the family business, McGeough’s Butchers in Oughterard. When James was 16 he came to Dublin to the College of Marketing & Design in Cathal Brugha Street to do a Butchery course, also working in a butcher’s shop in Camden Street on Fridays and Saturdays. He then went home to work with his Dad for 2 years before deciding to go to Germany for 6 weeks and staying 6 years! I guess part of the attraction was that he met his wife Krista there! He went to school in Germany to do a Masters Degree in Butchery – you can’t work in Germany without that. Eventually, they decided to come back to Ireland and James started making German products “but they never sold well. People didn’t know them almost 20 years ago”. He then read of a competition in Holland and entered his air-dried lamb – and won the competition. It took off there and James says “Bord Bia were an amazing help in every way with marketing and branding – they were fantastic.” He now has a state of the art factory at the back of the shop which I visited during my trip. It was amazing to see all these wonderful products hanging at different stages of production. James says “people do not realise that this is such a costly operation. The product is hung for 12 months, handled 67 times from start to finish in the process, so there may be no financial return from it for 15 months. The units required to take away humidity cost €80,000 each.” James still travels to Switzerland and Germany twice a year visiting factories. Tel: (091) 552351 www.connemarafinefoods.ie

Next morning Chefs Regis Herviaux and Shane Smith gave us a very interesting cookery demo showing how to deconstruct a leg of lamb into 4 different sections to be cooked in four different ways, roasted or braised. Chef Herviaux explained that the meat closest to the bone is the toughest – now I would never have thought of that when I buy a leg of lamb – I just roast the lot – but in this day and age it was a very economical tip. He also made a lovely tartare of salmon and cucumber mousse whilst Chef Smith made delicious chocolate and walnut brownies, chocolate ganache, and honeycomb! Yum – Are you hungry after all this? Tel: (091) 865203 www.theghotel.ie

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THIS ARTICLE WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT ON MARCH 20, 2011.