Artisan Producers

Gastronomic science students doing a masters in marketing now have a list of evocative terms guaranteed to resonate with consumers who are seeking a more authentic wholesome product or eating experience – local artisan handmade, farmhouse, traditional, hand crafted… As a result there’s an epidemic of chefs and producers who are talking the talk but often with little understanding or respect for the real meaning of the word.

Evocative labels use the clever images and the jargon but often completely fail to deliver what that image promises. The menu of the CIE train promises ‘delicious, local, handmade sandwiches, hot snacks and pastries’ – I don’t think so – they are what they are but why try to pass them off as homemade. There are ‘Artisan’ restaurants and cafes without a single artisan item on the menu, artisan sweets and chocolates where as far as I can gather the only artisan element in the entire production system is to put the chocolates by hand into the moulded plastic trays in the slick packaging.

This ‘passing off’ is grossly unfair to the growing number of real artisan producers who has done so much to offer an alternative to mass produced option and to change the image of Irish food both at home and abroad.

Watertight definitions are notoriously difficult to nail down. Several of the farmhouse cheese makers and artisan producers – including Ballymaloe Country Relish – who started production on their kitchen tables has now morphed into a million euro businesses with a significant export market, no longer small but still with strong artisan values and philosophy – Cashel Blue Cheese and Glenilen in West Cork are brilliant examples. I asked John McKenna (Bridgestone Guides) what his definition of artisan might be – “a person who makes a product form beginning to end, and who makes it by hand, it’s easy to mechanise food production, artisans originate the product, produce it, and ideally sell it at market. Twenty years ago we came up with ‘The four ‘P’s’ person, place, (sense of place), product (original start from scratch) and passion and have found that has stood the test of time”

The  Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSA) are working on it but as yet there is still no legal definition of local or regional in the EU despite a recognition of the urgent need to define. In the US the word ‘house-made’ is now being substituted for hand-made which no longer had credibility. At present there are several court cases pending because of restaurants passing off an imported product, particularly goat cheese, as Irish. If you come across cases of blatant ‘passing off’ do please contact Slow Food Ireland or Cáis. www.slowfoodireland.com

 

The Encarta dictionary definition of artisan: a person or company that makes a high-quality, distinctive product in small quantities, usually by hand…

 

A Plate of McGeough’s Cured Meats

 

James McGeough is a second generation master butcher in Galway, Ireland. For the past number of years he’s been experimenting with curing and drying meats using traditional meats to produce dried, smoked meats and salami. I tasted them at the Food Village during the Volvo Ocean Race in Galway and was mightily impressed.

Telephone 353 (0) 91 552351 for stockists.

 

Serves 4

 

8 slices each of air dried beef, pork, lamb and ham

Cucumber pickle

Horseradish crème fraiche (see recipe)

a salad of rocket leaves and fresh herbs

 

Arrange 2 ruffled slices of each cured meat on each serving plate, add some cucumber pickle, horseradish crème fraiche and a little bouquet of rocket leaves and fresh herbs.

 

Horseradish Crème Fraiche

 

Horseradish grows wild in many parts of Ireland and looks like giant dock leaves.  If you can’t find it near you, plant some in your garden.  It is very prolific and the root which you grate can be dug up at any time of the year.

 

Serve with roast beef, smoked venison or smoked mackerel.

 

Serves 8 – 10

 

1 1/2-3 tablespoons grated horseradish

2 teaspoons wine vinegar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon mustard

1/4 teaspoon salt

pinch of freshly ground pepper

1 – 2 teaspoons sugar

8 fl ozs (250 ml) crème fraiche

 

Scrub the horseradish root well, peel and grate on a ‘slivery grater’.  Put the grated horseradish into a bowl with the vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar.  Fold in the crème fraiche but do not overmix or the sauce will curdle.  It keeps for 2-3 days: cover so that it doesn’t pick up flavours in the fridge.

 

This is a fairly mild horseradish sauce.  If you want to really clear the sinuses increase the amount of horseradish!

 

Courgette Flower, St Tola Goats Cheese and Local Honey

 

Anyone who planted courgettes this year will have lots of courgette blossoms. Use the male flowers raw in salads or make them into fritters.

 

Serves 2

4 courgette blossoms

250g (9ozs) St Tola goats cheese (or other good quality goats/sheep cheese)

2 teaspoons thyme leaves

2 teaspoons Irish honey

 

Tempura Batter

 

200g (7ozs) rice flour

20g (3/4oz) corn flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

cold sparkling water

 

First make the batter.

Mix the flours with a little water, it should be of a thickish consistency and can be used immediately.

 

Mix the cheese with the thyme leaves. Half fill each courgette flower.  Twist the ends to seal.  Dip the courgette flowers into batter.  Deep-fry at 190°C/375°F for 1 minute.  Drizzle with honey and serve, immediately.

 

Genaro’s Crespelle con Ricotta e Rucola

 

Crespelle are the Italian equivalent of pancakes. Everything sounds better in Italian – a recipe from Gennaro Contaldo’s Easy Italian cookery book, published by Headline UK.

                                                     

250g (9oz) plain flour

4 eggs

500ml (18fl oz)

40g (1 ½ oz) butter melted, plus extra for greasing and dotting

20g (3/4 oz) Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

½ quantity of Tomato sauce, using onion (see recipe)

Salt

 

For the filling

 

300g (10 ½ oz) ricotta – we use Toonsbridge Ricotta

100g (3 ½ oz) rocket, finely chopped, plus some un-chopped for garnishing

50g (1 ¾ oz) Parmesan cheese freshly grated

salt and pepper

 

1 x 16cm ( 6 ¼ inch) non-stick frying pan

 

Pre-heat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/Gas 5.

Sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a bowl, add the eggs and stir. Gradually whisk in the milk, ensuring no lumps are formed, until you obtain a smooth runny batter, then stir in the melted butter.

Place the frying pan on the heat, grease with a little butter, then add a ladleful of the mixture in the centre of the pan. Swirl the pan around so that the mixture runs to all sides. Fry until the bottom is golden, then flip over to cook on the other side. Remove and set aside. Continue to do this until your mixture has finished – you should be able to make 8 pancakes.

To make the filling on to each pancake, then fold each one in half and half again, ending up with a triangle. Place on a greased ovenproof dish so that they slightly overlap each other, dot with knobs of butter and sprinkle with the Parmesan. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

Remove and top with a spoonful of tomato sauce on each pancake. Garnish with some rocket and serve.

 

Genaro’s Salsa di Pomodoro – Tomato Sauce

 

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped, or ½ medium onion, finely chopped

2 x 410g tins plum tomatoes, chopped

handful of fresh basil, finely chopped

salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and sweat the garlic or onion over a medium heat. Add the tomatoes and basil, season with salt and pepper and simmer for 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and use immediately, or leave to cool and place in the fridge or freezer for later use.

 

Rose Cottage Strawberry Ice Cream

 

Rose Cottage Fruit Farm in Co Laois grows a variety of soft fruits and sells at Midleton, Mahon Point, Coal Quay and Douglas Farmers Markets – 0578732666

 

 

Serves 6-8

 

2 lbs (900g) very ripe strawberries

freshly squeezed juice of 1/2 lemon

freshly squeezed juice of 1/2 orange

8ozs (225gcastor sugar

300ml (300ml) water

150ml (5floz) whipped cream

 

Dissolve the sugar in the water; boil for 7-10 minutes, leave to cool. Purée the strawberries in a food processor or blender, sieve. Add the freshly squeezed orange and lemon juice to the cold syrup. Stir into the purée, fold in the whipped cream. Freeze immediately preferably in a sorbietere.  Store in a covered plastic box in the freezer. Store in a fridge.

 

Fresh Strawberry Sauce

400g (14 ozs) strawberries

50g (2 ozs) icing sugar

lemon juice

 

Garnish

Fresh mint leaves

 

To make the strawberry sauce, clean and hull the strawberries, add to the blender with sugar and blend. Strain, taste and add lemon juice if necessary. Pour over scoops of strawberry gelato and garnish with some fresh mint leaves.

Hot Tips

Date for your diary.

The Slow Food event Terra Madre in Italy is a life changing event. This year’s theme is ‘The future of food is the future of the planet. Slow Food International Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre’  Five days of extraordinary diversity of food across all continents held in Turin, Italy from Thursday 25th to Monday 29th October 2012 – for full details of the rich program http://www.slowfood.com

Food Festival in Castlemartyr, East Cork. The Village Greengrocer Food Festival are preparing for their second annual festival. There will be lots of food stalls, a pig on the spit and live music on Friday 10^th and Saturday 11^th August – 021-4667655.

Great new food magazine ‘West Fork’ celebrates the wonderful diversity of ‘food production’ and ‘food culture’ in West Cork. Look out for it. www.westfork.ie

Darina’s Book of the Week

Picnics and Other Outdoor Feasts by Claudia Roden, The new edition of Picnics reveals a whole world of simply prepared delicious foods and whets our appetites and the imagination with tales from far and near. From the street food of the Middle East and Mediterranean, the festivals of the high grassy plains of Mexico to the English traditions of picnicing in parks, at Glyndebourne and shooting-lunches on the grouse moors. Something for every season and any climate, perfect for our Irish Summer. Published by Grubb Street Press.