ArchiveAugust 2024

Such excitement yesterday evening, we all piled into my son-in-law’s little fishing boat from the pier and Ballycotton. My youngest grandson Jago had just got his first fishing rod with a reel and flies and was super excited. There’s scarcely been a mackerel seen in Ballycotton Bay all summer long, but the word was out, ‘the mackerel are in’. We puttered round the eastern side of Ballycotton Island, dropped a couple of lines over the edge and hey presto, a mackerel and then four or five ‘silver darlings’ wiggling on the line. It wasn’t quite like old times when mackerel, (a brilliant source of essential omega fatty acids) were crazily plentiful, sadly a rare occurrence nowadays but wildly exciting, nonetheless. Jago learned how to dispatch fish humanely and to gut and fillet them in mere minutes. Seagulls circulated overhead squabbling over entrails.
We had brought a little jam jar of soy sauce and a tube of wasabi with us, on the off chance that we might be fortunate enough to catch a fish. We all love crudo, so we sliced the first few fillets paper thinly, dipped them into soy sauce and wasabi to enjoy divine spanking fresh sashimi – so delicious and such fun to pass the skills down through the generations.
We also landed a couple of pollock, not a particularly flavourful fish but nonetheless delicious when really fresh. Try this pollock with tomato and fresh spices.
There’s a million ways to serve mackerel, I just love them pan-grilled or fried, slathered with a little miso or served with a blob of parsley and lemon butter or green gooseberry sauce to cut the richness. If perchance, you have a few green gooseberries in your freezer, make a simple sugar syrup, toss in some green berries and cook for just a few minutes until they burst, a brilliant tip from Jane Grigson’s, ‘Good Things’ cookbook from many years ago. The gooseberry season is well over by now but sadly the mackerel have only just arrived in Ballycotton and one never knows when we’ll be blessed with another catch.
Freshness is everything with fish, more and more of a challenge nowadays but if you can neither catch or source really fresh fish how about some mussels.
Most supermarkets now sell little net bags of wild or cultivated mussels for just a few euros. They are incredibly good value and an excellent source of iron, cobalamin, vitamin C and many other good things and are cooked in mere minutes. One of my favourite simple suppers is a bowl of freshly opened mussels with homemade mayonnaise, a few slices of freshly baked brown soda bread and a leafy green salad.
Mackerel has always been part of the Irish diet but nowadays has become a rare treat because of an inadequate and patently unfair European policy over more than a decade. Several of the Nordic countries including Norway and Iceland are legally allowed to land three times Ireland’s quota of mackerel to process it into fish meal as a source of salmon and animal feed. Surely, high value mackerel from Irish waters should be used for human consumption not as animal feed in other countries. If you feel strongly about this subject, pick up your pen, write to you TD and call for an urgent change of policy, it’s the 11th hour.
Meanwhile, I give thanks for the few beautiful fresh fish we managed to catch during the summer season.

Crudo with Salmon Eggs and Fennel Flowers

This recipe inspired a dish I enjoyed in a restaurant overlooking Sydney Harbour in Australia. Wild fennel grows along the roadside in many areas and is in flower at present.

It is one of the many crudo recipes we love.

Serves 8-10

450g very fresh mackerel, bream or sea bass.

freshly squeezed juice of 1 orange and 1 lemon.

salmon eggs

24 – 50 fennel sprigs (or flowers in season) depending on size

flaky sea salt

Chill the starter plates.

Fillet the fish, if necessary, spoon some of the freshly squeezed juice over the fish. Cover and chill for 15-20 minutes depending on thickness. Slice into paper thin slices. Arrange in a line of overlapping slices in the centre of the plate, spoon little blobs of salmon eggs along the middle and decorate with fennel sprigs and flowers in season. Serve immediately.

Pan-grilled Mackerel with Miso 

Miso adds magic to this recipe as many other, buy some and start to experiment.

Serves 2

4 fillets of fresh mackerel

2 tbsp white miso

½ tbsp of runny honey

1 tsp of Asian sesame oil

1 tsp soy sauce

Accompaniment

salad of organic leaves

Whisk all the marinade ingredients together.  Coat each mackerel fillet and allow to absorb the flavour for 15-20 minutes. 

Heat a grill-pan over a medium heat.  Wipe excess marinade from the fish.  Drizzle with olive oil, cook skin side down for 2 minutes approximately, then flip over to cook the flesh side, continue to cook for a further 2-3 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish.  Serve immediately with a salad of organic leaves.

Note: Alternatively, just roast on a baking tray in a preheated moderate oven 180°C/Gas Mark 4 for 5-6 minutes.

Warm Poached Mackerel with Bretonne Sauce

Fresh mackerel gently poached and served warm with this simple sauce is an absolute feast, without question one of my favourite foods.

Serves 4 as a main course

8 as a starter

4 fresh mackerel

1.2 litres water

1 tbsp salt

Bretonne Sauce

75g butter, melted

1 egg yolk, preferably free range

½ tsp Dijon mustard (We use Maille Verte Aux Herbs)

1 tsp parsley, finely chopped

1 tsp chervil, finely chopped

1 tsp chives, finely chopped

½ tsp tarragon, finely chopped

1 tsp fennel, finely chopped

Cut the heads off very fresh mackerel.  Gut and clean them but keep whole. 

Bring the water to the boil; add the salt and the mackerel.  Bring back to boiling point and remove from the heat.  After about 5-8 minutes, check to see whether the fish are cooked.  The flesh should lift off the bone.  It will be tender and melting. 

Meanwhile make the sauce. 

Melt the butter and allow to boil.  Put the egg yolks into a bowl, add the mustard and the herbs, mix well.  Whisk the hot melted butter into the egg yolk mixture little by little so that the sauce emulsifies.  Keep warm, by placing the Pyrex bowl in a saucepan of hot but not boiling water. 

When the mackerel is cool enough to handle, remove to a plate.  Skin, lift the flesh carefully from the bones and arrange on a serving dish.  Coat with the sauce and serve while still warm with a good green salad and new potatoes.

Pollock with Tomatoes and Fresh Spices

Spread the tomato topping sparingly on the fish fillets – otherwise the delicate flavour of the fish will be overpowered rather than enhanced.  Haddock or ling may be used also.

Serves 6 as a main course

1.1kg thick pollock fillets cut into 6 x 175g pieces, skinned

¼ tsp salt

pinch of cayenne pepper

¼ tsp ground turmeric

Spicy Tomato Topping

4 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp scant fennel seeds

1 tsp scant mustard seeds

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

175g onion, finely chopped

1-2 tsp ground cumin seeds

1 tsp salt

a little pinch of cayenne pepper

½-1 tsp sugar

450g very ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped or 1 x 400g tin tomatoes, chopped

¼ teaspoon of Garam Masala (see recipe)

fresh coriander

Mix the salt, cayenne pepper and turmeric together and sprinkle over both sides of the fish fillets.  Cover and leave aside while you make the sauce.  Heat the olive oil in a saucepan.  When it is hot, add the fennel and mustard seeds which will start to pop in a few seconds. (Be careful as they burn really easily.  If the spices burn, start again – burnt spices will ruin the finished dish). Then add the crushed garlic and chopped onions.  Continue to cook until the onions turn golden, then add the ground cumin, salt and cayenne pepper and sugar.  Stir and then add the tomatoes and juice, finally the Garam masala.  Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 15 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. 

Heat 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan, brown the chunky pieces of fish on both sides (this step is optional) and remove to a warm oven proof serving dish.  Cover with the tomato sauce and bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes or until the fish is just cooked.  Garnish with coriander sprigs.  Serve with new potatoes and a good green salad.

Note

Be careful not to overdo the cayenne!

Madhur Jaffrey’s Garam Masala

Commercial garam masala loses its aromatic flavour very quickly, so it’s always best to make your own.  Grind it in small quantities so that it is always fresh and used up quickly. 

Makes about 3 tbsp

1 tbsp green cardamom seeds

1 x 5cm piece of cinnamon stick

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp whole cloves

1 tsp black peppercorns

¼ whole nutmeg

Put all the ingredients into a clean electric coffee grinder and whizz for about 30 seconds or until all the spices are finely ground.  Store in a dark place in a tiny screw top jar and use up quickly.  Don’t forget to clean out the coffee grinder really well or your coffee will certainly perk you up!  Better still, if you use spices regularly, keep a grinder especially for that purpose.

For me, Nine Bean Rows company who publishes the Blasta book series is the most exciting cookbook publishing company in Ireland at present. Kristin Jensen came up with the genius idea of doing a series of single subject cookbooks (A5 in size) with approx. 30 recipes. The colourful illustrations are by Nicky Hooper in her inimitable style. Recipes are carefully chosen to showcase a range of exciting dishes using the initial topic. Tacos, Hot Fish, Wok, Soup, Tapas, Wasted, Masarap, Funky, Whole Catch…
The latest book to arrive on my desk is entitled Agak-Agak, apparently pronounced Aga-Aga. The author Sham Hanifa, an award-winning Malaysian chef, businessman and broadcaster who now lives in Carrick on Shannon, County Leitrim,  lured there by the love of a lovely local school teacher, Dympna…
He’s run and co-opened many restaurants including The Cottage Restaurant, My Kitchen by Sham Hanifa, Synergy Café, Buffalo Boy Steakhouse plus he also sells a range of Chef Sham’s sauces with a devoted customer base.
You may also have seen him on the Virgin Media Six O’Clock Show where he demonstrates easy Asian style dishes which has built up quite the enthusiastic following.
How things have changed…when I started the Ballymaloe Cookery School 1983, many folk were still wary of garlic and few would venture next nor near a chilli.
Fast forward to now – we have become super adventurous and simply can’t get enough chilli, gochujang, sumac, ketjap manis and all manner of  spices. We totally love Asian flavours and are becoming more and more adventurous – Japanese, Turkish, Moroccan, Ethiopian, Caucasian…Bring it on.
Well back to this little book, Agak-Agak, pronounced Aga, Aga which in Malaysian, means, ‘guess – guess’ or ‘use your instincts’.
Sham rightly assumes less rather than more knowledge, so initial chapters feature essential basics like:
Three key ingredients
Lime leaves, an essential ingredient in Malaysian food,
(use frozen if you can’t get fresh although they are becoming more widely available).
Ketjap manis, an Indonesian sweet soy sauce and essential store cupboard ingredient.
Galangal, a cousin of fresh ginger.
Next chapter is entitled, Start here…and then there’s a chapter on how to make (spice paste), satay sauce and an essential chicken broth.
Take a little time to study these pages to understand the basics of Malaysian food and then you’re ready to embark on the recipes.
Hainanese chicken rice, one of my favourite dishes in the whole world is first, then there’s nasi goring, satay of course, tom yum, laksa, lamb rendang, nasi lemak, coconut rice and on and on.
I just didn’t know where to begin. One recipe more tempting than the next so I’ve chosen just three to get you started.

*All recipes from Blasta Books 11: Agak-Agak by Sham Hanifa, published by Blasta Books

Mussels with Coconut, Lemongrass, Lime and Ginger

Living in Ireland for the past 23 years, I’ve had the chance to travel all over the country with Euro-Toques to see and taste the best of Irish produce, including a boat trip in the Killary fjord to taste beautiful Irish mussels. With my Asian background, I love to create East-meets-West dishes like this one. Originally this masak lemak recipe uses clams, cockles or periwinkles but I decided to use mussels. It’s simple and quick to prepare if you already have the spice paste in the fridge or freezer. Just fry the paste to bring up the aroma, then add the coconut milk and mussels and it’s ready in no time.

Serves 4

For the spice paste:

3 garlic cloves, chopped

2 lemongrass stalks, bottom halves only, thinly sliced (save the tops)

2 bird’s eye chillies, chopped

2 thumb-sized pieces of ginger, roughly chopped

juice of 1 lime

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp water

1 tbsp ground turmeric

1 tsp ground coriander

For the mussels:

1kg mussels

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 shallot, halved lengthways and thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, thinly sliced

1 bird’s eye chilli, halved lengthways

1 tbsp spice paste

50ml water

1 x 400ml tin of full-fat coconut milk

juice of ½ lime

1 lime leaf

1 tbsp fish sauce, plus extra to taste

1 tsp light brown sugar

To make the spice paste, blend all the ingredients until smooth in a high-speed blender or crush them together in a pestle and mortar. You need only 1 tablespoon of the paste for this dish, so save the rest for another time.

Rinse the mussels under cold running water and debeard them. If any are open, give them a gentle tap on the countertop. If they close, they’re safe to eat. If they stay open, throw them away.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan on a medium heat. Add the shallot, garlic, chilli, lemongrass tops and 1 tablespoon of the spice paste. Cook for 1 minute, then add the water and cook for 30 seconds before stirring in the coconut milk. Bring up to a simmer, then add the lime juice, lime leaf, fish sauce and brown sugar.

Add the mussels, cover the pan and give it a quick shake. Cook for 3 minutes, until all the mussels have opened. Discard any that are still closed. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning with more fish sauce if needed.

To serve, divide among four wide, deep bowls.

Nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice)

Every Malaysian grows up eating nasi goreng. The only difference is that we all have our own style of cooking it. The best way to make it is to use leftover rice. Malaysians eat rice every day, so we’d often have nasi goreng for breakfast or take a lunch box of nasi goreng to school. I always serve it with a sunny-side-up fried egg.

Serves 4

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 shallot, sliced

1 garlic clove, sliced

1 batch of spice paste

1 tsp ground turmeric

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, diced very small

2 tbsp ketjap manis

1 egg

600g leftover cooked basmati rice (or 200g dried rice, cooked as usual), not jasmine rice – it’s too sticky

100g green beans, finely

chopped

For the spice paste:

3 dried red chillies

3 shallots, roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

a thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

1 tsp fine sea salt

1 tsp caster sugar

To serve:

fried eggs, sunny side up

To garnish:

thinly sliced spring onions

thinly sliced fresh red chilli

To make the spice paste, soak the dried red chillies in a small bowl of water for 1 hour, until soft, then drain and roughly chop. Put the chillies in a pestle and mortar with the rest of the spice paste ingredients and crush to a paste. A blender won’t work here – there are so few ingredients, they won’t catch and blend properly.

Heat the sesame and vegetable oils in a large wok or frying pan on a medium heat. Add the shallot and garlic and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant, then add the spice paste. Cook for 1–2 minutes, stirring, then add the turmeric and cook for 1 minute.

Add the chicken, stirring to coat it all with the paste. Cook for a few minutes, then add the ketjap manis. Stir-fry for another minute or two, then crack in the egg and quickly scramble it, stirring constantly.

Add the cooked rice and green beans and cook for 5 minutes to thoroughly heat the rice until it’s piping hot and has absorbed all the flavours. Spread it out evenly in the wok or pan so that it dries out evenly – this makes it less stodgy. Taste and season with salt.

Divide among bowls, serve with a fried egg, sunny side up, and garnish with thinly sliced spring onion and chilli.

Som tam (mango and papaya slaw)

When we were kids, my mother used to bring us to visit our family on the Malaysian border of Thailand during Wesak Day (Buddha Day) or Songkran (Thai New Year). We’d always have som tam with our dinner, using the unripe mango and papaya from the garden.

Serves 4

1 green (unripe) papaya or Granny Smith apple, peeled and cut into matchsticks

1 large, ripe mango, peeled and cut into matchsticks

1 cucumber, cut into matchsticks

10 raw green beans, chopped

2 fresh red chillies, cut into matchsticks

a handful of fresh coriander, chopped

1 lime leaf, shredded

40g dry roasted peanuts, chopped

juice of 3 limes

2-3 tbsp fish sauce

1-2 tbsp light brown sugar

1 tsp grated garlic

1 head of Baby Gem lettuce, broken into individual leaves, to serve (optional)

Put all the ingredients except the Baby Gem (if using) in a large bowl with 2 tablespoons of the fish sauce and 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Toss everything together with your hands, then taste and add more fish sauce and/or sugar if needed.

Line a serving bowl with the Baby Gem leaves (if using), then pile the slaw into the middle. That’s it! This is best eaten straight away, when it’s fresh. If you want to get ahead, prep all the ingredients but mix them together just before serving.

TRY THIS:

• Scatter over some crispy bacon.
• Add cooked glass noodles, chopped bird’s eye chilli and a little extra fish sauce and sugar to make this into a noodle dish.
• Add cooked glass noodles and roll it all up in a rice paper wrapper to make a summer roll.

Just snatched a few days break down on the south coast of Britain to celebrate a friends ‘noughty’ birthday. He is one of the pioneers of the organic food movement in the UK. An original rocker, he regaled us all with a feisty rendition of Egg and Daughter Nite by John Prine and Buy Organic, Save the Planet, first recorded in 1991.

Friends came from all over the world to celebrate this special birthday and to enjoy the gorgeous feast of summer salads and koftas and the most unbelievably beautiful 80th birthday cake lavishly decorated with fresh flowers which had been lovingly transported all the way from Bristol to Hastings.

Also loved these bhajis which our wonderfully colourful hostess with her wildflower tiara shared with us. Following the party, we spent a night in Ramsgate, ‘been there done that’ but don’t need to rush back…
Margate however is quite a different story, it’s really rocking, it’s all happening in the seaside town with lots of independent shops, cafés, markets, clubs.

A highlight for us was to see the mysterious Shell Grotto, a series of underground passages and little rooms lavishly embellished with sea shells. It was discovered in 1835. There are lots of intriguing theories but as yet despite much diligent research no one seems to know who is responsible for this wonderful creation. The shells are somewhat discoloured from many years of gas lighting, but the patterns are still evident.

How about making a beautiful folly at home or in your garden from mussel, periwinkle, cockle, scallop and oyster shells which are mostly discarded so save your shells even if it’s only to embellish a picture frame or a mirror. Not sure if you’ve seen the beautiful Shell House, Blot Kerr Wilson embellished in Kinoith Gardens in 1995, it’s open to the public every day, year round except on Sundays.

Next day, we made a pilgrimage to The Sportsman in Seasalter, Stephen Harris’s pub with a well-deserved reputation for some of the best pub food in the UK. As ever they were totally fully booked, but I pleaded for a table or even a stool. The meal was so worth the detour with one delicious plate after another plus a couple of superb desserts. A summer herb panna cotta, also a fruit salad of summer berries including Kent cherries, loganberries and little green gooseberries scattered on top of a scoop of lemon verbena granita in a crisp basket.  There were also several homemade breads, including this riff on Irish soda bread with home churned butter from Stephen Harris’s cookbook, The Sportsman published by Phaidon in 2017 is now sadly out of print, but I’ve managed to track down a copy in a West Cork bookshop. It’s got a Michelin Star but mercifully none of the fluff and foams and skid marks on plates that one expects from these starred restaurants.

Our final night was spent at Uptown Farmhouse near Deal, a beautiful country house with extensive gardens. Just six bedrooms and irresistible food. This is quite the find, owned by London chef Rowley Leigh’s daughter Ruth and son-in-law Ali. Both dinner and breakfast were memorable. Fresh beautiful produce, carefully sourced from the garden and local area. Juicy roast pork with borlotti beans and warm cherry tomatoes was particularly memorable as was a salad of buffalo mozzarella with chunks of ripe, doughnut peaches, basil and whisper of chili. It’s close to the town of Deal with its beautiful long sandy strand and numerous indi shops, cafés and the multi award winning Black Pig Butcher owned by Lizzy Douglas, winner of the BBC Radio 4 Food Programme’s Food and farming ‘Food Producer’ Award in 2022. Lizzy specialises in nose-to-tail eating and artisanal butchery and buys her superb naturally reared meat locally.
The trip was far too short. We discovered a part of England that we had not previously visited. Miles of beautiful coastal footpaths to explore, we even saw the legendary white cliffs of Dover. Can’t wait to return to explore at a more leisurely pace.

The Sportsman’s Soda Bread

Recipe from The Sportsman by Stephen Harris published by Phaidon

During the 1980’s, my dad lived in Dublin and when I used to visit him, we always ate the local soda bread. It left a lasting impression on me, and I now use it for some snacks and starters, as well as serving it on our bread board. I have seen many customers eating this bread with our butter and not wanting to move on. This version is based on Richard Corrigan’s recipe but over time, we have added more treacle.

Makes 1 loaf

125g wholemeal flour

65g self-raising flour

65g pinhead oats

30g bran

15g wheatgerm

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

1 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp treacle

300ml buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 220°C/Gas Mark 7 and generously flour a baking tray.

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the treacle and buttermilk and mix together until fully incorporated.

Turn the sticky dough out onto a well-floured work counter and knead lightly, just until no longer sticky. Form into a loaf shape and lift onto the prepared baking tray.

Bake for 5 minutes in the preheated oven, then lower the temperature to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 and bake for 30-40 minutes. When the loaf is cooked, it should sound hollow when you tap the underside. Or test with a skewer, which should come out clean when inserted into the centre of the bread.

Allow the bread to cool on a wire rack.

Savannah’s Vegetable Bhajis

These delicious bhajis can be made with carrot or sweet potato or a mix of both. Thank you for sharing Jo.

600g sweet potato/carrot grated on a large grater in a Magimix

300g chard or baby spinach, chopped 

3 tbsp chives finely chopped

1 tbsp turmeric

2 tsp Kashmiri or Aleppo chilli pepper or mild paprika if you prefer it milder

5 eggs

200g plain flour or gluten-free flour

2 tsp baking powder

salt and pepper to taste 

Mix eggs and dry ingredients together to firm batter, add all other ingredients and allow to rest for 20 minutes.

Heat oil in a wok or deep frying pan 

Shape about 2 tablespoons of the bhajis mixture in your hands into a rough ball shape and add to hot oil. Fry until crisp and golden brown, 2-3 minutes approx. The mixture is a bit messy but if the oil is at the correct temperature, it should hold together.

The bhajis will puff up so you only need a small amount of batter mixture per fritter. Drain on kitchen paper. 

Serve with a yoghurt based dip. 

Plaice or Lemon Sole with Herb Mussel Butter

This Ballymaloe classic is a very simple ‘master technique’ which can be used not only for roasting plaice and sole but for all very fresh flat fish, e.g. brill, turbot, dabs, flounder and lemon sole.   Depending on the size of the fish, it can be a starter or a main course. Because it’s cooked whole on the bone, it retains maximum flavour. Peel the skin off the top when cooked and coat with the herb and mussel butter.  We sometimes add a few peeled shrimps, cockles or periwinkles to the butter or sauce for an equally exquisite dish. The Sportsman used slip sole.

Serves 4

4 very fresh plaice or lemon sole on the bone

20-28 mussels, depending on the size of the fish

Herb Butter

50-110g butter

4 tsp mixed finely-chopped fresh parsley, chives, fennel and thyme leaves

salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas Mark 5.

Turn the fish on its side and remove the head.  Wash the fish and clean the slit very thoroughly.  With a sharp knife, cut through the dark skin right round the fish, just where the ‘fringe’ meets the flesh.  Be careful to cut neatly and to cross the side cuts at the tail or it will be difficult to remove the skin later on.

Sprinkle the fish with salt and freshly-ground pepper and lay them in a generous 5mm of water in a shallow baking tin.   Roast in a moderately hot oven for 20-30 minutes according to the size of the fish.  The water should have just evaporated as the fish is cooked.  Check to see whether the fish is cooked by lifting the flesh from the bone at the head; it should lift off the bone easily and be quite white with no trace of pink.

Wash the mussels under cold water and drain well.

Put into a saucepan, cover and cook on a medium heat. Check after 2 or 3 minutes by which time the mussels should be open and have given off some liquid. Remove from the pan, as soon as the mussels are cool enough, extract from their shells (save the shells to make a folly). Strain the mussel liquid.

Just before serving, melt the butter and stir in the freshly-chopped herbs, add the mussels and a little mussel cooking liquid.  Just before serving catch the skin down near the tail and pull it off gently (the skin will tear badly if not properly cut).  Lift the fish onto hot plates and spoon the herb and mussel butter over each one.  Serve immediately.

National Farmers’ Market Week runs from the 4^th-10^th August 2024 so in this column, I joyously celebrate the Farmers’ Markets and the heroic producers who harvest their home grown produce, hail rain or shine, then pack up and set off at the crack of dawn on market day.  They set up their stalls to sell to their local community, tourists and holiday makers who long to get a  glimpse of what’s in season in the area, a taste of that place.
It’s 28 years now since Myrtle Allen and I first packed up the rusty old Renault van and headed off for the Coal Quay on Cornmarket Street in Cork to set up what was to be the first Farmers’ Market in Ireland.
Caroline Robinson who still sells her beautiful homegrown chemical-free, seasonal vegetables set up beside us as did Frank Hederman from Belvelly Smokehouse near Cobh, now trading in the English Market throughout the week as well as Mahon Point Farmers’ Market on Thursday and Midleton on Saturday.
Declan Ryan was also there with his sourdough bread which at that stage was baked in his converted garage. Declan and his wife Patsy have recently retired and passed on his hugely successful business to Bretzel Bakery who will continue to use his recipes and uphold the artisan baking tradition.
Clodagh McKenna also started her very successful career on a stall in the Coal Quay and went on to write several best-selling cookbooks and present many successful TV series before marrying Harry Herbert of Highclere in the UK where she continues to grow and teach classes.
Jill Bell sold her delicious homemade cakes. She too went on to establish the much loved Well and Good Health Food Shop in Midleton and on and on…
Klaus and Hannah Balz sold beautiful bunches of fresh flowers from their garden. Over 27 years later, Klaus continues to sell plants and flowers on the Coal Quay each Saturday, how wonderful is that.  All were members of the important Cork Free Choice Consumer Group established by Myrtle Allen and Caroline Robinson in 1989.
I’d first come across the Farmers’ Market concept in San Francisco in 1995 when a friend introduced me to the newly established Farmers’ Market, in a parking lot in the Bay Area of town.
At that stage, in this country, setting up a market stall on the side of the street was not cool. Here in Ireland the supermarkets, already well established, were going over to the central distribution system and some were penalising their local shops if they bought more than 2% of their produce locally.
Consequently, small local potato and vegetable growers particularly were unable to sell their products to local shops and local people were no longer able to source their food locally.
Myrtle Allen and I became intensely concerned about the situation. Seeing this new age Farmers’ Market in San Francisco with stalls piled high with beautiful fresh produce, fresh flowers, home baked pastries and cakes, farmstead cheese, organic plump organic chickens was a eureka moment. Suddenly a lightbulb went on – I realised that if we could re-establish the market system in Ireland, local people could buy local food from local farmers and food producers who would be delighted to get paid a fair price directly so they could continue to work on the land that they love.
Midleton Farmers’ Market in 2000 was probably the next to be established, Mahon Point and Douglas not long afterwards.
Now I read that there are 160 plus Farmers’ Markets scattered around the country.
How fortunate are people who have a good Farmers’ Market close by. Sadly, they are not all as bustling and vibrant as Skibbereen for example.  Sometimes folk tell me that the farmers’ markets are too expensive, usually people who never actually shop in them.
In Midleton recently, I bought a bag of beautiful dessert apples from The Little Irish Apple company, seven perfect apples for €2, how about that for value?
Many farmers tell me that they would not no longer be on the land if it wasn’t for the Farmers’ Market movement. Remember farmers are fortunate if they get paid a third of the price on the supermarket shelf and are super lucky if they’re paid within a month.
The people who feed us are now ‘price takers’ not ‘price makers’. 
We need to wake up…so if you can, go along and support your local Farmers’ Market and bring home a basket full of beautiful fresh produce to nourish yourself and your family. Why not pay the farmer to keep you well, rather than spend your money on pills and supplements – our food can be our medicine!
This is the most bountiful time of the year for fresh produce, try these recipes for ratatouille, roast onions and almond tart with strawberries.
Let’s give thanks for the bounty of nature and don’t forget a hug for the farmer, they’ve had a rotten year with unprecedented weather challenges and more often than not, below cost prices for their produce…another reason to support farmers’ markets.

Ratatouille Nicoise ( Mediterranean Vegetable Stew)

Ratatouille, perhaps the most famous Mediterranean vegetable stew of all, can be a horrible, overcooked mess… Unless you stand over the pot., it’s super easy to overcook it by the classic method so I have been following Roger Verge’s example by cooking the aubergines and courgettes separately and adding them in at the end with far better results.

Serves 8-10

450g medium sized aubergines

450g courgettes (zucchini), not more than 15cm long

olive oil

2 red peppers, cut into quarters and cut into 2.5cm squares

1 green pepper, cut into quarters and cut into 2.5cm squares

2 large cloves of garlic, crushed

2 large onions, sliced 350g

450g very ripe tomatoes or 1 x 400g tin of tomatoes

salt and freshly ground pepper

½ tsp coriander seeds, crushed

1 tbsp chopped fresh basil or annual marjoram

Slice the unpeeled aubergines and courgettes into 1cm rounds, sprinkle with a little salt and put into a colander. Leave for an hour to drain, then wash and dry with kitchen paper.  Heat a grill pan, toss the aubergines and courgettes lightly in olive oil.  Cook in a single layer until golden brown on each side, adding a little more olive oil if necessary and drain on a wire rack over an oven tray.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a wide casserole, add the sliced onions and crushed garlic, cover and sweat on a gentle heat for about 5 minutes. As they begin to soften add the peppers, cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes.   Meanwhile, peel and slice the tomatoes, add to the peppers and season with salt, pepper and sugar.  Simmer without covering the pan until the vegetables are just cooked, about 6-8 minutes.  Then add the aubergines and courgettes with the crushed coriander.  Stir gently, add the basil or marjoram.  Taste and correct seasoning.

Note: Ratatouille Nicoise can be served hot or cold.

Variations

Ratatouille with Olives

Add 110g whole black olives to the ratatouille about 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time.

Ratatouille with Poached Eggs

Heat 2 generous tablespoons of ratatouille per person, make a nest on a hot plate for each person and drop a poached egg into the centre – a perfect supper dish.

Roast Onions

So utterly simple and delicious.  Roast onions were one of the big hits in my book ‘Simply Delicious Food for Family and Friends’.  Eat them on their own, serve them with Marjoram Butter or as an accompaniment to a juicy steak or lots of other good things.

Choose small, medium or large sized onions.  Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6.  Cook the unpeeled onions on a baking tray until soft, this can take anything from 10 minutes to an hour depending on size.  Serve in their jackets.

To eat, cut off the root end, squeeze out the onion if they are tiny, enjoy with marjoram or garlic butter and sea salt.  Larger onions are best split in half.

Variations

Roast Onions Halves

Cut the unpeeled onions in half from top to bottom.  Drizzle the cut side of the onion halves with a little olive oil and arrange in a roasting tray cut side down.  Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Roast in a preheated oven 200°C/Gas Mark 6 for 20-40 minutes depending on size.  The onions should be perfectly tender and the cut side nicely caramelised.

Seared Onions

Cut the onion in half lengthwise (do not remove the skin).  Drizzle with olive oil.  Place flesh side down on a hot pan-grill and cook until charred and caramelised – the flesh should be soft.  Serve immediately.

Roast Onions with Marjoram Butter

Roast the onions as above, serve with a blob of Marjoram Butter (see recipe) melting in the centre so exquisite that you won’t want anything else for supper.

Garlic Butter

50g butter

1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, crushed

Cream the butter, stir in the parsley and add the crushed garlic.  Roll into butter pats or form into a roll and wrap in parchment paper, screwing each end so it looks like a cracker. Refrigerate to harden.  Cut into slices to serve.

Marjoram Butter

Add 1 tablespoon chopped annual marjoram to 50g butter.

Almond Tart with Strawberries

Ruth Rodgers and the late Rose Gray of the River Café demonstrated this gorgeous moist tart when they were guest chefs here some years ago. 

Serves 10-12

Pastry

225g flour

25g caster sugar

a pinch of salt

110g unsalted butter

1 egg

Almond Filling

285g soft butter unsalted

225g caster sugar

285g whole almonds

3 eggs

1 dsp Amaretto or Rum

1 tbsp of flour (optional)

a generous pinch of salt (essential the enhance the flavour of the frangipane)

450g fresh strawberries or a mixture of strawberries and raspberries

Garnish

little sprigs of fresh mint

1 x 28cm x 3.5cm tart tin with ‘pop-up’ base

First make the pastry.

Sieve the flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Cut the butter into cubes, toss in the flour and then rub in with your fingertips. Keep everything as cool as possible; if the fat is allowed to melt, the finished pastry may be tough. When the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs, stop.

Whisk the egg. Using a fork to stir, add just enough liquid to bring the pastry together, then discard the fork and collect it into a ball with your hands, this way you can judge more accurately if you need a few more drops of liquid. Although rather damp pastry is easier to handle and roll out, the resulting crust can be tough and may well shrink out of shape as the water evaporates in the oven. The drier and more difficult-to-handle pastry will give a crisper, shorter crust.

Flatten into a round, cover the pastry and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will make the pastry much less elastic and easier to roll.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

Line the flan ring and bake blind for 20-25 minutes.

Meanwhile make the almond filling.

Blanch the almonds in boiling water, remove the skins and grind in a liquidiser or food processor.

Cream the butter with the sugar until soft and fluffy, beat in the eggs one by one, then stir in the freshly ground almonds, flour, salt and amaretto if available. Pour into the pastry case, reduce the temperature to 160°C/Gas Mark 3, and bake for 45-60 minutes.

Remove from the tin onto a wire rack.  Allow to cool completely.

Just before serving, if the strawberries are too large cut in half or quarters and cover the surface of the tart.  Use whole raspberries if using. Sprinkle with icing sugar.  Tuck some little sprigs of fresh mint here and there between the strawberries and/or raspberries if using.